It was a real surprise to find Head and Haft showing here as I’d already seen Chris’s work at Clerkenwell’s House of Detention earlier in the year. A Falmouth University graduate, his business has developed fast thanks in part to his ongoing work producing bespoke lamps for Nando’s. Yes, you heard me right. I 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.
Luke Bishop – One Year On at New Designers
I enjoy seeing the diversity of age and background of recent graduates at New Designers and this year was no exception. I was drawn to Luke Bishop’s lachrymatories (receptacles for tears) and dishes in the One Year On section. The different sculptural combinations produced by stacking various elements tell a story and the elastic bands […]
Textiles at New Designers
Ah, textiles. Here the selection at New Designers was bewildering but I’ve pulled out a couple to show you. Emily Thomas from Falmouth showed an intriguing collection of hand embroidery which has led to a job offer from the highly respected embroidery company Hand & Lock. These pieces illustrate her self-confessed haphazard routine getting ready in […]
Edinburgh College of Art at New Designers
This year’s New Designers Part 1 was generally acknowledged to be a vintage one; I was assaulted by colour, pattern and form as soon as I entered the Business Design Centre. Here is a taste of the work of 3 students from Edinburgh School of Art: Ainsley Francis showed a selection of sharply hewn glass […]
A Rum Fellow textiles
Seen in the House of Detention during Clerkenwell Design Week (hence the fuzzy photos as it’s very dark down there) A Rum Fellow, run by Caroline Lindsell and Dylan O’Shea, showed their Mayan range of textiles. Dylan helpfully told me about their mission to promote traditional crafts skills in a contemporary way. I can’t agree with him […]
Kit Miles at Clerkenwell Design Week
I’ve been following Kit Miles since first seeing his work at New Designers – it must be about 3 years ago now. I never took photos of his work as he was always busy; I don’t like to disturb people when they’re potentially selling. This time however, I caught him tidying up his stand in the […]
Ptolemy Mann’s collaboration with Johnson Tiles at Clerkenwell Design Week
One of the installations at Clerkenwell Design Week was Ptolemy Mann’s wall produced with Johnson Tiles using all 68 colours available in their Prismatics range. A straightforward, even basic product used with imagination becomes magical. We need more artistic interventions such as this.
The collaboration of designer and master craftsmaker at Hand in Hand, Paris
Another beautiful venue participating in DDays showed Hand in Hand, a collaborative project working with bamboo between french designers and Taiwanese craftspeople. Here is a selection from the show. This chair, designed by Samuel Misslen of Atelier [jes] and made by Lin Jiang-Cheng, won a prize for the minimum use of materials. The elegant table is by Johan […]
L’Ecole Bleue design graduates seen in Paris
Just around the corner in my local Paris neighbourhood I came across an exhibition by L’Ecole Bleue, a private design college taking part in the city-wide D Days. Now I don’t know much about design schools in France, never having taught there, but I’d always wanted to look inside this building, a former church, so […]
The Artful Project – a new online gallery for prints
Joshua Blackburn, who I met during Clerkenwell Design Week, recently launched The Artful Project with his partner Rachel Hotchkiss, selling limited edition contemporary photographic prints. They spotted a gap in the market for affordable prints, either framed or unframed at incredibly reasonable prices (starting from just £75). No need to go to a standard shop […]