Selvedge Winter Fair 2013

For the last few weeks I've been sourcing linen, ordering more screens and screen printing new colour-ways of some of my most popular designs and I'm really looking forward to exhibiting these at the Selvedge Winter Fair at the end of November.

Mr. Rabbit is looking very festive in screen printed bronze and Blackberry black

I take the photos of my work, my studio has good North light and so providing the day is bright enough I can (usually) take decent product shots using a tripod, that are good enough for press and other publicity. Below, Budgie and Chrysanth runner and Adams Pearmain apples.

New natural linen and colour ways for my Twine table runners. Although available with an alternative plain edge these now have a beautiful hemstitched finish. 

They look even better in reality!

Positively gleaming in teal and bronze, Fawn cushion (12" x 24").

Selvedge Winter Fair takes place 29th - 30th November - organised by the fab design led textile magazine Selvedge. If you love textiles, I can guarantee you won't be disappointed!

Find more information about the Winter Fair here.

I look forward to seeing you there! 

Colour from the season - Pine needle green

It's that time of year when the weather turns chilly and the concrete floor of my studio acts like a giant refrigerator, so for anyone else suffering from the cold, blocked up nose, or stuffy head, I thought it was timely to bring a few freshly cut Pine branches and their bang on trend colours to the notebook...

Just in case you are still feeling cold (or lonesome) this video of Laurel and Hardy singing 'Trail of the Lonesome Pine' works for me..!




...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Seaweed green

Every now and then I open a particular Photoshop file on my computer which contains layers of seaweed drawings (not dissimilar to the image below), because I find endless inspiration in the random piled up imagery that's very much like seaweed strewn on the shore. So when one day last week I was on the beach with Chip, I decided it was possibly as seasonal as it ever would be, to document a few of these intense sub marine hues in my notebook and share the pleasure of it.

Seaweed (aka Marine Algae) comes in all sorts of extraordinary natural forms and the three main colours are green, brown and red and of course shades of these.

The drawings were the motivation behind my 'Seaflower' fabric design. A surreal mix of Seaweed, Dahlias and Chrysanths.

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Chinese Lantern orange

Keeping a notebook of seasonal colours was I seem to recall, going to be for one year only, but then I discovered that it gave me a greater awareness of the plants and colours around me and kept me drawing regularly, which just in itself has to be good!

I've kept my blog closed to comments as I'm not at all thick skinned, can be easily put off, and can ponder far too long on emails, but thank you to those people who have contacted me, I've really enjoyed hearing from you! Quite unexpectedly it's also brought work my way - which has also been a great pleasure.

Walking Chip today I noted - Rowan berries going over, Spindle pods starting to ripen, Rosa Rugosa hips in full and seemingly never ending splendour, Acorns forming on the Oak, Blackberries ripening or ready to pick - all previous notebook pages and which remind me that another year's passing.

Just when I was wondering what could possibly grab my attention next, whamm! I spotted these fiery coloured Chinese Lanterns (Physalis alkelengi) in the local market. They'd look great screen printed I decided, so that's how I've coloured them...

Looking pretty hot here in a 1950's Freeform Poole Pottery vase, the dog ('s bottom) is by the marvellous (and very collectable) ceramicist David Cleverly! see more of his work here

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Natural Pattern - Dock Green

I happen to like Docks - not only because they are such a great remedy for Nettle stings, but also for the delicate skeletal patterns on the humble Dock leaf as it starts to decompose -

For anyone who may not have fully appreciated them yet - I thought I'd highlight four of North Devon's finest...

Dock shadows...

and bolder - alongside stripes of Dock green, brown, deep pink and shades in between...

p.s. outline pen and ink - infil the leaf itself - stripes experimental - colours CMYK
First day of September and there's a definite chill in the air!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.