Colour

I was first attracted to Alejandra Laviada’s work becuase of the colours, then because of the unusual objects that were the colours and then … well I was hooked.

Look at all these great photographs:

This is my favourite photograph (below):

She “explores the shifting relationship between photography and sculpture, whereby ordinary objects are stripped of their traditional function and perceived differently. Each body of work is an attempt to record pieces of history that are simultaneously being erased and created, and reflect a city struggling to reconcile past and future histories”.

I could not resist these chairs. The chair on the left-hand-side (below) is almost cute.

I love the way Alejandra has made interesting and beautiful the things we would ordinarily have either thrown away or washed.

My most treasured book in my bookshelf is ‘Colour: Travels Through The Paint Box’ by Victoria Finlay. (Note, the book has various covers).

This book is one of the few books I cannot read enough times. The first time I read it it took me two years to finish. I re-read pages, chapters, highlighted sections, underlined key phrases…..I studied it. It is a book of such value and wealth … I can go on and on but I think you get the picture.

Victoria Finlay fell in love with colour as a little girl growing up in India. Her fascination with colour has lead her all over the world. She tells stories about the history of colours, how they came to be discovered, used and what they meant. It is not a book about chemical process or industrial science, or even fashion. It is about the people behind the paints and pigments that have been used for centuries.

‘Colour: Travels Through the Painbox’ is broken down into colour chapters: ochre, black and brown, white, red, orange, yellow, green blue, indigo and violet. Each chapter is full of stories…my favourite story is probably in the Red chapter about how a young explorer travel led through South America searching for the secret of the Spanish Red. He found it in the Cochineal beetle and managed to steal a few which he brought back to Europe. Nobody believed that the little white beetles were the source of the rich red and he died before Europe discovered he was telling the truth. Another fantastic story is the search for Indian Yellow. It was believed to be obtained by collecting the urine from a holy cow after it gorged on mango leaves! The book is absolutely wonderful!

Colours have fantastic names: Bubblegum pink, Gooseberry, Sunflower Symphony, Fuzzy peach, Harvest Oats, Smiling Yellow, Hot Terracotta, Midnight Iris, Clouded Pearl, Tiger Orange etc. However, as much as I love this aspect of colour, I am not very good at it. So, to help me I have collected paint swatches that I can match a fabric to and name it. To organise these swatches I made a colour board.

My house is over 100 years old and my front room (which doubles up as my working studio during the day) has a hole in the wall. This used to be a window before the flatlet, which is where I live, was built. I have used this ‘hole’ to create my ‘colour’ still life of paint swatches and dyes - like a window of colour.

I have a very soft spot for colour. In fact, it is probably the most important part of any design to me. There is a definite magic to colour…. The stories behind various colours are also amazing. They are soaked in history and play as important a part as any spice in world history.

A few years back I attended a textile exhibition. I was on my way out when I came across this amazing stand that changed my life…

The stand was hosted by an Indian company that specializes in natural dyes. When I asked them about this they brought out a tray of about 30 different natural dye powders, barks and other substances. I was entranced. I managed to get a small amount of each ‘colour’ and now boast a small collection of natural dye stuffs. Unfortunately they did not speak English so communication was virtually impossible and I have no idea what colour the dyes produce, or what is a dye or fixative for that matter. I did experiment a little bit with them and discovered some amazing things - for example, one that looked like it should turn the fabric red, turned it purple…and when the fabric was dry it turned green! Magic! I even found that one tub was pure indigo….my favourite natural dye colour!!! Unfortunately I could not find the fixative for the indigo so it ran and both my dogs and I turned blue for a good few days!

I am smitten with this collection and it is now my biggest dream and goal to learn about natural dye stuffs and how to dye with them. I want to go to India and learn this skill because to me, natural dye has a magical beauty!

Every year Heimtextil trade show presents all the latest in textile design. It is often easy to distinguish the trends and to define in what movement direction the consumer is moving. However, this year (presenting Fall/Winter 08/09) there were over 2,800 exhibitors so to identify the trends was not as easy.

Here are a few of my favourite textiles (grouped into three trends I could fathom) from the show.

Nature: There is a move towards the more graphic art and nature drawings. It is the elements that are most important. Take for example, an ordinary tree trunk and fragment the colours inside into a formulated pattern (refer to the top right image). Gold is another big trend when mixed with rich red or royal purple (see the third image from the right on the top). Black and white is another movement (refer to the last image) you can see the influence of traditional hand-crocheting techniques in the flowers. My favourite in this collection must be the bugs and stem textile design (second image on the top). I do not know what the significance of the bugs having numbers in them is but the simplistic nature of the design and basic use of red and black appeals to me.

Clockwise from top right: Bruckert Creations; Plage SA; Quid Novi; Bruckert Creations; Stromma Sweden; Joaquin Reina; Prestigious Textiles; JAB Josef Anstoetz KG

Animals: I could not help but include these four textiles. The first one with the chicken and eggs I think is adorable and so fun. I can image this fabric as a cushion on a wooden bench outside a farmyard kitchen. Animals in textiles, as trend, can be either abstract and simplified or perfect and detailed like in the third textile of Squirrels and Deer. In this example I think it is important to focus on the theme more so than the design as a trend - the deers and squirrels are both cute and gentle creatures often used in fantasty stories. Fantasy and beauty are two big trends of the summer, more prevalent in fashion with the return of fairy dresses and the use of light airy fabrics. In the fourth textile below the deer is used again reinforcing this use of magic and symbolic power. The drawing of this textile is also very stylized and sketchy. This sketched quality has been around as a trend for some time now but I also do not think it is going away. I love it. I also think the unusual combination of elements in this design makes it special and even more interesting.

