colourliving

kaffe fassett – a life in colour

If ever i was late to a party it’s this one.

The exhibition, at the fashion and textile museum, (ftm) is running from 22 march until 29 june. I’ve managed to give those of you who would like to visit a week and a half’s notice. Oopss! This has been in my diary since the middle of march, can you believe it? Oh well, i made it just in time, does that count?

I first came across kaffe fassett at a talk and book signing he held in the early 90′s in john lewis. At that time i was already heavily influenced by missoni. It was refreshing to meet a textile designer/artist who had embraced colour and patterns to the fullest. To top it, he made a living out of it while travelling the world to seek inspiration. Fab!

For me, except for the work displayed, a well curated exhibition is the most important aspect. This one, co-curated by sue timney, did not disappoint! Interestingly, sue is known for her monochrome and very graphic designs. I think the combination here worked really well and framed the rather diverse range of contemporary craft kaffee is known for.

I also felt, the ftm was exactly the right venue to celebrate kaffe’s 50 years of textile art.

My absolutely favourite part of a retrospective is the early years, the sketchbooks, the personal belongings, family photographs et cetera. This did not disappoint, albeit too dark to photograph.

I’m going to be bold here and say i have a love/hate relationship with kaffe’s work. It’s more of an acquired taste. As a colour and patterns enthusiast i have huge admiration for the sheer volume, attention to detail and diverse use of materials in his work. I don’t love everything, but there is no doubt that upon entering the main space you are greeted with an abundance of everything that crafts, textiles and colours have to offer. A sheer feeling of ‘wow’!

Here’s a selection of some of the quilting, knitting, needlepoint, mosaic and fabric swatches that stood out for me. I also liked some of his paintings.

What struck me most is the sheer energy and vibrancy of the work. I was transported back to the 90′s, to that very first talk, and realised that this man lives with constant inspiration. How wonderful is that? His constant worldwide travel is well documented and i found myself wanting to hop on a plane with immediate effect.

There is a streaming video at the exhibition. I opted to buy the dvd and watch it when in need for inspiration.
Kaffe’s colour quest – kaffe fassett travels to india and vietnam seraching for inspiration for his textiles costs £15 from the museum’s shop.

What do you think of kaffe fassett’s work? Are you a colour and patterns enthusiast?

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trooping the colour – colonel’s review

Last friday afternoon i got a rather lovely phone call from my neighbours john and elaine offering me a pair of tickets for trooping the colour for the following morning. After a moments reflection, followed by a prompt acceptance, the excitement started to kick in. This was my second visit (read about my first one here) and on both occasions tickets were gifted to me at the last moment!

It’s probably not a bad idea to write a more comprehensive post on this most wonderful event, with all the information i never knew:-) Instead of showing you tons of photos, isn’t it more fun to make this post into little animated gifs to try and recapture the sheer beauty and magic?

Trooping the colour is a ceremony performed by regiments of the british and commonwealth armies since the 17th century, and since 1748 also marks the official birthday of the british sovereign. It is also known as the queens birthday parade.

Every year there are three parades, all held on consequent saturdays in june. The first one is the major general’s review, the second one is the rehearsal, also known as the colonel’s review (the one i attended last saturday) and finally the week after it’s her majesty the queen’s birthday parade.

Tickets for seated stands around horse guards parade are allocated by ballot in march. Applications should be made in January or February only. 

In case of an animation not working, simply click on it. That will activate it. Then click the back button to return to the post!

Regimental flags of the british army were historically described as ‘colours’ because they displayed the uniform colours and insignia worn by the soldiers of different units. The name ‘colour’ continues to be used to this day. The principle role of a regiment’s colours was to provide a rallying point on the battlefield.

Since the guards taking part in the parade have always been the sovereign’s own household troops, it became a tradition for the soldiers of these regiments to troop their colours in turn. Today, this colourful spectacle remains a celebration of the sovereign’s official birthday. Although the queen’s actual birthday is the 21st april, her ‘official birthday’ is marked by the trooping the colour ceremony.

Since only one colour can be trooped down the ranks at a time, each year a single battalion of the five foot guards regiments is selected to troop its colours. These are irish guards, welsh guards, coldstream guards, scots guards and grenadier guards.

This year, as well as back in 2006 when i last attended, it was the welsh guard’s turn.

