Home is where the heart is

Homes and details that I think are pretty fantastic. Funny how a theme just happens when you start to pull together images. Must be the mood I'm in today....

 

Canvas, Emma, Dosa, Laviva, Elle,
James Plumb

Exchanging this for that

Is it still ok to talk about our times of economic woe? Three years and counting. But have you applied radical thinking to resolve how to make less, go further and better? How about exchanging skills or goods rather than spending money on them.... Gardening for a meal. Or building a website for painting and decorating. A book for some jam, or the idea above - a loaf of bread for everything from olive oil to a guitar lesson. Taking something you're naturally good at and exchanging it for something somebody else is much better at than you is not a new idea but possibly a forgotten one in the times of high street spending frenzies. In the recesses of my student mind are economics lectures on bartering (it's a long time ago) but I remember how much I loved the concept. Not just for the idea of saving/not spending, but mostly because by bartering or exchanging you have firstly engage with someone new, and secondly, you have to communicate with and respect the person you're exchanging with. 

Think of the fun you could have and the people you could meet. I'm going to make a list of all the things I'd be prepared to barter for, with what I have to offer - a quilt for a holiday? a lesson for some wine? dog walking for ???

In the pink!

 

Have you felt confident, courageous and vital so far in 2011. Bold and new anybody? Ready to face everyday troubles with verve and vigour??? Pantone had picked Honeysuckle as their colour of 2011, and I thought about it again this morning. Did they know 2011 was going to be a difficult year for the world? I don't think I'd want a room inside the house painted in it, as it may be somewhat overstimulating and physical for the place where you most want to relax.  I would however, love to see local buildings or council signage painted in this uplifting and positive hue. How about school gates or street bollards sporting it? Train line graffiti can and would be beautiful if it was in honeysuckle too, or even the seasonal planting in local roundabouts......

Any other ideas?

Just super photographers

I'm looking at photographers at the moment (any excuse) and I've come across two who's work I think is pretty special.

Above is Katya de Grunwald.

and then there is

Brian J Ferry. His work is featured recently in Kinfolk magazine.

Both filter light and compose their images beautifully. They also make you feel like you are actually there inside the photo, not just looking - that's a rare and wonderful skill.

Inspiration - birds

 

When I start a quilt commission, I go in search of inspiration. I don't actually look at fabrics or 'quilting' books, because I think that restricts your creativity and the way in which you 'see'. So I head off to galleries - Miro at the Tate was fabulous, as was the Twombly at Dulwich Picture gallery. I might look at paint swatches or buildings. I might look at gardens and I definitely look at books, just not books on quilting. I have boxes and boxes of tear sheets from magazines,concert programmes and ticket stubs - all of which could trigger something .

For a commission I'm currently working on, I looked at birds. Their colouring is an extraordinary gift from Mother Nature and there is a certain regal quality which totally fits with this client.

I find it's the best way to create the most fantastic and personal ideas, because you're not restricting yourself to what you think you should look at and somehow one's brain produces something completely different (and usually better) than planned.

 

Local love

Our local high street after the riots. Smash a window and raid the store, and the community will come back and show the love for Peckham, for their community and for home. 

Photos courtesy of the great Food Stories blog.

 

Home

It's difficult to concentrate today on tasks that don't seem important in the light of last nights events. We live in Peckham and we have a tenant who lives in our old flat on Lavender Hill in Clapham. I'm looking at images of my old high street. It's decimated. People are frightened. Some have lost their homes, many don't know whether being at home is safe. In Peckham, the shops are shut and the streets are empty. It wasn't a comfortable walk and I'm not easily scared. Peckham isn't violent, it's very community orientated which is why we moved here. 

Home is where everything starts. It's where you learn moral guidelines and know how to behave. So why are they doing it? What can we do to help our neighbour's and our communities to make us all feel safe where we choose to live. There are helicopters overhead already. Let us hope it isn't worse this evening, for so many reasons.

What shall we do? What can I do? 

Today

I started work on my first book....

That's a good day.