very sanderson indeed

i have been enjoying lots of printing in the studio for the past few weeks but last thursday i was lucky to have a day off and visit the fashion and textiles museum to see very sanderson: 150 years of english decoration. the exhibition was packed full of printed and woven textile and paper designs from across the years of sanderson. iconic designs and real technical innovation are great to see up close and in brilliant colour. my personal highlights included the heavily embossed wallpapers from the 1860's, a stunning hand painted early wall frieze with peacocks, william morris flocked wallpaper designed for queen victoria and flocked with merino wool, the slightly creepy disney collaborations of the 20's and 30's and headache inducing 80's chintz (i am sure we all experienced that trend). i just wish i had photos of it all:

(from t: embossed leather paper 1860's, block printed paper 1875, original 'chintz' machine printed paper 1905 and a current design 'dandelion clocks' by fiona howard 2009)

silk mosaics

out printing...

smiley faces

a collaboration collection from Louise Gray and Smiley for s/s 2010. this was a great collection to be part of, something very different. straps, bomber jacket and skirt lining all printed with procion and devoré.

photos from Louise Gray Website News.

deep blue

wax on...

made some mess last week with a spot of batik. there is something magic about the alchemy of dye mixing and the vat of fabric changing colour before your eyes. it can be hit and miss but then sometimes it's the mistakes that end up the best and a bit of photoshop inverting magic later... (see bottom)

graphic