Serena Partridge- Small But Perfect

As always, I am on the look-out for bespoke items and gifted artisans.  Serena Partridge makes miniature fashion accessories and garments inspired by a passion for European costume, dating back some six hundred years. Her particular interest is for the flamboyant fashions paraded by the wealthy élite. Such as platforms rising to heights of twenty inches or the superfluous coiffures supported by Marie Antoinette. Although her works contain strong references to the past, Serena is not concerned with producing historically accurate replicas. In her work, scale and proportion are distorted to create curios that send up the frivolity and futility of life à la mode.

Though the work involves endless hours of hand stitching, it is not really embroidery; Serena is more of a mixed media artist who leans towards textiles. She mixes antique fabrics and trimmings with materials that will achieve desired effect. Kid gloves are reborn as elongated shoes and a fragmented wedding veil becomes the filling of a six-tier gateau; while heels are carved in wood and coiffures are fashioned from strands of fine silk.

These miniature accessories are crafted from fine papers, with tiny hand-stitching up the back of the stockings and 25 carefully cut pieces of card, stacked and sanded to create the shaped heels of the mules. The embellishments are hand-made with silk ribbons, antique lace and cut-steel beads.

 If you are looking for something a little different, the shoes and stockings are perfect unique gifts for special occasions and followers of fashion. They can be personalised with a message printed inside a tiny card or on a miniature label.

 

For more information view www.serenapartridge.co.uk

Amanda Cobbett-Textile Artist

Who thought that Paper Mache could be so exciting! I just love these quirky sculptures. I hope you do too.

Amanda creates sculptures, embroideries and paintings based in life outside her back door using a mixture of Paper Mache, wire, found objects, antique and up-cycled fabrics.

Her sculptures of garden birds are life size and accentuate colour and the intricacies of feathers using torn silks and lace, they often have little wire speech bubbles with quotes and phrases, quirky sayings or machine embroidered text in the body of the fabric and sometimes ticker tape with a little 'ode' about each bird. Unique and colourful, they make a wonderful gift.

Amanda runs workshops for schools, colleges and art societies, and private groups if you want to have a go yourself, what great fun!

 

 

For more details and to shop:  www.amandacobbett.com

Bye for now
Sara x

Welbeck Tiles- Made in Britain

I love companies that support British craftsmanship and create bespoke products. Welbeck Tiles produce some of the most beautiful tiles that I have ever seen and make a real design statement in your home, whilst offering a truly personal service to all their clients.

This small-scale, batch production gives the tiles a truly unique quality which could never be replicated in mass-production.  All the tiles are made to an extremely high standard using a very labour-intensive techniques and only the best English materials are used, sourced from suppliers who too take great pride in their products.

Designed and made in a small workshop in Cornwall, using traditional techniques that have been in use in the pottery industry for more than a century, Brenda Bates, the MD and chief designer has a real passion for creating beautiful tiles.

Brenda has been involved in ceramic design and manufacture for over 25 years. After gaining an MA in Ceramic Design from Staffordshire University in Stoke-on-Trent, she went on to work in the ceramic tableware industry for a brief spell. Quickly realizing that this would be far too restrictive, as the industry was then very conservative in terms of decoration, she started her own company in 1988, producing china dinner services and giftware.

An extremely successful number of years followed, designing ranges for some of the world’s most prestigious department stores in the world, such as Bergdorf Goodman in New York as well as various London-based companies including the David Linley Furniture Company, Renwick & Clarke and the Irish Georgian Society. She also worked on numerous exclusive private commissions for some of the most highly-regarded names in Europe.

 In 1996, Welbeck Tiles was formed and with its innovative designs quickly grew to supply over 100 tile retailers throughout the country. They now only sell directly by mail-order and through a selected network of the best handmade kitchen companies in the UK. A lovely range of ceramic brooches and mugs is also available to buy online.

 

For more information and to view their stunning range; www.welbeck.com

 All the best

Sara X

Lucy King-Handbags

I think that quirky fashion accessories as well as been great fun, can really lift an outfit and also make wonderful presents. I love the humour and beautifully colourful designs of Lucy King.

Lucy King is an independent business, based in Yorkshire, dedicated entirely to textiles, primarily handbags and accessories. All of the products available at Lucy King are entirely hand crafted, making each piece truly unique.

To view the range: http://www.lucy-king.com

I have posted several lovely images for you.

Sara x

Ruth Singer-Textile Artist

As a textile artist myself, I really appreciate the work and love that goes into a piece of work. I find the work of Ruth Singer very interesting.

Ruth creates detailed and interesting textile artworks inspired by historical textiles, museum objects, personal heritage, memory and stories. She combines natural and vintage textiles with hand stitching as well as fabric manipulation techniques to create texture. Ruth’s textile practice was established in 2005. She has been commissioned by Derby Museum Service to create work based on their African collections and have work in the permanent collection of Staffordshire Museum Service, based on their Victorian photographs of women criminals.

Her more recent work incorporates photography, experimental dyeing and found objects. Many of the techniques used are developed from her study of historical textiles. She created an installation piece in collaboration with weaver Jan Garside and a collection of objects with jeweller Alys Power. Series: Monumental Folly which explores love and the sense of place associated with a particular building, won Ruth the Craft space Prize at Unit Twelve Contemporary Craft Open 2012.

Smaller pieces of framed and unframed work suitable for the home are now for sale on madebyhandonline.com

 For more details - http://ruthsinger.com

 

 

Take care Sara x

Art Meets Fashion

Hermes Limited-Edition Scarves by Hiroshi Sugimoto. 

I love the mixing of art, fashion and craftsmanship, the recent design collaboration of Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto with iconic fashion house Hermes, does just that. Famous for its beautiful, colourful scarves and exciting marketing campaigns Hermes is one of the leading luxury scarf brands in the world.

 
The ‘Couleurs de l’ombre’ range of limited-edition silk scarves is inspired by Polaroid’s of the artist’s ‘Colour of Shadow’ collection. In his ‘Colour of Shadow’ artworks, Sugimoto used a Polaroid camera to take long-exposure shots of cinema screens, light passing through prism, and extreme close-ups of colours to create vibrant and colourful photos.

Hermes selected some of Sugimoto’s Polaroid’s and printed them on silk scarves using ink jet printing. These stunning scarves are truly works of art.

http://editeur-en.hermes.com for more details

 

 

 

The Colourful World of Sisters Gulassa

I love colour and pattern and no-one does this with more flair than Sister Gulassa. They are crazy about pattern mixing and bright bold colours and their passion really shows in their unique work-style.

 

Sisters Gulassa is an international design studio. It was founded by two sisters, Lise who is based in California and Cyrille who is based in Vienna. This brand specializes in vibrant, vivacious prints and products for interior and fashion, creative direction, design development and branding. They work with many well-known clients such as; as Old Navy, The North Face, Carve Designs, Gap and Pottery Barn. Their work includes a unique line of wall runners, wall murals, floor flowers, paper products, fabric, and totes

“Both sisters design, research and create art. Their backgrounds started with art, fashion and advertising and while working together abroad in Romania, they realized their combined interests could result in a rather vibrant body of work.

They also produce stunning wall pieces in mixed media which can be purchased through Saatchi or Spoon flower.

I have posted a wonderful selection of work to brighten up your day!

 

 

 

 

 

For more information go to www.sistergulassa.com

 

Sara x