Monterey Cone journey's around the world with Åry

It has been a very exciting Autumn for my Monterey Cone, which has headed off in various re- designed forms, from its home here on the edge of Exmoor in North Devon, on a journey, not only to regions of the British Isles, but to the far corners of the world as well. Who knows it may well eventually find its way to Monterey!

Firstly this year I was asked by the Swedish company Åry to design a new tray collection. They liked my Monterey Cone cushion, but wanted me to design something exclusively for them. I scaled down the cone, added some pine needles, then introduced a change of scale by including some branches and cones of the Larch. Thinking that a few rare Heath Fritillary butterflies may well have visited my cone in the Heddon valley, I added these in as well.

It's not possible to print metallics onto these beautiful birch wood trays, so I decided to recreate a metallic feel to the design, keeping the look of the copper/bronze tones of the printed cushion. Getting the exact colour balance was painstakingly slow, printing many sample colours in order to achieve exactly the right tones.

When you're working on a project like this, it can seem a long time before you see the product, or even share any images. The final trays and table mats were launched this Autumn by Åry at Formex in Stockholm, then Maison et Objet in Paris and are even better that I'd hoped. I was so pleased and delighted to see them when Åry sent me a photo from their stand a few weeks ago. Now that I have some samples of my own, I thought I'd write about them...

Table mats and coasters...

Moorland co-ordinates (!) with my new hand printed Beech napkins...

I'm reminded of the fact that I drew the Monterey cone after I found it on the ground after a storm in the Heddon Valley on Exmoor, and it has brought so much inspiration to me as well as others.

...and if that wasn't enough, the Monterey Cone cushion is exclusively part of the National Trust's Artisan and Craft Autumn collection, in some of the larger shops and available online here!

I'm exhibiting at Handmade at Kew, in the world famous Royal Botanical Gardens, from 6th - 9th October. I have a few Private View invites left for the evening of the 5th October, if you would like to come, please email me with your postal address and I'll be happy to send one to you (while still available)!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Tray bien!

A preview peek at my Moorland Tray collection which will be launched in January by the Swedish company Ary Trays. Rabbits and Pheasants galore :)

This week I've been taking tray photos - I'd forgotten that taking photos of trays isn't that easy! If the light hits the trays at the wrong angle, they can look strangely inside out.

I don't have studio lights but I do have four large Velux skylights in my studio and a wall of north facing windows. The sky however has insistently stayed a dense grey for most of the week so at even the slightest hint of blue sky, I've downed tools on the illustration work I've been finishing off for Buckfast Abbey and leapt into action up and down a ladder, as the camera was suspended 8ft from the floor above our dining table from a Manfrotto tri-pod (no dining table in the house all week to boot) - the things we do for love!

Speaking of which, I'm heading off to Bristol shortly for a friend's birthday - we've known each other nearly 40 years!! Happy Birthday Marion X

Hot off the Press! - Moorland Rabbit and Pheasant collection for Ary Trays

I can't begin to tell you how delighted I am to have designed a new tray collection for Ary Trays!

The samples will be arriving in my studio next week (and will be available from Ary in January) but in the meantime here's the very first photograph of the new collection taken in Sweden last week!

May I introduce...(drum roll)...Pheasant and of course his best mate Rabbit and some other Pheasant he met in a pub on Exmoor.

Designs in progress on the studio wall a few weeks ago...

Ary will be showing my Moorland Tray collection at Home (the definitive Homewares and accessories event), London 12th - 14th January 2014 - for more information contact Joakim Sohlberg.

Trays

There's nothing I enjoy more than learning about technical processes, so it was really exciting in March this year to have a wonderful opportunity to visit a tray manufacturer in Sweden to put some of my designs onto trays.

The trays are constructed from multiple sheets of laminated birch wood sourced from sustainable forests - with a melamine coating as the top laminate they are very strong and have an exceptionally high quality of finish.

Prior to manufacture, every sheet of birch wood is checked for quality. The sheets are then laminated and pressed using wooden and metal embossing presses and moulded into the many and variable tray shapes and sizes. It's still very much a hands on process using traditional craftsmanship and the trays are manufactured in very much the same way as they were 60 years or so ago, although much of the printing of the surface design is now processed digitally and not lithographically.

My tray designs which include Rosetta Glory (top), Geotaxis, Spiral, Cork and Dahlia & Chrysanths (below) will be launched in two weeks time at Pulse 2010, London!

  

finally a few cut outs of my personal favourite Geotaxis...!

If you would like further information about the tray collection contact Joakim Sohlberg at Ary Trays.