Carnival by Paul Smith
I'm working on a number of projects at the moment where rugs and other soft furnishings are the key focus and each project could not be more different from the next. Luckily, for me, when it comes to rugs there is a huge variety of choice.
Magnolia Ice Wool by Vivienne Westward (great styling!)
The Rug Company is a particularly great source for rugs. I like working with them because their service is outstanding and their rugs are made by hand and so you can alter any single colour, if you so wish - which can be handy for us interior designers...
Homegrown Blue by Edward Barber & Jay Osgerbey
One of the rooms I'm working on at the moment is a playroom (for a brother and sister aged 8 & 2). The existing accent colour is red. The brief is to introduce a new colour palette that will unite the built in shelving units sprayed in F&B's Shaded White with the red toy box.
1. Owl, 2. Fishes, 3.Butterfly by Edward Barber & Jay Osgerbey
Of these four designs, I'll probably present two or three - as much as I love the orange/butterfly rug, I feel it's going be too much for the room. What a shame, it is gorgeous, wouldn't you agree?
What a statement piece! The decision to capture the motion of the birds' wings is what makes this design so special. Such is the skill of the weavers that it could so easily pass for a graphic print or a painting. Just incredible.
The styling shot is quite fetching. I love this rug because it is incredibly beautiful (and versatile!), but it also reminds me of the work of Bauhaus master weaver Gunta Stölzl as can be seen reproduced here by Christopher Farr.
(I wrote my thesis on the influence Bauhaus weavers had on modern day weavers Ptolemy Mann and Kate Blee - I'll have to write a blog post about this to tell you tell more - both designers were adamant that there was no link, and yet...)
Palette by Fiona Curran
This is my absolute favourite design from The Rug Company. I go to see it (touch it) from time to time at the showroom when I'm researching for a project and it just blows me away. One day...
The links to and from and within Bauhaus keep surfacing and resurfacing it seems where ever my reading eyes wander these days.
ReplyDeleteWhat I know about the Bauhaus would fit in a thimble but it has lately become one of my favorite topics - probably because I don't know that much about it. Looking forward to your blog post on the influence Bauhaus weavers had on modern day weavers.
Hummingbird and Butterfly rugs are simply charming.
Actually, I have a couple of blog posts on the Bauhaus saved as drafts - Anni & Josef Albers, for starters. However, your podcast on Johannes Itten must have made an impression because, here I am, less than 48 hours, blogging about it!
ReplyDeleteI will write a post on that thesis because it was good and although I'd like to rewrite it at some stage, I was surprised by how reluctant both Mann and Blee were to accept that their work may have been influenced by the Bauhaus. Especially when you take into account that the Bauhaus weavers (along with Klee (pronounced Klay) and Kandinsky) were the founders of contemporary textile design as we know it today. How could their work not have been an influence? I've posted links to both designers - you should have a look, Lori, they are both exceptionally skilled when it comes to working with colour. Ptolemy Mann particularly.
Anyway, it's late - why am I still up?! Thank you for visiting, it's so nice to have you here.
So if it's "Klay" instead of Klee is it also "Blay" instead of "Blee"? :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree that Ptolemy Mann in particular is quite gifted when it comes to color.
L.
Now, if only life were like that...
ReplyDeleteOoh, let's have a look...
ReplyDeleteSee what you started, Heather? I'm right there with Laurie. Googled some about Klee and my oldest has to rent a Spanish movie for Spanish class so we're headed to the library today - I can check to see what's on the shelves. And of course I'm off to see what Laurie has on her blog. . .
ReplyDeleteI love how topics spread like wild fire amongst blogs and podcasts - makes it so interesting! I can't find the Laurie's post, so I've been very modern about it and tweeted her, asking her to give us the link.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I was thinking that maybe we should have a Colour Collective newspaper on Twitter for exactly this purpose. What do you think?
Oooh, now that sounds interesting - didn't know we could do something like that on Twitter?!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find the Klee post either - but her blog is beautiful so I didn't mind. After awhile I forgot why I was there! lol!
Lauri asked me to delete her comment (for her own reasons), but she has a great blog, and so I'm posting a link to it. The Klee post we're referring to is on another (personal) blog of hers.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lauriegrassi.com/
Yes! please post about the Bauhaus weavers - I'd love to hear more... I love the rugs - the bird one looks beautiful enough to hang as a wall mural. Too gorgeous to walk on!
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle, the Hummingbird is actually quite incredible. I spoke with The Rug Company yesterday and they confirmed that it is hand tufted (insane detail!) and retails at £1980 per sq. metre AND there's a waiting list... So, yes, one for the wall, then.
ReplyDeleteI remember years ago dealing with a rug weaver in Kathmandu. Literally any design any size. I took a sample to a carpet store in London and they reckoned it was the best quality they had ever seen. 80 stitches? not sure of unit / square inch is deemed major league quality, theirs were 100.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm sure there is a frightful mark up in prices and running my own business I know a little of what it takes to set something like that up. If it sells then good for them, they've earned their reputation - their service really is outstanding.
ReplyDeleteLove the rug options you've presented. And I especially love anything by Christopher Farr.
ReplyDeleteYou have a nice post. Capturing the power of nature and putting them into rugs was amazing. That's the reason why I love using rugs. They come into various sizes, colors and shape but what is great having this peace of cloth on our home is that it adds life to our floor.
ReplyDelete