Apparently, most years, at least one guard will faint. That’s due to wearing the heavy bearskins and standing for long periods in the heat. This year it happened literally infront of us. Within seconds, the guard is carried away on a stretcher. Rumour has it the shamed guard get’s a real talking to because he hasn’t fulfilled his duty and has been negligent. Furthermore, to our surprise, they never filled the gap and that remains like this for the rest of the ceremony! A thought crossed my mind. Would they also be told off for not falling down to attention? The jury is out and any inside information would be much appreciated.

The parade includes the following phases:

1. march on
2. arrival of sovereign
3. inspection of the line
4. massed bands troop
5. collection of the colour to be trooped by the escort (no.1 guard)
6. trooping the colour through the ranks in slow time
7. march past by foot guards in slow and quick time
8. ride past by the king’s troop royal horse artillery and the household cavalry
9. march off

The guards here are marching in slow time around horse guards parade. Straight lines and precision drill are the order of the day. They practice endlessly to ensure that the correct column distance is maintained. As the ‘colour’ passes to your front, you are requested to stand and sit down once it has passed.

Ah, the horses, my favourite part of the ceremony!

The king’s troop royal horse artillery, the life guards and the blues and royals, accompanied by the household cavalry mounted bands, now ride past.

Here are the life guards on horses riding past.

These below are the blues and royals.

The king’s troop royal horse artillery, here below, leads the divisions because the guns of the royal horse artillery take precedence over all other units when on parade.

And finally, prince charles attended the colonel’s review, the final rehearsal for trooping the colour to be held this saturday with the queen present. Many thought he wouldn’t be on a horse, but hey, those people of little faith, there he was in full glory, wearing full attire with the mandatory blue sash and mounted on a horse! On saturday ‘mummy’ will be sitting in the carriage!

This year the queen will attend without the duke of edinburgh, as prince philip is recovering in hospital after exploratory surgery.

It was a warm and sunny day (luckily) and we loved every minute. It remains for me to say a big thank you to john and elaine for their generosity.

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the creative process – meet cody wallis

The creative process is back… this time all the way from across the pond!

For new readers:
Much has been written about The Creative Process, which in its purest form is simply a way of solving a problem. That sounds simple, doesn’t it? Creativity and its process, contrary to popular belief, is not just reserved for artists and designers. I believe that everyone can benefit from learning and understanding the numerous ways of the creative process. Each month I will invite people to share their own personal creative processes with us. I hope this will help you with identifying your own.

Cody Wallis is a graphic designer and illustrator residing in Seattle, Washington, USA. He is currently touring the United States working on a passion project, Design Nation, interviewing graphic designers and architects and seeking wisdom about the influence of culture on the design process. He works for several non-profit organizations such as Ohio-based Drive to Create and the Cleveland International Film Festival. He holds a bachelors of fine arts in Visual Communication Design from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio.

All I can say is that Cody is generous, talented and inspirational. He is a true gentleman and very professional. I salute you… over to Cody!

The Creative Process

As a Junior in design school, I designed this poster about “the creative cycle”:

Looking back at this project is a personal lesson in my own naivety. I’m a little embarrassed that this was the solution I came up with for the prompt: “create a poster that visualizes the creative process.” At the time, being relatively new to the field of design, I thought that the creative process was neat, orderly, and beautiful. Surely the process by which clearly understood systems and precise communications are created has those qualities inherent in itself, right?

If I were asked to answer that same prompt today, I would respond with something like this:

But boiled down to its essence (seriously boiled down), I suppose it’s more this:

A continuous cycle of investigation, ideation, and inspiration.

Ideation 

I’m going to be frank, my ideation process is terrible. I find that my best ideas are usually born out of my worst. My favorite projects usually started as a joke- something I probably sent to a friend as a text message accompanied by a sassy emoticon.

Another way that I ideate is just through casual joking banter with friends. My best friend and I like to jokingly come up with new inventions and start-up business models as a way of keeping ourselves entertained. For instance, Jon, Ryan and I were recently sitting in my sister’s dining room eating a tray of Danishes. The crumbs kept falling to the floor and someone said something about needing a rhumba, one of those automated vacuum cleaners (the kind you always see cats riding around on YouTube).

Anyway, this somehow evolved into a restaurant with mannequins dressed as Dutch girls in clogs and bonnets riding around on rhumbas and serving up trays of hot Danishes.

