Kristjana S Williams – AmeliasMagazine

Amelia’s Magazine | Tent London 2013 Review: Best Wall Art, Furniture and Lighting

SPW additions lampshade
Lampshade by Parris Wakefield Additions.

I’ve already brought you the best soft furnishings and homewards from Tent London 2013 at the Truman Brewery, and now here is a round up of wall art, furniture and lighting, with a toy and notebooks thrown in for good measure.

Parris Wakefield Additions sofa
Parris Wakefield Additions is a new brand from husband and wife team Howard Wakefield and Sarah Parris, busy graphic designers once based in central London and now living in rural Norfolk, where they have enough space for an in-house studio. They are inspired by a combination of colour palettes found in the natural world and those of favourite paintings (a huge pastel rug design is based on a famous Hockney painting), resulting in eye catching pattern and colour combinations. Their computer generated abstracts appear on lampshades, wallpaper and fabrics. I love the ethical side to the Parris Wakefield Additions business – this upcycled 20′s armchair (above) was reupholstered by Out of the Dark, a charity that trains youth in new skills.

Rebay lighting installation
This super fun lighting installation by Rebay attracted a great deal of attention on instagram, though I still haven’t figured out it’s purpose since all attempts to Google information bring up ebay.

Geometric prints on lampshades by tamasyn gambell
Cockpit Arts based textile designer Tamasyn Gambell has been busy expanding her decorative offering: her geometric prints now appear on fabulous big hanging lampshades.

Blown glass pendant lights - curiousa and curiousa
Once again I was wowed by blown glass pendant lights from Curiousa and Curiousa.

Tent London Furniture Magpie lighting
The Furniture Magpies breathe new life into discarded items. This year they have turned their attention to old lampshade frames to create these pretty knitted lights that come in a range of jewel colours.

Lizzie mcullen at work on a mural
Illustrator Lizzie Mary Cullen was at work on a chalk mural when I walked past. This prolific artist creates bespoke imagery for many big brands.

Designer KSW studio
Kristjana S Williams has launched a new range of wallpapers featuring her instantly recognisable patterns; combinations of bold natural imagery and stark colourings.

Bear wall art by Kosmos Project from Poland
This 3D bear wall art is by Kosmos Project of Poland, a design studio set up by Ewa Bochen and Maciej Jelski.

Fibre glass stool inspired by an apple juice bottle, by Sit furnishings
Snarfle inspects a fibre glass stool that features tactile nobbles inspired by those on an apple juice bottle. Sit Furnishings is a new brand from Katherine Blamire and established designer Timothy Sheward, creating industrially forged products with a distinctly human touch. I was most impressed by their offering.

wood seat by Ruskasa from Taiwan
At the Taiwanese showcase we both loved this super smooth woven wood seat by Ruskasa.

Wooden magazine stand and stool by Moissue of Taiwan
This tactile wooden magazine stand by Moissue was also a winner: it neatly doubles as a stool.

horse shaped toddler stools by tamasine osher
What a clever idea; I so want one of these ergonomic easy-to-mount horse shaped toddler stools for Snarfle when he gets a bit older. Multi talented designer Tamasine Osher trained in architecture before taking an MA in furniture design whilst also working as an art director at a gallery.

Norwegian wooden toy by Permafrost
On the subject of things for children, this wooden toy by industrial designers Permafrost is utterly Norwegian and bloody brilliant: an oil rig with helipad and detachable helicopter: oil tankers also available in this prototype collection.

Sukie recycled books
Rescued paper notebooks made an attractive wall display at the Sukie stationery stand. The designer behind Sukie is a man, which goes somewhat contrary to expectations. Apparently most people expect him to be female and Japanese.

