All Things Considered

Eleanor Pritchard

It was the twice yearly Midcentury Modern fair in Dulwich yesterday. A regular event for St Jude’s, it’s always busy and a great chance to catch up with people but there’s always a risk - that we see something on another exhibitor’s stand that is going to make a dent in our takings.

Yesterday I’d barely started setting out our wares when I spotted one of Eleanor Pritchard’s blankets and put in an order.

Working from the Cockpit Studios in South London, she creates bespoke hand woven designs and samples her limited edition fabrics which are then mill-woven in Wales. Her colour palette is beautiful. Colours subtly gradate through strong patterns - often with bolder colours threading through.

I love the colours and patterns of traditional Welsh blankets (we often have these on sale at St Jude’s) and Eleanor’s work has strong links with this tradition.

Looking at Eleanor’s website it’s clear why her work is so individual. A drawing of ox-eye daisies and and a photograph of one of her storyboards created for an architectural commision for the new central office of the National Trust show the influence of landscape and plantforms in her colours and designs. Find out more at www.eleanorpritchard.com

Cockpit Open Studios (Deptford) is on 17th and 18th May 2008.

Cadbury's can't handle luggage either

BA chief executive Willie Walsh must be thinking even Cadbury's have got it in for him. The newly launched ‘Truck’ commercial, a follow-up to the Gorilla playing drums to Phil Collins, isn’t quite as brilliantly weird but, it is weirdly brilliant how its launch coincides with Terminal 5's catastrophes. All will make sense when you see it….

Eric Ravilious and the Towner Art Gallery

Our friend Emma Mason is busy helping to raise funds for the Eastbourne's new Towner Art Gallery which is due to open this year.

Having studied and taught at Eastbourne School of Art, Eric Ravilious' work is a key element of the Collection. The Towner holds the broadest collection of paintings, illustrations and commercial designs in the world by this important, modern British artist of the early 20th century.

The New Towner Trust has launched the special limited edition sale of the rarely seen Lombardy Poplars, a watercolour by Eric Ravilious. The Ravilious Family and the Private Owner have given special permission for  this painting to be reproduced to help raise funds for the New Towner Trust.  The giclee print is available unfamed for £295 including delivery in the UK and framed for £395 including delivery within the UK.

For further details on purchasing this print, please e-mail Emma Mason.

Fantastic Plastic Cameras

I popped into Harry Cory Wright's stylish and very green Saltwater Gallery in Burnham Market last week. Looking around the gallery I was excited to see that he is now selling a range of very affordable plastic (film format) cameras namely the Holga, Diana and a fish-eye lensed camera I've forgotten the name of.

As much as I love digital cameras for there immediacy and economical use, I do also love the idea of using film again. Not just because you may think more about what you are snapping but also for the different qualities film lets you achieve.

Whilst searching for information on 'toy' cameras, I found an excellent and comprehensive photographic site, Lomography.com. If like me, you have no idea what Lomography means, click here and Wikipedia will tell you all. I've also  found a Holga enthusiast at Squarefrog.co.uk and if you find Flickr addictive, visit the Toy Camera group to see what is so fantastic about plastic lenses.

Barbican Conservatory

London’s Barbican Centre is a unique urban space and whilst it would be easy to dismiss it as a collection of fairly brutal concrete buildings there are plenty of green spaces to be found.

Established gardens & playgrounds for the residents and their offspring. Two lakes with reed and fountains. But its hidden oasis is the conservatory.

It might not have the amazing expanses of glass or the elaborate ironwork balconies of the glasshouse at Kew but on Sunday afternoon you can wander amongst the dense exotic planting, watch the koi carp in their little pond and seek out the terrapins in their lofty home.

The design is in keeping with the rest of Barbican - unadorned metal frameworks support climbing plants, pathways and raised beds are made of purple-grey engineering brick creating a certain 70s feel to the place - especially with the silhouette of a giant glossy Swiss cheese plant seen against the high glass windows.

Back home in snowy Norfolk I’m in the studio looking at my sketches - a contrast to the bleak snowy landscape here.