This all probably sounds ridiculous to a reader who’s never met me. And truly, I dont think any of us ever expect that idea to come to fruition. But for me, this raw kind of humorous creativity keeps me fresh. From this compost pile of yesterday’s bad ideas grows a small and rich garden of insight.

Inspiration

My creative process isn’t necessarily set in stone. It’s always changing- in fact that’s the basis of my process: change. I find that personally, whenever I get stuck in a rut or can’t come up with any new ideas, it’s usually because I’m trying to do things the way I’ve already been doing them.

Whether its finding a new coffeeshop, riding my bike down to the river, discovering a private corner in the library, or even just eating something I’ve never tried before- that introduction of something new is usually enough to take me off my usual tracks and into uncharted territory.

As far as visual inspiration, that can come from almost anything. An old rusty washer I picked up on the sidewalk, a unique pattern on my friend’s fireplace mantle. For me, the best inspiration comes from seeing as much as I can.

Investigation

The word “research” makes me cringe. I would much prefer to investigate a topic—it just sounds more fun that way. Research is nothing more than unending google searches and sad, desperate book-skimming in the library that makes you want to blow your brains out. Investigating means breaking out the magnifying glass, searching in places no one else has looked, talking to people involved with the case, and getting to the bottom of things. Most importantly, it’s fun.

I find that the best investigation comes directly from the source. If I’m designing a product aimed at middle-aged women, I’ll go find one and talk to her. That kind of information is one-thousand times more useful than anything on the internet.

This cycle of ideation, inspiration, and investigation can happen in any order and repeat itself as many times as necessary until somebody says the project is done. But my main point is that this process isn’t something that can be nailed down—it’s not something that a junior in college can effectively summarize in an awkward spiral diagram. It’s different for everyone, and it’s always changing. That’s what makes it beautiful.

Cody, on a personal note, I cannot thank you enough (you know why). You’re a true gem. You know you’ve just paid forward:-) Happy week everyone! 

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stuart haygarth – the interview

Back in November 2012 i wrote a post on the british artist stuart haygarth’s amazing strand installation. For those of you, who don’t click on links, here is a picture of it. Looks familiar?

Back then, i promised to visit his studio and interview the man himself. Well, it happened. I hope you enjoy and find it as inspiring as i do.

Meet stuart haygarth.

What did you study and what was your first job ? I went to exeter school of art and design, did a graphic design degree specialising in photography. I graduated with a first class honours degree, came to london with some friends and got a job as a photographers assistant for a couple of years. After that i set up on my own as a commercial photographer for about two years. That’s when the recession hit, around 1991. I decided that instead of struggling through this time, i’ll go and travel so off i went to africa and india.

What happened next? When i came back to london i rented a studio in shoreditch and thought i’ll set up as a photographer again. I kind of lost interest. The notion of working for art directors and shooting their ideas didn’t excite me any longer and i felt it wasn’t creative enough. I decided to re-invent myself and became a kind of 3D illustrator. I found objects, created room sets, lit them and recorded it on film. I created a new portfolio and went around magazines and publishing houses. To my surprise it all started rather quickly. I got commissions from GQ, esquire, and men’s health magazine amongst others.

Why do you think it took off quickly? The work i was showing was new and different and although there were some people doing collage stuff, no one was doing it the way i did. I carried on for 15 years. After about 12 years I started to get bored because people saw my work and came and asked for the same piece i’d done for a previous commission but in a different colour. Once again, i started feeling creatively unfulfilled and was yearning for a change.

So, how did you make the leap to your current re-invention? That’s difficult to pinpoint. In my spare time I started experimenting in my studio. Because of the illustrations i was doing i had always collected objects from either car boot sales or the streets. I’ve always been an avid collector and hoarder and have always been interested in still life. For my illustrations i had to source many objects, so there was a natural progression. Most of my collection is actually in storage. I have two shipping containers in essex. Storage and finding room to work in is a continuous battle.