Next up: my review of the Three Four show further up Brick Lane. Read it here. Follow me on instagram for a first sneak peak at the design discoveries I make.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Tuesday October 8th, 2013 9:41 am

Categories ,2013, ,Brick Lane, ,Cockpit Arts, ,Curiousa and Curiousa, ,Ewa Bochen, ,Furniture, ,Furniture Magpie, ,Howard Wakefield, ,Katherine Blamire, ,Kosmos Project, ,Kristjana S Williams, ,Lighting, ,Lizzie Mary Cullen, ,Maciej Jelski, ,Moissue, ,Norwegian, ,Out of the Dark, ,Parris Wakefield Additions, ,Permafrost, ,poland, ,Rebay, ,review, ,Ruskasa, ,Sarah Parris, ,Sit Furnishings, ,Snarfle, ,stationery, ,Sukie, ,surface design, ,Taiwan, ,Tamasine Osher, ,Tamasyn Gambell, ,Tent London, ,Timothy Sheward, ,Truman Brewery, ,Upcycled, ,Wall Art

Amelia’s Magazine | Pick Me Up Contemporary Graphic Art Fair 2012: Pick Me Up Selects Review

Pick Me Up 2012 - Zim & Zou
Pick Me Up Selects – Zim & Zou.

There is one major problem with a trip to Pick Me Up contemporary graphic art fair: the vast choice of amazing artwork. Where then does one start when writing a review, or making a purchase for the wall? From what I hear most people come away with far more than they planned to, so make sure you set yourself a realistic budget before you go in. You have been warned…

Pick Me Up 2012 -Zeloot
Pick Me Up Selects – Zeloot.

The ground floor entrance is this year devoted to Pick Me Up Selects, the work of up and coming artists who have been chosen by a group of industry insiders, including Camilla Parsons of Outline Editions, John O’Reilly of Varoom Magazine and Angharad Lewis of Grafik Magazine. I was delighted by this year’s selection, which seemed more diverse and truly representative of little known artists than has been true in previous years. Here’s my highlights: some new discoveries as well as old favourites!

Pick Me Up 2012 - Zim & Zou
First up are some stunning neon and metallic papercut artworks by a duo: Zim & Zou, who are Lucie Thomas of the UK and Thibault Zimmerman, now working together in Nancy, France.

It was great to see work that has a distinct if not overt fashion illustration flavour: Riikka Sormunen‘s background in fashion design is evident in her intricate narrative pictures of elegantly dressed women.

Niki Pilkington
Similarly Nikki Pilkington combines fine pencil drawn figures with colourful collaged details.

Pick Me Up 2012 -http://mcdonaghillustration.com/
Opposite this are pictures by Tim McDonagh, a graduate of the University of Westminster whom I raved about when I discovered him at his graduate show in 2010. I am not sure how his mind works but as this detail shows it must be a complicated place.

Next up, another familiar face. The New York based illustrator Yoko Furusho features in my first book Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration, and her beautiful work is looking as uniquely fantastic as ever.

Sarah maycock bear
Sarah Maycock is another artist who I spotted at the Kingston University graduate show last year: I even own my very own screenprinted version of her fox! #luckyme

Pick Me Up 2012 -matthew the horse

Matthew the Horse is the zany pseudonym of a graduate from Bath Spa University. He is inspired by language and feelings and his very yellow collection of images is based around jobs and identities. I especially like the hyacinth bulbs and a curious monkey.

Pick Me Up 2012 -Sac Magique
There is definitely a strain of 80s inspired illustration coming through at the moment – Finnish designer Sac Magique is one example…

Pick Me Up 2012 -Martin Nicolausson
as is Swedish designer Martin Nicolausson, who veers ever more towards the surreal.

Pick Me Up 2012 -Zeloot

I was also most taken with psychedelic work by Dutch designer Zeloot that has a distinct 60s flavour in both colour and content. She likes designing within the limitations of silk screenprinting.

Pick Me Up 2012 -Kristjana S Williams
Kristjana S Williams is the creative director of Beyond the Valley so you may well already be familiar with her magical landscapes created out of collage and metallic elements.

Pick Me Up 2012 -Sarah Beeston
Australian illustrator Sarah Beeston studied at Falmouth College of Arts before settling in London, where she became preoccupied with politics and perversities of popular culture. She is creating live portraits at Pick Me Up every day!

Pick Me Up 2012 -Yuko Michishita
S for Shells by Yuko Michishita is a beautiful example of handdrawn typography, a swirl of intricate pen lines.

