The Cult of Beauty

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is hosting an exhibition called “The Cult of Beauty”. It features the work of many artists and designers of the Aesthetic Movement, amongst them Walter Crane who has been a personal favourite of mine since my student days. Peacock feathers, lilies and sunflowers abound, not to mention the very many retail opportunities so when I saw this clothbound facsimile copy of “A Flower Wedding” I had to have it, you understand don’t you?

There were also lilies, sunflowers and peacock feathers to be seen in The Garden Museum, (next door to Lambeth Palace) in floral arrangements and growing in the church garden. The beautiful natural arrangement shown here was actually in the ladies loo. Art for Art’s sake, I am sure the Aesthetes would have approved.

And the winner is .....

We have a winner, the first name to be drawn out of the virtual hat, or random number generator if you prefer is ……. Rosie !

Thanks to all who entered in the giveaway and left such kind comments, I read each one with a happy heart and gratitude.

And now, back to work, I have a lovely newly stretched piece of paper on my drawing board but my mind is elsewhere. I left my inspiration somewhere in William Wordsworth country and forgot to pack it in my suitcase. I read this inspirational quote recently, which has been attributed to the poet “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart”, despite searching I cannot trace it to any of his writings, do you know?

The lovely kitchen photograph was taken at Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, I did think of attributing it to my own larder but you would not fall for that now would you?

Two hundredth blog post and a giveaway!

The time is flying by at an alarming rate, my garden is knee high in nettles and brambles, my laundry basket is groaning and my desk is piled high with work. One reason for this backlog is our trip to The Lake District where we attended a book repair workshop followed by a short holiday based in Ulverston.

I have of course taken a zillion photographs, which will have to wait for another day. Today I wanted to do something a little bit special, as it is my two hundredth blog post. I started this blog originally as a place to share inspiration and for me this normally comes in book form so today I am offering as a giveaway a hard back, cloth bound, (second hand, I pounced on it in a charity shop!) of one of the most exquisite books ever- “In and Out of the Garden” by Sara Midda. When I had my first child, some thirty years ago, my husband bought me a copy of this remarkable work of art, which sits here on my bookshelf and is a constant source of delight.

For those of you who do not know the book let me try to describe it; every page is hand painted or drawn including the text. It is a collection of garden lore, images and quotations, which have been exquisitely rendered in minute detail, the book was three years in the making and in my opinion is outstandingly beautiful. I am sure many of you will already own a copy but for those of you who don’t you can enter my giveaway by leaving a comment below and please indicate your wish to participate. Maybe you have a special, treasured title, which we should know about, please share your recommendations too. I will pick a winner at random on the first of June. Oh yes, and I should say that the edition that I am giving away is a second edition printed in 1982, Sidgwick and Jackson, London and is missing its dust jacket but everything else is good.

And now, back to the workshop. We learnt, over the space of three days, how to reback a Victorian cloth bound book. You know the sort, one that has torn endpapers, a tatty ripped spine and bumped corners; my shelves are full of them! We separated the text block from the bookcase; I needed to do some secondary sewing to secure the sections. We dyed new cloth and paper to match the original cover and endpapers. We then went on to reback and repair the book, taking time to make a new spine, repair the endpapers and consolidate the corners. You can see some of the stages below, click to enlarge.




the finished book! Just so we are all clear, the giveaway book is "In and Out of the Garden".

Messing about on the river.

Last week we went to Henley-on-Thames to visit Makower, home of Henley studio. I went to meet with the design team to discuss possible new fabric collections. We arrived in time to have a riverside picnic and walk, spotting wildlife along the way.Red kites circled overhead, coots and mallards on the river, chaffinches and yellow wagtails along the path and too many enviable gardens to mention.

Henley is quite a drive from our house so we try to combine it with an overnight stop in Oxford. As most of the students were still on holiday we were able to stay here in the most beautiful Elizabethan College and ate our breakfast in the ancient hall.