Tell us how your first installation came about? I used to live near tate modern and i went for a walk with my late dog. It was the first day of the year 2000. There was a field of champagne bottels and party poppers. I thought the party poppers looked amazing so went back and filled up about five bin liners. I was interested that all these party poppers were exploded at the same time for the same purpose, to celebrate the millenium. There was something historically signifacnt about these objects. I had those in the studio for about 4 years and made the millenium chalendelier in 2004. I also used to go to dungeness, on the kent coastline, with my late dog and there was so much stuff on the beach to collect. That’s how the tide chandelier came about. I decided to be more specific about my collecting, to only collect anything made from transparent and translucent plastic. Once you start looking, there is a lot of stuff out there. I would put it in a rucksack, bring it back and clean it. Then i’d go though it and categorise it. I’m really into categorising objects by function, colour et cetera. My work today has a lot to do with categorising, finding patterns in things, trying to make sense of the world.

Yet again, your work took off in no time. What in your opinion contributed to it?  I believe that by the time i showed ‘millenium’, ‘the tide’ and then the disposable chandelier, made from disposible champagne flute at designers block in 2007 it was the zeitgeist of people wanting something different. There was lots of boring design around at that time. Lots of repeats that have been done before but with new materials. So i think my work kind of stood out and i got a lot of good press and it took off from there.

What made you do your installations in a form of a light? I don’t know, I get asked that quite frequently. As a photographer i’ve always been interested in lights and how light reacts to objects, goes through materials, and atmospheres that can be created from lighting. I’ve also always been into sculpture. I guess i kind of combined these interests, sculpture – photography – lighting. I do see things from a photographers point of view, how light falls on things and creates shapes and patterns.

Can you part with your art easily? Yes, no problem at all. As long as i take photographs and have a record. I’m more interested in what is coming next.

For the collectors and hoarders amongst us. Where is a good beach to find stuff? Den helder in holland is a great beach for collecting. 

Your installations are big and complex. How do you work? I work on several projects at a time. For this i have a team that i can trust to get on with it. They kind of build the installations. I design them and regularly overlook all the work.

Who influences you? I’m more influenced by artists than designers and enjoy art shows much more than design shows. I find that, especially for the home interior market, there is very little new out there. The Bouroullec brothers are quite interesting because they take more risks. Interestingly one is an architect and the other a sculptor. I believe that as artists and designers we should be creating new and interesting pieces and not regurgitate the old.

In terms of your current work, could you see yourself in the future designing a product, sculpture or installation that is scaleable? Yes, i don’t see why not. If i were to be asked i would definitely consider it. It’ll be an interesting challenge to produce something for a larger market. I’m not at all against mass production, but would aim to make it different and exciting, instead of copying what’s been done before.

What’s on the agenda now? I’ve just finished ‘optical’, created from 80.000 used prescription lenses to form an immense glistening and floating sphere. 3,5 metres in diameter. The piece was commissioned by land securities for the foyer of a new glass building designed by architects swanke hayden connell and positioned in the heart of victoria at 62 buckingham gate, london sw1.

Optical (here below) can be viewed from street level day and night.

As part of this years 55th venice biennale i will be showing ‘glass house’ (see below) at the glasstress exhibition curated by james putnam and entitled white light/white heat. It opened on the 1st june at the berengo centre for contemporary art & glass, campiello della pescheria, murano.

Based on the proverb, those living in glasshouses shouldn’t throw stones. It’s made out of a steel glasshouse structure. Where the glass would go, it’s been replaced with mirror toughened glass laminate so you can actually shatter the mirror behind the glass but the glass stays intact. As a result you get very fractured panels of mirrors. The shattered mirror glasshouse is illuminted and light reflects off all the surrounding walls in the space it’s shown. It’s also lavitating off the ground by 10 cm. It looks like it’s floating. It’s a sculptural piece rather than a functional one. It’s a one off for this show. I’m still interested in functional pieces but my work is leaning more towards sculptural pieces for sculpture sake.

Stuart haygarth is a multi-faceted and very talented artist. He is best known for his ‘chandeliers’ but that’s only a small part of what he does. Yet we know that most like to label people. Looking through his sketchbooks was a highlight for me. All these ideas and thoughts illustrated so beautifully. I could have looked at them for hours. Thank you stuart for allowing me to share them.

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blognic – a picnic in the secret garden

Yesterday, on the most glorious day, i went for a picnic. It was not your every day-to-day picnic. No, it was a bloggers picnic named #blocnic and superbly organised by ellie , lynne and bethan. I love a picnic but boy do i love a picnic with lively and creative bloggers who come totally prepared. There was a proper tressle table with hand-baked goods and lots of nibble and drinks. Blankets were provided and best of all they chose the most magical spot in london. Genius!

