Colour from the season - Zinnia Pink

If you've been missing a regular dose of uplifting botanical colour - my apologies! I've been away and busy at Cornwall Design Fair!

It's fitting then to return with an explosion of colourful Zinnias - which in the language of flowers can mean absence, or thoughts of an absent friend!

Intensely saturated colours, I discovered these last week in a village shop in Chudleigh Knighton (near-ish to Dartmoor). The contrast of the tiny golden yellow starred pistils against the vibrant magenta petals is clashing and dynamic, but somehow manages to be not at all garish! A single red/yellow flower completed the fiery posy.

I wasn't familiar with Zinnia so it took me ages to work out what these flowers are called - (thank goodness for my RHS A-Z ) Those of you who live in their native Mexico and South West USA will (I imagine), be far more familiar with them!

Thank you to the Le Grice family for selecting my work for the second year to exhibit in the fabulous  drawing room at Trereife House during Cornwall Design Fair. It was a really successful show, hard work but a lot of fun!

(p.s. the Artisan feature about me in the September issue of Period Living magazine is now online! Read it here)

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

The little things - uplifting articles!

The little things in life that make the difference...

...After a fabulous holiday in France driving 2,300 miles in my VW van, (only one minor incident involving a very sneaky lowdown bollard!). Meandering from the Loire valley to the Pyrenees, exploring a landscape that was more varied, sun drenched and inspirational than I had ever imagined. Highlights included the breathtaking drive over the Millau Viaduct (designed by architect Sir Norman Foster), Chateaus, vines, vineyards and wine! Miles of empty straight roads landscaped with shady Plane and Poplar trees, fields of Sunflowers, Vultures flying like great planks in the sky, and lastly to Bilbao in Spain making time for a visit to the Guggenheim museum (Riotous Baroque exhibition!) and at last getting to see Frank Gehry's architectural masterpiece. Phew - all incredible!

...avenues of Poplars

Olargues (Haut Languedoc)...

On arriving home, I must admit to feeling just a little bit flat - returning to the realities of life again! so it was really uplifting to find a complimentary issue of the latest Period Living magazine (with a five page Artisan feature on my studio/work!) on my door mat! So a huge thank you to Rachel Crow and Period Living magazine for such a lovely article - on sale now..!