On our return journey we stopped at Stratford-on-Avon and took a ferry past the famous theatre and home of The Royal Shakespeare Company. As you can see from the photographs, (click to enlarge) the weather was amazing, sunny, bright and breezy. I should write more but I am now busy packing my bag for my next trip.

I hope to catch up with everyone when I get back,

See you later, alligator.

Sleeping Beauty and The Prince.

As the nation prepares for the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton, there has been much press coverage about the couple. One article in particular attracted my attention, that was a visit to the lake and island at Althorp.

Years ago, I was invited along with another designer and a ceramic manufacturer to visit Althorp the home of the Spencer family and the final resting place of Diana, Princes of Wales. The home is open to the public between July and August; although we went in the autumn long after the visitors had departed. The purpose of our visit was to suggest possible china designs suitable for inclusion in the exhibition shop. Sadly, my designs never made it into production, which was a major disappointment!


It was, however, a most unforgettable experience. We were shown so many things that day: the wedding dress, the exquisite shoes with details on the soles, the designer dresses displayed alongside photographs of each occasion. We later visited the stables, the memorial and the house, all bathed that day in a glorious golden light.

There was one thing that stuck in my mind more than any other and that was the lake. On that particular day it was resplendent in autumn colour as we walked along a path set with thirty six oak trees, one for each year of Diana’s life. I was told that the little row boat at the edge of the lake was used by the Princes William and Harry, to enable them to have some privacy whilst visiting their mother’s grave on the little island in the middle of the lake. When Diana was laid to rest there were four black swans swimming on the water amidst lilies and surrounded by carefully planted lakeside gardens filled with white roses, which were Diana’s favourite flowers.

It seemed to me so very beautiful and a fitting resting place for the Princess. Dan Pearson, the garden designer managed to create a scene from a fairy tale, it was in fact how I imagined an illustration from the pages of Sleeping Beauty.

Good Luck!

What brings you good luck? Is it black cats, or leprechauns, lucky heather, chimney sweeps, four leaf clovers perhaps?

I believe that there is truth in the old saying “Luck is when opportunity knocks and you answer”.

And so to the winner of my Novica Give away, I gave all entrants a number and put them into a random number generator and came up with number two, tra la …… Frances Tyrell!


And for those dear friends who entered and were not so lucky, may I leave you with this lovely Irish Blessing-

“May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light. May good luck pursue you each morning and night.”

$150 gift voucher to give away!

It’s April already, I can’t believe how quickly this year has flown. Here in Cheshire, England where I live the weather has been typical; March winds followed by April showers. Everything is greening, buds are opening and many wild flowers are making an appearance.

I did the painting above some years ago for a children’s book called “Down the Lane” which depicts the sights and sounds over the year. I recently had the artwork carefully scanned and now can offer prints in my Etsy shop. Like many other artists I have been able to use the internet to reach a wider audience. Not only have I been able to sell my wares but I have discovered many new talents, and new ways to shop.

If you appreciate the handmade you may be interested in the second part of this post and a special give away sponsored by Novica. If you haven’t come across this internet marketing company they work with artists and artisans across the world giving them a global platform and enabling them to sell their wares to a wider audience. They are a fair trade company who believe in creating a relationship between their artists and customers, they say:-

- “At the deepest essence of our philosophy, we want to create a bridge between you and the many talented artisans across the globe.”

And now for the fun part, I am able to offer a $150 Novica gift voucher to you! This free drawer is open to anyone who follows my blog, all you have to do is take a look at the website and choose which gift you would like from the many wonderful objects featured. You can learn about the artist who created it and where they are based. Just leave a comment below and tell me if you want to take part and your name will be entered into the drawer. One important thing to consider however is that the winner may have to pay some import duty or taxes on their gift so please bear this in mind before entering.

They also offer an extensive range of handcrafted, fair trade corporate gifts.You can see for yourself the very wide selection they have here.

I will choose one lucky winner on Wednesday the 20th. Good luck everyone!

You can learn more about this company and the work they do by following these links-
Novica Live
Green gifts