It was such a pleasure to meet old and new faces and the weather played ball. For once, i decided to leave my camera at home and just sit, relax and mingle. Of course, i kicked myself afterwards as the setting was perfect and the sun was beaming.

Thank you guys for rocking that picnic. I had a brilliant time and i hope to see many of you very soon.

In true colourliving fashion, i got up very early, jumped on my scooter and went back to the spot in regent’s park to show you some of its beauty. Let me introduce you to the garden of st john’s lodge, also known as the secret garden. There may be many of you that think they know regent’s park well. Be surprised. It was early and there was just me and the lovely sprinkler man:-)

The gardens are just adjacent to st john’s lodge, a private residence belonging to the sultan of brunei.

Back in 1888, lord bute commissioned robert weir schultz to design a new ‘garden fit for meditation’. Schultz arranged distinctly shaped spaces on the axis of the villa. Formed by hedges, these enclosures remain the framework for the garden. In 1994, the royal parks undertook works to strengthen and enhance the character of the garden. Elements of the original concept have been re-introduced. The garden is designed for peaceful relaxation and as soon as you walk in any tension in your body and mind will disappear.

I could be bold and tell you exactly where to find it and how to get there, but that would spoil the fun, right? It’s secret after all. Psst, don’t tell anyone i let the cat out of the bag!

Is this beautiful? Have a great week. See you thursday.

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creativity – books giveaway

Hello my friends.

A lot of you will know that i have a monthly series called the creative process here on the blog. I’ve always been fascinated by creativity and it’s process. I thought it’s time to have another giveaway and since i’m an eternal student, i tend to encourage reading and love for people to be inspired by books.

I looked through my shelves and picked out books that have helped shape my thoughts and ideas around creativity. Some you might know or own, others could be new to you. Have a look through and see what takes yor fancy. Some are real classics and would be found in any respectable home library. In the spirit of ‘our times’ please feel free to ask for e-books should the chosen titles be available in that format.

These are the rules: One winner will receive 3 books of their choice. Please leave a comment and tell me which 3 books you would like. If you wish you can also say why you’ve chosen those 3 titles. The giveaway will stay open until thursday 13th June 2013 at 6pm GMT. The winner will be chosen by random.org

Books from the top:

1.   steal like an artist - austin kleon
2.   lateral thinking – edward de bono
3.   the back of the napkin – dan roam
4.   how to have kick-ass ideas – chris barea-brown
5.   serious creativity – edward de bono
6.   the tipping point– malcolm gladwell
7.   blink – malcolm gladwell
8.   made to stick – chip and dan heath
9.   unleashing the ideavirus– seth godin
10. ignore everybody – hugh macleod
11. how to think like leonardo da vinci - michael gelb
12. the creative habit – twyla tharp
13. the artist’s way – julia cameron
14. thinkertoys - michalko
15. think like a genius– todd siler
16. a whole new mind - daniel h. pink
17. here comes everybody - andy boynton, bill fischer
18. make the impossible possible - bill strickland

I hope that you find something of interest to you. I’d love to know which titles appeal:-)

Happy weekend. It feels rather like autumn here in london so, no doubt, i’ll be snuggling up with some books and magazines and eating yummy food!

We have a winner. Thank you to all who entered!

Congratulations to Nicola of teaandgee. Your chosen books will be with you in a couple of weeks.

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vive la différence – google doodle

Hello. Happy bank holiday to my UK readers.

I’m back from berlin…  unfortunately i never got there. On friday, a plane’s engine caught fire and had to do an emergency landing at heathrow. Subsequently, they had to shut 1 runway for most of the day and decided to cancel ALL short-haul flights until late afternoon. I was caught up in those cancellations. Happy that everyone on that plane was safe BUT hope that BA feel ashamed that they failed to notify us passengers. Sending a text out can’t possibly be that difficult. Obviously for BA it is! I spent hours getting to heathrow and back only to be told to leave the airport!

I’m sorry to have missed the hive13 but am extra excited that they announced another one in october in copenhagen. Yay!

