Saturday 29 September 2012

A feast for the eyes.......

 Fromental's Head Artist Master Wang, who travelled from China. Image from Decorex Int 2012 
Linwood's new collection launch. Image from Decorex Int 2012

Decorex 2012 was fantastic! I had a great time wondering around and gathering inspiration and enjoying all the new collections and a catch up with friends over a coffee or two. My bag of show catalogues was rather heavy by the time I left on Monday evening.

I would say one major highlight was watching the talented Master Wang hand painting delicate paper panels. Fromental had flown him over from their studio in China, where he is the head artist. Over the 4 days of Decorex Master Wang  painted these panels for a silent bidding auction to raise money for the Maggie's cancer centres. I was fascinated by the delicate lines he could paint with quite a large Chinese brush and loved the soft colour palette, the birds and the blossoms.

Linwood also had a great stand which was full of interesting props to display their new collections. Art house was my favourite collection, drawing inspiration from train routes, retro letters, script and tea cups. Postal prints was the other collection I rather liked, with date stamps, post marks and copperplate writing as it's theme.

All the rug companies had lovely rugs on display and the theme of traditional with a contemporary twist was very much in evidence. 

So my little head is buzzing now and full of inspiration and beautiful patterns that I could develop mmm.





Above is an eclectic mix of images taken in my favourite museum the Victoria & Albert.

I love the V & A and always make time for a wonder round when I'm in London if I can. I find even though I've been a few times now, I still see new things and always come away feeling inspired and contented. I even managed to squeeze in a visit to the cafe and have a pot of tea and a slice of cake yum!

I spent ages going round the Islamic section and took lots of pictures and particularly liked the turquoise pieces, with their intricate scrolling and layered patterns. Some of the embroidery from the same region was also gorgeous, like this floor blanket the detail was incredible and  so delicate.

I found a bit of Art Nouveau too, very reminiscent of our time in Paris. This was a window grill from a building that has sadly been demolished. I love the flowing  lines and the colour is gorgeous too.

Old labels and postal marks are very much in vogue at the moment and I loved these labels from an old box that contained fabric pieces.

The last image is of a Chinese shawl, which was quite substantial in size and was said to have been used to decorate a piano. I stood and studied this piece for ages, the detail in it is incredible and the typical boating scenes pretty. Every last stitch was perfect and the graduations on the flowers was beautiful. Perhaps I should try some on my latest embroidery piece.

Another gallery I managed to squeeze in was the new jewellery section. This has pieces through the ages and is for anyone with a magpie instinct as it's VERY sparkly. Unfortunately photographs were not allowed, but I loved the Art Deco pieces and also some filigree jewellery made from iron and steel, who would have thought such delicate pieces could be made from those materials. Some of the collection can be viewed on the V & A website if fancy a peek.

So with a head full of inspiration I better get creating!





1 comment:

  1. Those panels are truly gorgeous, what a treat to see him painting them too. I love the V&A you could be in for days and not see everything. Lots of inspiration, look forward to seeing your creations jayne x

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