Season's Greetings!

Triangles

Tasteful press is always a bonus and December’s Grand Designs Magazine managed to thematically tease our Tessel wrap into a fine festive feature.

I realise simple geometric tessellation (repetition/rotation) is never going to yield truly unique results, but since working on the pattern I’ve spied so many precedents that I’m beginning to question my creativity!

New Prints

Phew! Managed to do a small run of two new prints in time for Open Studios… have I mentioned open studios?

'Snowflake' Poster

Reconnected with old friends this week, a pair of pinking shears. It’s funny how no other, more sophisticated framing device would do on this year’s Christmas poster. People must have been a good deal tougher in olden days though, these are like a compete workout for the adductor pollicis (a muscle between thumb & forefinger. I just looked it up).

 
Intended primarily for architectural plans, these A0 photocopied posters prove quite pricy, but I’m pleased with the halftone effect and it’s definitely refreshing to have a machine do the printing/folding for once. While I sit on my gluteus maximus.

Sweden

Turns out blogging wasn’t quite the breezy, weekly hobby Lisa had hoped. She’s been quite busy putting the shop online & scaling-up for some proper-size prints, so if you ever sense a change of tone, it's me (Edward) typing.

Admittedly, there's been time enough to visit fine friends in Sweden, where we saw the madly underrepresented illustrative work of Jane Bark. A weighty monograph, Jane Barks Bilder, covers the early paired-down exuberance of jobs for H&M, to the more pedestrian but complex style, where a handful of recurrent themes take disturbing shape.

Trying not to let customs notice our bulging luggage, we returned laden not only with Scandinavian ceramic goodies from the lopis (think car-boot sales with no the car-boots), but also two of these lovely prints.

Produced by Johanna Kalin (one half of design duo, Och Studio), these lithographs utilise the shortcomings of the CMYK print process by over-laying and over-printing the re-fed paper stock to create random effects.

Also stuffed into over-head storage were these wonderful vintage Belleri moustache handlebars for Lisa’s bike, salvaged with the expert aid (and tools) of Daniel Rybakken from the scraps of a forlorn 'donor-bike'. Mmm, a pity that one shiny new part suddenly casts others in the shade.

Gena's Genius

I  know it's pretty schmaltzy, but who wouldn't enjoy a night weeping in front of Nick Cassavetes’ The Notebook, like I did when it aired on BBC2 this week. At 74, Nick's mother turns in another exceptional performance.

My interest in Gena Rowlands began after seeing Gloria, where she’s all heels, hair and sassy comic timing. By turns challenging and rewarding, I dedicated nights to watching A Woman Under the Influence, the madness of Minnie & Moskowitz, Love Streams and the gut-wrenching Opening Night… even the DVD interview extras had me bawling.

Of course, hubby John Cassavetes was no slouch either. If you don't know his own films, you'll recognise him as the colluding spouse from Rosemary's Baby. In fact, here's a shot of him with Mia at the Dakota Building. Too stylish. Speaking of Mia, I might try Woody Allen's Another Women or Alice sometime this week.

Top Drawer '08

Trade fairs aren't the nicest places to hang out, which is probably why we only do one per year. We've just finished Top Drawer at Kensington Olympia and it was surprisingly good to meet so many customers and fellow exhibitors. We've rewarded ourselves with an extended weekend crammed full of car boot sales and cake. Starting at the delightfully quaint Fanny's Farm Shop in Surrey.

Allotment Treasure

Of course, I've totally managed to neglect the allotment again this year. Though, in truth, I've been a bit busy, I still blame the rotten weather. Luckily, I managed to catch the last of the roses to brighten up our Hackney home.

Press + Pull

Had a great night last week having cycled down E8's Ada Gallery for Press & Pull, a aptly titled show or silk-screens and lino-prints from 'just good friends', Kate Gibb and James Brown. Often their work is divergent, but here, either as the result of collaboration or clever hanging, colour and geometry is the order of the day!

Sunshine Studio, Tokyo

We were lucky enough to be invited participants in this excellent idea for an exhibition. After a rummage in our postcard box (doesn't everybody have one?) and a quick trip down Oxford Street, some of our creatures went on their hols. Unless you're traveling to Japan's capital anytime soon, you can see the rest of the show here.

Card/Invite

Mmm, the pencil design for this year's Top Drawer invite came out pretty nicely. If I can ease the double-width card in a regular envelope without unsightly bulge, I may even develop a concertina-style range!

Birds

I've been making these little birds almost compulsively, first from enamel painted air-drying clay and, more recently, at a small local pottery studio with proper glazes and everything. I'm sure I'll be posting my evening class achievements as they further clutter the flat.

Ding!

This rosy little apple is actually a cast iron bell. I think our Worm card may need its stalk adjusting accordingly.