I’m delighted to feature another dose of vive la différence. Today we have the lovely judith de graaff, a dutch graphic designer living in france. She’s the author of joelix and has been blogging since 2006. Judith has just returned from berlin and unfortunately we didn’t get to hang out and play together. The good news is we’re playing together here today!

For new readers:
The concept: each month i will invite one blogger. They will create and showcase one image. There are 20 themes and 20 objects my guest can choose from. They choose 1 theme and up to 3 objects. I will then also create an image based on their choice. Everyone has free reign on how to create the image. It can be simple photography, a line drawing, a collage, a hand painted image, a styled table top, the choice is yours! The fun part is that you guys will see 2 versions inspired by the same subject matter. My guests image will always be first. There is no right or wrong. There’s just ‘different’.

Judith chose the theme: google doodle with the objects: toys and a colour. Here’s her take on this.

Exactly 15 years ago (today!), this sunflower yellow color entered my life. I met my boyfriend, now husband, who owned this huge and comfy Rolf Benz couch in a pretty sunflower yellow. In our homes in Holland and soon afterwards in France, we decorated our living room around this comfortable piece of furniture and started to gather different objects in the same yellow shade. And today this small collection is forming a Google Doodle, or actually a few different ones.

I remember the first Google Doodle I ever saw and I thought it was a great idea to show the work of wonderful creatives to a global audience. My favorite? There are so many great ones! But I really enjoyed the Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar), and the HR Hertz’s 155th birthday doodles. The Google Doodles are a perfect example of a logo being all about “identity” and not about “identical”. Thanks Tina for having me today!

 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Here’s my version.

A few years ago I went to a talk to the Google offices in Victoria, London. It was all about the Google doodles, how they started and how it’s grown into its own department within Google. “Doodles are the fun, surprising, and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists.”

The doodles originated in 1998 when Google founders Larry and Sergey played with the corporate logo to indicate their attendance at the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert. In 2000, a guy named Dennis, an intern at that time, was appointed Google’s chief doodler.

The creation of doodles is now the responsibility of a team of highly talented illustrators and engineers, also known as ‘doodlers’. There have been over 1000 doodles around the world. The doodle selection process celebrates events and anniversaries which identify with Google’s love for innovation.

The best part, we, the public could influence the decision of which doodle they create next. Submit your idea. Email proposals@google.com with your suggestions. Just don’t wait for a reply! Apparently they get hundreds of emails on a daily basis.

This is my little attempt to pay homage to the Google doodle – you often brighten up my day. Thank you!

I want to thank judith for the the fantastic yellow inspiration, all the hard work AND for teaching me how to do animated gifs in photoshop. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while, so am very happy judith chose this theme. Merci beaucoup. Bisous!

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possessed n1

When i go to the islington farmers market on a sunday morning i always pass this cute little vintage shop. I take a peek through the window and am always disappointed it’s still closed at that time of the morning.

A couple of weeks ago i got to the market late, in fact just before closing time and low and behold, the gorgeous shop was open! Result! Upon entering, i was immediately smitten. I was greeted by the lovely owner, tania rowling, who lives above the shop and immediately asked whether i could come back, take photos and do a little interview. Phew, she said ‘yes’.

Meet tania.

Why did you open possessed n1 and why? I decided to open a shop and live above it when i was planning to move out of my live/work sugar warehouse in bow. It took much persuading by my sister cindy who is my business partner.

96 Chapel was the first property we looked at and we were both excited that it was in chapel market as this street had been an enormous part of our childhood. I had always wanted a shop and have collected and worn vintage clothes since my teenage years, forever trawling camden market and charity shops for some treasure. I have a big collection of 1930 -1950s clothes especially dresses and 40s suits and my flat has always resembled a mixture of a museum/mad vintage shop!

Cindy persuaded me to take the plunge in early 2011 to create a live/work space where i could sell my art and create an eclectic environment to sell vintage/design/fancy goods in a home, hence the big decision to incorporate my english rose kitchen into the shop.

Your place is very unique as you live upstairs! When we took on 96 chapel market we decided to create a home first and the shop would fit in around it – years ago i visited an artist house in NYC, a beautiful space where every thing was for sale and since then i’ve always harped on that i would like to create my own style shop/home!

Upstairs is smaller than i would have liked but as we ripped the existing flat out it has become a blank canvas for me to create my own world – hence the bath area is a main feature as that has always been my favourite room in my house!