Clockwise from top right: Sprugel Hometex; Print Forum; Stromma Sweden; Rasch Textile GmbH

Combinations: Colour, colour and colour. Colours are in but it is the shade and hue that matters most! Look at the cushions by Mexx Bed and Bath (right) and you can get an idea of the colour combination and how prints are overlapped, combined and co-ordinated. Put spots with stripes or plains and suddenly it is not so overpowering, but once again, it is the colour combination that is most important. This chair by Globaltex Ltd has a purple, red, pink and lime green spot. It sounds a yuck colour combination but because the shades are right, it works wonderfully and looks delicious.

Most importantlly for Fall/Winter 08/09 is to have fun, combine your black and white sketch textiles with your brights (that are in the right shade) and create a house full of wonder!

There is this amazing website that is so beautiful I sat dazzled as the music played through the intro. I usually hate this kind of thing but this time I found it quite mesmerizing.

It is Pantone’s Colourstrology website by Michele Bernhardt.

The colour of my birth month - July, is Coral Blush. I don’t think I have ever worn this colour - but hey, who’s to say a colour is always meant to be worn. You can then dig deeper and discover your actual birth date colour analogy: mine says that I am resourceful, creative, innovative but it warns that doubt and/or conflicting emotions impend on these things including my productivity. I think they are bang on.

What a beautiful and fun website - go and check it out.

Inspiration is what keeps me in-love with life. My primary inspiration is nature. The interplay of shape, colour and texture in nature is idyllic. To me, it is everything I aspire for in my life: balance.

Let me start with colour. The favourite part of my day is sunrise – I adore the colours and the excitement of everything waking up. The above pictures are taken from my house (I know, I am very very lucky :)). Colour brings so many things to life, it is the richness in our lives. The first thing I do when I wake up is decide not what to wear, but what I colour I feel like wearing that day. Colour is very central in my life and the no-rule colour-pallette of nature amazes me.

For example, take a close look at the flower collage above and you will find fiery red, fushcia pink, white - the whole rainbow together creating a magical combination. This proves that contrasts can and do work in harmony.

Another inspiration with colour is the way it is used in Africa. People are not afraid to express, wear and experiment with colour and African ladies who either wear traditional clothing or apply this mentality to their daily wardrobes radiate with the riches of colour.

I grew up in Botswana and I remember spotting Herero women wearing traditional dress (above) from northern Namibia. Their dresses were so colourful, beautiful and I was captivated. These images are still very clear in my memory and make me smile. I love the way that Africa ‘dares’ with colour.

Moving to form and shape - nature is full silhouettes that I draw inspiration from. Below are some examples of both simple shapes and intricately complex designs.

Look at the flower study by Brian Johnson above and see how one can look deeply into something and find the most amazing details. Do you see the star pattern on the reverse side of the Queen Anne’s lace umbela? Look at the antique dried flower prints above and notice the fantastic silhouettes of the plants! I also love botanical studies such as Clinton Friedman’s photographs of South African flora above. The leaf silhouette is so beautiful and I love the King Protea picture the most I think. I could stare at it for hours. I find interpreting and transcending elements of nature to create new form very exciting.

I also find the way in which everything flows, evolves and creates emotion in nature wonderful. Watching water trickle over a stream is mesmerising. This water rushes but calms. The above picture was taken on an outing with my boyfriend to Kirstenbosch gardens. I love these extreme contrasts. One of my favourite emotional qualities of nature is how it does not judge – I can be me with all my imperfections and inadequacies. Nature accepts me as I am at that very moment. To be in and around nature calms, soothes and grounds me. I always ask, “how can I portray and carry such emotions to and through my design?”.

Sustainable principles tie in with the inspiration of nature.

We live in a consumer orientated world where we take, take and take. To give back offers balance. The challenge to be inspired by sustainable principles to me is very important so I take it upon myself that with every thing I design and create to include a ‘gives back’ aspect, in however small way.

Nature is beauty in it’s purest form to me.

One of my favourite quotes, which I cannot end such a post without, is by Salvador Dali. He said: “An artist is not one who is inspired, but one who can inspire others.” I think this is very true and so above everything, when I design, I design to inspire.

Wren bags are very special. Each one is unique, a one-of-a-kind, and with its own personality – just like you! A lot of time is spent making sure the colours and patterns of each bag work together. All the bags are made perfectly so that they last you a long time and meet the highest quality standards (as I am an admitted perfectionist).

Every bag is personally made either by me, or when the work load gets too much I ask for the help of two very special seamstresses from the local community.

Bag Description

• Hidden exterior pocket perfect for ipod, cellphone, keys or coins.

• 3 interior pockets: On one side a cellphone and wallet pouch and on the other side is a zipper pocket lined in a contrasting colour fabric.

• There is also a snap hook inside for your keys or small pouch to clip into.

• As a special surprise – each bag comes with a pouch filled with hand-picked and dried French perfume lavender from Franschoek – perfect for keeping your bag smelling great.

• The bag is closed by two hidden magnets. These magnets are very strong but are not placed close enough to cause your cellphone or other electrical objects any damage.

• Approx. Dimensions: 12.5”x3” at the bottom and 10” high. The shoulder straps are 24”.

• All Wren products are supremely crafted by hand in and by South Africa(ns). Great care is taken to ensure that all Wren products are of the highest standards.