And then it’s on upstairs, where a host of collectives have been invited to display their wares in the long gallery space… find out who to catch in my next instalment…. in the meantime check out my listings for recommended workshops and talks.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Saturday March 24th, 2012 12:15 am

Categories ,2012, ,60s, ,80s, ,Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration, ,Angharad Lewis, ,Bath Spa University, ,Beyond the Valley, ,Camilla Parsons, ,Falmouth College of Arts, ,Fashion Illustration, ,Grafik magazine, ,illustration, ,John O’Reilly, ,Kingston University, ,Kristjana S Williams, ,Lucie Thomas, ,Martin Nicolausson, ,Matthew the Horse, ,Niki Pilkington, ,Outline Editions, ,Papercraft, ,Pick Me Up London, ,Pick Me Up Selects, ,review, ,Riikka Sormunen, ,Sac Magique, ,Sarah Beeston, ,Thibault Zimmerman, ,Tim McDonagh, ,Type, ,University of Westminster, ,Varoom Magazine, ,Yoko Furusho, ,Yuko Michishita, ,Zeloot, ,Zim & Zou

Amelia’s Magazine | A Review of the 2012 Art Car Boot Fair

art car boot fair May 2012
This year’s Art Car Boot Fair was a fantastically hot affair with a distinct lack of shade: not really the place for a newborn Snarfle, who travelled on my chest wrapped up in a leopard print scarf and shaded by a brolly. Lovely though this weather is, plenty of burning tarmac and reflective car surfaces ensured a quick whip around the stalls. Us Brits eh? we’re so bad at coping with extremes of temperature.

art car boot fair May 2012 - pure evil

Despite the heat the fair was busy, with more mainstream punters than usual which is undoubtedly a better thing for artists, the usual east end pissheads are probably more interested in conviviality than the act of buying. Of particular note was the vast queue winding round the Pure Evil orange van – clearly demonstrating The Apprentice effect. I’m glad to see Charlie finally raking it in.

Here’s what else I saw:

art car boot fair May 2012 -Bob & Roberta Smith

Bob & Roberta Smith was signing ironic placards, accompanied by three lovely girls in well advised wide brimmed hats.

art car boot fair May 2012 -Peter Blake
Peter Blake was selling special Jubilee prints, one of which was purchased as a first investment artwork for Snarfle by his doting dad.

art car boot fair May 2012 -Ian Dawson
Ian Dawson was touting crazy colourful sculptures.

art car boot fair May 2012 -Dave Anderson

We were most captivated by the work of illustrator and filmmaker Dave Anderson, showing with Scrawl Collective. Given his zany subject matter it comes as little surprise to find he also writes comedy.

art car boot fair May 2012 -Carrie Reichardt

Carrie Reichardt had draped her stall in a colourful Mad in England banner to better display her inimitable ceramic wares.

art car boot fair May 2012 -David David

I absolutely adore David David‘s typography…. and they were selling some wonderful hand printed t-shirts along side their graphic prints too.

art car boot fair May 2012 -pam hogg
Pam Hogg was selling inexplicably cheap signed prints, which may explain why she was so over people taking her photo. Rock and roll!

art car boot fair May 2012 -Double Regina Experience

Next door I experienced the Double Regina Experience from artistic duo The Girls: a bizarre meet and greet with two versions of royalty in a well decorated marquee. Surreal enough for adults – no doubt nightmare inducing for small people. I like that The Girls have created an artistic ideology all their own.

art car boot fair May 2012 -Outline Editions
Beautiful upcycled artwork by Noma Bar and butterfly prints from Kristjana S Williams, (formerly of Beyond the Valley) were flying off the Outline Editions stand.

art car boot fair May 2012 -Cliff Pearcey

I adored Cliff Pearcey‘s wooden upcycled art, as ever.

art car boot fair May 2012
Car size Scalextric: had the big boys intrigued.

Escargo
art car boot fair May 2012 -Escargo
Escargo – snail racing. As you do!

art car boot fair May 2012 -http://www.matcollishaw.com/
Mat Collishaw was doing a fine job of selling his insect prints.

art car boot fair May 2012 -http://coinsjunkyardsnackbar.tumblr.com/
Mike’s Corn dogs in a shopping cart contraption. Hot work! Rather him than me.

art car boot fair May 2012

There is an interesting confluence of fine art and street art at the moment and there is no better place to see this in action than at the Art Car Boot Fair – where so many forms of high, low, street and performance art exist happily side by side. Roll on 2013. Can we have some shade please?