It’s a constant work in progress and will be ever changing. We have plans to expand upwards in the next 3 years to create a larger living space!

Tell us about life before possessed n1  I have been a self employed artist for over 15 years supplementing my income with managing and working in restaurants. The last restaurant i worked in was moro where i managed the office and PR on a part time basis working closely with sam and sam clark. I always put my own artwork first and have been represented by a paris based gallery since 2007.

Having been an avid traveller from south america to asia and with london, paris an NYC being my favourite cities,  my inspiration for my work has come from those trips. I love bustling mad cities’ typography, architecture and transport and those elements are reflected in my work.

I was born in archway, north london, and have always loved this city with its buildings, mad unusual shops and cafes. I love the furrier costume shops on chapel market, the pie and mash shops, and any vintage shop front window holds excitement for me  and features heavily in my work.

Apart from selling in paris and doing art fairs such as the affordable art fairs in London and NYC , i do personalized commissions.

Can you describe possessed n1 in a sentence? A collection of all things beautiful, eclectic, where design and glamour rule.  Our moto: ” more is more”

Tell us about the theatrical telephone dress (here below) This beautiful dress & hat was made in 1956 for a fancy dress party for a mrs douglas m mickel from edinburgh. It came in a beautiful 1950s panettoni box. It’s definitely one of the most beautiful and unusual pieces i have ever owned.

How often does new stock come in? I am always looking for new things so i shop constantly. I also have a few dealers that i’ve bought from for years. They know my taste, so bring in new treats for me. The shop is ever changing!

So your wonderful kitchen is actually in the shop! You were telling me of dinner parties soirees…I’ve always loved hosting dinner parties and cocktail soirees so this is the next step.

Having worked in restaurants for years i have a big network of chefs and catering friends to draw on, moro taught me to arrange and organize private functions and sam & sam clark and other chefs from moro are going to come and cook here, so that’s really exciting! I want my dinner parties not only to be styled with vintage crockery and glasses but also music and film. My brother owns a film event company onedotzero and he wants to curate short films to work with the menu to make our dinner parties go to another level.

As for the soirees -I’ve got various events lined up for the summer – northern soul DJ’S – burlesque dance evenings – vintage hair and make up evenings. Each event will be styled!

possessed n1 is available for photo shoots and filming!

Thank you tania. It’s been fascinating and you surely put a stamp onto chapel market! See you soon.

Possessed N1
96 Chapel Street Market
London
N1 9EY

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east village – e20

Who remembers the london olympics 2012? Anyone? Well, it seems so long ago that i had the privilege to attend the paralympics opening ceremony. I still miss the atmosphere we had here in london and i hope the legacy will live on forever. (i think it just might)

So, i was delighted to attend two different events in the past fortnight that let me re-live that time for a couple of hours. The first one was in the form of a designers breakfast at the design museum. The theme was ‘collaborations’ and to kick off the series they were celebrating the largest and most complicated creative collaboration ever – the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The second one was a private tour of london’s newest neighbourhood – east village, e20, due to open as early as this summer for phase 1. I found myself back around the olympic village and thought you might enjoy a mini-tour here on colourliving. Thank you east village london for inviting me.

Let me give you the science bit straight up: 2818 homes – from studios to 5-bedroom townhouses. 11 plots and blocks designed and by 11 different architects. The homes are divided between 2 companies. Thriathlon homes, who allow you to rent or buy a home in the village and get living london, ‘a new residential owner and rental management company, who let homes direct to residents, making renting refreshingly straightforward and convenient’. The tour was organised by get living london.

As a home finder and designer i was very interested to see what a new village looks like, having had the opportunity of starting with a complete blank sheet.

The first thing to tell you is that security was tight. I had to bring identification and we had to have passes. The site is still in working progress so there are fences and barricades everywhere. I tried my best to avoid them in photos.

We had the good fortune to be shown around by tony o’reilly, get living london’s head of property and operations.

Tony is the best advertising for get living london. Passionate, engaging and very knowledgeable, after working on this for 4,5 years there is nothing the man does not know about the east village project. Here are a few interesting facts: east village is 40 hectares (400,000 square meters). It is the smallest athletes village in history. There will be up to 300 retail units. Security measures were so stringent that there were no fatalities amongst the construction workers. A first i’m told!