Devon Guild of Craftsmen

The Devon Guild of Craftsmen looks like an interesting place to visit. The South West educational arts charity, based at the edge of Dartmoor, acquired the Riverside Mill in 1986 and in 2004 the refurbished Mill was completed. The renovated Mill includes a exhibition space, cafe and shop.

Anna Trussler from the Devon Guild of Craftsmen sent an email last week informing me of an exhibition titled 'Reclaiming Beauty' which using Anna's words, is about 're making and mutating found objects.

The show will include artists and craftsmen who work with materials such as textiles, fashion accessories, furniture and metal. For those of you who enjoy the beauty of Lucy Casson and Julie Arkell work, they will be able to enjoy their take on reclaiming beauty. The exhibition runs from 3rd May to 15th June.

Letterpress

I'm spending the best part of this Easter weekend clearing out the shed that was designated as my letterpress workshop some months ago. In that time it seems to turned into a dumping ground for all sorts of rubbish.

So, I though it was time to do something about it. I've been collecting type for some time now and have two small presses - an Adana and a simple proofing press. There's still much to do but I can't wait to get started. I'll aim to keep a record of progress here.

It's been great to work with Phil Abel at Hand and Eye for our own St. Jude's stationery and vouchers - though it'll be some before we have to dispense of his services.

Doing a quick search on YouTube I came across this great mini-documentary which serves as a great overview of the craft. That said, I would definitely disagree with the closing comment that letterpress is 'going to die'. If anything, it seems to be flourishing - a visit to New York's Greenwich Village Letterpress would convince you of this.

Tinsmiths

Friday night saw the opening of a new exhibition in Ledbury. Hosted by our friends at Tinsmiths, it was a bit of a first for us - combining the printed work of Angie and Mark Hearld with the fabrics they've designed.

Phoebe and everyone at Tinsmiths had done a fantastic job of hanging the work in what is an almost domestic setting - all housed in a thoroughly modern showroom designed and built by Alex Clive.

We've always had an instinctive sense of exactly what St. Jude's is all about and why we set it up in the first place - but it was great to walk in another space and seeing how our work has been interpreted. Inspirational.

The exhibition runs until 12th April 2008 and you can view the work online. In addition, any personal callers to Tinsmiths can enjoy a 10% discount on our St. Jude's printed fabrics when purchased by the metre.

Jones Dairy

A recent child free weekend in London allowed us not only to walk at a fast pace, covering many miles, but it also meant we selfishly could do just what we wanted - when we wanted to do it.

For me, being in London is like being a kid in a sweet shop – so much to see and do. Confused by this, we started our Saturday by walking to the practically ghost-like street of Columbia Road (the flower market is on a Sunday).

It was just off Columbia Road, along Ezra Street which made we whoop with joy. This café is so brilliant, that I would almost drive from Norfolk every weekend to sit, eat and dream of having my own gaff just like it.

The cafe was an old dairy where once stood eight cows, suppling the raw ingredients for the homemade cheese shop next door. The cows have gone to pastures new but the beautifully antiquated shop with its original fittings still sells cheeses, sourced from dairies around the British Isles and the Netherlands.

Getting back to the café, the food is truly excellent. Eat kippers, homemade yogurt, smoked haddock omelet (I highly recommend), and bacon and eggs all cooked by an ex Moro chef, in a kitchen no bigger than the average sized bathroom.

I guess we were fortunate that we went on a Saturday; I imagine Sunday would be too busy for words. To see the opening times, click here.

Aylsham, Banksy and Tesco

Not  necessarily three words you'd expect to see together in the title of a blog. But bear with me.

Secretive grafitti artist Banksy has just struck again - with this work on the side of a pharmacy in London's Essex Road (which, coincidentally, I used to walk past every day).

We assume that the image of two small children pledging allegiance to Tesco is tongue in cheek!

Tesco have recently started building their new store on the edge of Aylsham and only time will tell how much of an impact this has on the town.

But there are some positive campaigns going on in the town - the ongoing promotion of Aylsham's Cittaslow status and the recently launched project to make Aylsham Norfolk's first plastic bag free town as of 3rd May 2008.

We've always used paper bags at the gallery, but we're still pleased to be supporting the scheme - which for us is as much about the general principle of recycling.

Find out more about the project.