Sharon Adams with her tool museum stood out for me in this year’s jewellery-heavy selection. She was busy when I visited so we weren’t able to talk but I did have a good look at the work. Her tools hint at now-defunct purposes, even if they didn’t have one to begin with. I know they can be seen as […]
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.
Men’s Society for decent gifts for men
I don’t know a single woman who hasn’t bemoaned the problem of finding a present for a man that strays from boringly obvious options. Is it because women tend to do most of the shopping? Many of the men I know would dispute that fact but somehow I know they don’t represent the majority view. Here […]
Arthur Analts’ Money bowls and a Stairway to Heaven
These useful and witty pieces really appealed when I saw them at the House of Detention at Clerkenwell Design Festival. Latvian designer Arthur Analts, now based in London, showed these bowls made from shredded UK Sterling bank notes. You can choose either the 28cm diameter one (made from £1,000) or the larger 50cm diameter (£3,000) for all your domestic needs. They […]
European hotel design competition for architecture & design students
ReardonSmith Architects and The Sleep Event have launched a competition for all architecture and interior design students in Europe. The brief is to design the all too often neglected staff facilities for a 4/5 star hotel in a major European city. Magazines and press always feature what we, the public, see in terms of design […]
Room 9 in The House of Detention
Ah yes, local makers…I love them. I came across Room 9’s drawers in the old dungeons on a sunny day. Here is another maker who reinterprets whatever they find around them and uses it in a different way. It’s so obvious: make a hole in the other side of the drawer and you have a tray […]
Event schedule for June – designer/maker studios and shows
Several people have commented that they miss some of the events I write about in this blog so here is a simple calendar of shows, exhibitions and sales coming up this month. It’s by no means fully comprehensive. As this is the first one I’m doing on here but in future it will only be available to […]
Clerkenwell Design Festival Part 3 – Installations at the Farmiloe
I had to include these two, both at the entrance to the building: Giles Miller Studio – who can not like this? London based with UK manufacturing they produce intriguing and innovative surfaces. This entrance, the Clerkenwell Arch, was the first thing I saw on arrival. For a photo of the whole thing visit their website […]
Clerkenwell Design Festival at the Farmiloe Part 2 – pop up shops
There was just too much to fit into 1 minute so here is a bit more… this time online shops and real shops had little pop-up stores so you could actually see product normally only viewed online. One such was Veja, showing their Brazilian organic cotton and leather trainers and accessories. Really cute with zingy colours. The Lollipop […]
Clerkenwell Design Festival at the Farmiloe Building – Part 1
This is one of my highlights during the festival. I love seeing the mix of new, developing and established brands along with displays and site-specific installations. It was all here this time and so relaxed; maybe that was just my frame of mind! I was delighted to see Ian McIntyre’s ceramics with Another Country displaying new products (see my […]
Collect London – metal and ceramics
Have any of you been following the series Metalworks on BBC4? It was only 3 episodes but absolutely fascinating; I hope they produce more. As a friend of and regular visitor to the V&A I enjoyed learning more about their collections too. Anyway, back to the metal and ceramics picked out at Collect. Looking back through […]