Let’s start the tour! With a new village comes new street signage. There is a story to each one but it will take far too long to go into this here.

These are some of the architecture of the buildings that caught my eye and some details. We couldn’t actually enter any of the homes as they were all being fitted with kitchens. Although the athletes stayed in all homes during the olympics, none of them had kitchens and all meals were served in a dedicated space.

Homes will meet high levels of sustainability including code for sustainable homes Level 4. With other buildings, such as the retail and commercial units, they are aiming to achieve the BREEAM ‘excellent’ standard of design.

What do you think of the elgin’s marbles frieze?

This is a block of flats with lots of black in it. Hence the name ‘nero’, which means black in italian!

One of the townhouses.

There is a school for 3-5 years old, 5-11 years old and chobham academy for 11-18 years old. (see here below)

There’s also a dance, gymnasium and theatre building. You’ll also find a gym.

Of course, there are extensive green spaces and there’s even a pond. They are planting over 3,000 new mature trees (including an orchard planting) and creating landscaped public spaces.

Additionally, they’ve created new wetlands and attenuation ponds that will collect rainwater from across the development and this will be used to irrigate plants and trees and provide grey water for the academy. In practical terms this means that the homes are built to be very well insulated and will have access to green energy through power generated at the east village energy centre.

The highlight for me was to see the sir ludwig guttmann medical centre, which opens this september, together with the schools. The architecture is superb.

You’ve got to love a building site, right? I simply had to put these in!

At east village, you’ll be within easy walking distance of the queen elizabeth olympic park, the aquatics centre, olympic pool, velodrome and other world class sporting facilities.

Westfield stratford city shopping centre is on your doorstep together with stratford international station with its outstanding transport connections to st pancras (7 minutes), the city (12 minutes), the west end (20 minutes) and europe (under 2 hours).

So what did i think? Well, i was pleasantly surprised. A lot of thinking and design has gone into east village and since renting is starting to outweigh buying (for the foreseeable future) i’m all for flexible and transparent renting terms. I look at rental properties all week long, dismissing 97% of them due to greedy landlords not re-investing back into their properties, yet demanding far too high rents for very low quality of property in return.

I’m often shown flats that haven’t even been cleaned after the tenants moved out. Those flats still get rented because people are often desperate to move quickly. Everything is demand and supply and landlords know that. At the moment you’ll find that many properties for rent in london have a price decrease. That’s because they were on for far too much rent in the first place. It’s rare for tenants in london to be completely happy with the property they live in and actually speak highly of either their landlord or the management company employed to deal with issues in the property.

I’m encouraged by the get living london promise of responding quickly and efficiently to residents needs, due to their presence in the village. In fact, they could put me out of work:-) and why not. I’m all for this new way of renting.

In terms of village and community, it’s difficult for me to predict what this will be like. I’d have to return in 12 months, after all homes are filled and observe if the original ideas and hopes for the village materialised. For now, i’ll give it the thumps up.

What do you guys think of east village? Would love to know your experiences with renting.

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wall carpets

Hello. It’s sunny in london, can you believe it? 

Now, who loves colour? Who loves illustrations? Who loves the british landscape? Who loves carpets? Well, for those of you that do, here is a visual treat. My very first blog was on my friend john, artist extraordinaire. I showed you bits of his home. John will be turning 80 next year but this does not stop the man travelling around the world and enthralling us with his art.

John’s new exhibition ‘british landscapes‘ was first shown at the knitting and stitching shows last autumn and will now travel to a number of galleries in the UK.

“My current exhibition was inspired by british landscapes. Many of the designs were worked from drawings, painting and photographs taken on site and then worked into designs in my studio in london.

I have, since childhood, been fascinated by landscape. In this exhibition more than any of my others, my design aim was to show my personal emotional response to the countryside. I have allowed myself artistic licence to move a hill if it stops the view of the sea beyond it. I have put a different prehistoric image in place of the one actually there. I hope this will encourage people to look harder and work out what is real and what I have changed in the designs, particularly in the designs where they are familiar with the actual location. Always however, I have remained true to the actual essence of the landscape in my design”

John designs and graphs the carpets in his studio in london and gets them hand woven in silk and wool in nepal.

Well, i’ll leave you with some of john’s gorgeous wall carpets. Enjoy!

Have a good weekend. See you guys on monday. 

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