The department store Christmas displays are always worth seeing. Fortnum and Mason rarely disappoint and this year’s Piccadilly windows are a glory of deconstructed classical paintings inspired by the National Gallery. I’m not sure you can tell that this is a 3D construction including real objects from the photo: I like the fact that they have […]
One-minute blog of interesting things
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As a working contemporary artist I visit many exhibitions and shows, but sometimes it is the things I see that are part of daily life that capture my interest. My one-minute blog of interesting things reflects the fact that although we are increasingly time-poor, there is creativity all around us. Email me at info@carolinebanks.co.uk with your name and email to receive a weekly post that only takes 1 minute to read.
Christmas shopping
Now that it’s December I feel OK talking about Christmas. I was horrified in September to see a Christmas tree in a restaurant: my friend couldn’t understand the pointing and gabbling of ” Aargh, look, look!”. She thought perhaps that I’d spotted a celebrity but I’m not quite that pathetic. Anyway, back to Christmas and gift […]
Debbie Smyth – drawing with thread
Debbie Smyth is worth watching for her pin and thread drawings. Her graduation show memorably included pylons stretching over several screens. At Origin back in October she included smaller pieces more easily integrated into a domestic setting. Her depictions of often ignored everyday objects such as the supermarket trolley imbue them with unexpected poetry. The varied density of thread gives ambiguity to […]
Is there a new trend for urban topiary?
A few weeks ago I posted images of a topiary elephant from a front garden in North London. I’ve now spotted another topiary piece, again in a front garden and again in North London. Is this a trend? It isn’t really something you can produce overnight so either I’ve been extremely unobservant or there is a secret topiary […]
Bronzino in Florence
I normally only write about people and events based in London or Paris but this exhibition from a recent visit to Florence is simply too wonderful to leave out. Bronzino lived in the 16th century and worked for the Medicis, principally Cosimo I, amongst others. His skill for versimilitude was one of the characteristics of his work, something quite […]
Hermès pop-up shop
In Shoreditch till Sunday then in West London, this pop-up shop is a fun way of trying on the new collection of famous scarves. Luscious colour and print, some with up to 40 colours. They really are objects of beauty and can be worn in many ways. I had a kind of tied turban – not too Gloria Swanson. […]
Velo-re belts from bike tyres
A custom-made present for keen cyclists: take an old tyre and have a belt made by Velo-re. www.velo-re.com You can send in your used and worn out tyre (you know, the one you kept getting punctures in on that memorable cycle tour holiday) and receive a souvenir to keep your trousers up. You can of […]
Maya Selway silverware
The first thing I noticed was the silhouette bowl, seen in the middle below, basically a line drawn in metal. Some of them are freestanding and so fragile looking that I hesitated to hold them. There is no practical use for this or some of the other pieces but purity and beauty are reason enough. They are contemplative pieces: just looking […]
Vintage Fairs
London is such a rich source of vintage product it attracts stylists and designers the world over. Here are a couple of shots from one I visited recently. It reminded me of the early days of Camden Market and Brick Lane where I’d go searching for interesting clothes and accessories as a student. I still remember […]
The Savoy Hotel – open again.
Now there has been a lot of press about the Savoy: why it has cost so much, why it took so long, how similar it looks now to the old Savoy…need I say more? Well my personal experience is that, as with so many things, the more one learns, the more one appreciates the subject in question. […]