inspire*inspire

Fishtank Festival

They say ' Time flies when you're having fun...'
Well I must be having a real ball then, because I don't know where the past few months have gone...
To be fair, I have taken on myself some big projects with huge responsibilities...
The best project I am currently involved in is the interdisciplinary urban arts festival Fishtank, for which I am curating a fine art exhibition.

  

Fishtank festival offers something for everyone, with live bands, short film, acoustic music by candlelight, stand-up comedy, talks and of course the art gallery. We also have a bar, a cake stand and will be having a BBQ on Saturday.

So if you're in London this weekend, I do reccomend coming down to Brick Lane and taking part in the hottest festival in town!

See you at Fishtank!

Nano cage

The last few days have been crazy busy. I've been trying to cover as much of the London Design Festival as I possibly could, in between all my other obligations.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will share with you all the great finds I have come across, while visiting the different festival events and participating galleries and shops.

There's some really good stuff to come, so stay tuned!

But I'd like t start by introducing what, to me, was the star design of the whole festival...
Enter the Nano cage:

These little beauties are digital bird cages / art sculptures by artist Troy Abbott. They contain a digital video bird which makes for a very humane solution for all of us, nature lovers, and for those who just couldn't be bothered with cleaning up the mess.

Check out this link to the artist's website to see how it works.

Green & Yellow - Brazillian design

One of the stands that impressed me the most, at Top Drawer this year, was that of Green & Yellow. This London based company hand-picks some exclusive Brazilian designs and introduces them to the UK and European markets.

Here is a selection of the versatile design and designers, they represent:

 

 

All images by Green&Yellow

Dora Designs

Cute gift ideas from Dora Designs. Yet another creative British company, seen at the Top Drawer spring exhibition last week. Their range of products include Doorstops, draught excluders, paperweights, collectibles and even fridge magnets. All based on animal characters.

I was quite taken with the cute rabbits, but check out their gallery for more designs.

 

All images by Dora Designs Ltd.

Dora Designs products can be found online at: yourlifeyourstyle.co.uk
in the shops: Lakeland Ltd, John Lewis, Fenwicks, Fortnum and Mason and
Garden centres: Wyevale Garden Centres and Dobbies Garden Centres.

Gwendolen studios

Following up on the 'Top Drawer' feature, here is another creative company I came across and fell in love with, at the exhibition.

Young artist and illustrator, Anna Wilman, was given her grandmother Gwendolen's sewing machine. She was inspired by the well-loved 'Bernina' and started adding free flowing stitch lines to her colourful illustrations. In may 2005 'Gwendolen' was launched, with the first signature range of cards, appropriately named, 'Gwen'.

The talented Anna went on to create further designs, such as the 'decor' card range, based on Gwen's eclectic boudoir and collection of vintage furniture, shoes, bags and beautiful dresses.

Other ranges include 'shoes', 'animals', 'circus', 'little birds', 'Amilia' and several more. All featuring a unique and creative use of texture, patten and colour to create breathtaking designs, with a very distinctive style.

 

And a newly launched range of gift wraps:

 

As with the 'Rosehip' website, you cannot shop directly from 'Gwendolen studios'. These are trade only websites, but you can search for a stockist near you or contact them to find out who else sells their products.

Top Drawer: spring 2009

London is a great supplier of art, craft, design and inspirational events and exhibitions. Some of my favourites are 100% Design at the London Design festival, The affordable art fair, Origin and Top Drawer. All of which, I attend with great devotion and enthusiasm.

Here is a little sneak preview of some of the lovely eye candies I just saw at the Top Drawer spring exhibition today. Over the next few days I will feature these new products, some of which cannot even be found in the shops yet!

 

Wash your eyes and souls with these beautiful little gems... and come back tomorrow to read details of who makes them and where you can find them.

Be*inspired!