Home STAR-3

Decoration home style|Home Star-3

2010-09-24T00:20:00.000-07:00

home new decoration
is the art of decorating a room so that it is interesting, easy to use, and modern. The goal of interior decoration is to provide a certain "feel" for the room; it encompasses applying wallpaper, painting walls and other surfaces, choosing furniture and fittings, such as light fixtures, and providing other decorations for the area such as paintings and sculptures. Interior decorating is done professionally by interior decorators.

Tradewins Queen Bed – For a Classy yet Relaxing Setting

2010-08-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

A bedroom can be rightly reckoned as soul of the entire house. Choosing that classy piece of bedroom furniture, especially a bed, can give sleepless nights to many. The perfect bedroom furniture is something that adds elegance to your bedroom, while providing maximum comfort. And what better option than an oak finish queen bed to add that royal touch. If you have spent hours on the Internet trying to find the finest bedroom furniture in vain, then we suggest you check out the Tradewins Queen Bed offered at Nebraska Furniture Mart.

Setting up your bedroom is of prime importance, as it is the place in your house that personifies peace and tranquility. So, when choosing a bed for your bedroom, consider a few things. First, select a bed that is spacious and provides enough space to unwind yourself completely. Other things to consider are the durability and comfort factor. With all these in mind, we think that the Tradewins Queen Bed, which can comfortably accommodate two adults, would be the best option. You can happily stretch out your arms and legs or even roll around on the bed if you sleep alone!

Owing to their glossy finish, oak finish queen beds have always been a great option to add charm to bedrooms. Thus, the Tradewins Queen Bed with a classy oak finish will be an elegant addition to your bedroom.

Most bed sets do not necessarily include a headboard and a footboard. But, the Tradewins Queen Bed includes a queen headboard, which is decorative as well. The queen footboard not only complements the elegant design, but also lets you keep your blankets in place. The set also includes rails and slats.

So, do you think the Tradewins Queen Bed will make a comfortable bed set for your bedroom? Then, consider purchasing it from nowhere else other than NFM, if you want to get the best deal ever!

Double Dresser

2010-08-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

Southern Textiles Ambrose Falls Bedding brings together beautiful autumn colors highlighted by a woven paisley comforter with lime greens, golds, blues, and orange spice

Southern Textiles Bridges Bedding is a simple ensemble consisting of woven fabrics in solid saddle tan and black

Southern Textiles Hobie Bedding Red, white, and blue stripes in all cotton give this contemporary ensemble the patriotic feeling of the 4th of July

Chrysanthemum is a large sale all over woven floral in black and gold on a luminescent ground. Different woven fabrics are coordinated to enhance this opulent ensemble and the decorative pillows are accented with Asian inspired details.

Lawrence Silence Bedding Collection

The Veratex Waterlily Collection drawns upon Asian influences to create a clean, modern ensemble. Veratex uses only the highest quality fabrics. In the Waterlily Collection, the sheen of these fabrics is offset by shimmering detail work, the combination of which softly reflects light to create a luminous feeling.

New Idea Luxury Bedding

2010-08-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Country Dressers

2010-08-19T20:45:00.000-07:00

La Salle Triple Dresser- Cafe Noir Finish

Celebrate Northern European Country styling with bold, architectural silhouettes and multiple colors in Alexandria Collection. Gentle curves, warm tones, and grand scale offer a new look to classic European design.

Bring a bright, classic style to your child's bedroom with the Sand Castle Double Dresser and Mirror in Pure White. This chic double dresser has a functional unisex design that grows with the child and blends right into any decor.

The Oak River Collection imbues your bedroom with a classic country look. A warm Oak finish and delicate traditional drawer pulls add grace to this collection. The complete look is one of country homes of the past. The Oak River Dresser and Mirror make a perfect pair in any bedroom. The dresser has nine drawers, and the mirror features a simple, elegant arch at the top.

Owen Jones and Medieval Stained Glass Design

2010-08-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Stained Glass from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament, 1856

In Britain stained glass design and production saw a massive rise in both popularity and function in the nineteenth century. It was used extensively in both the domestic and ecclesiastical markets and although artistically it can be said that the twentieth century may well have seen the apex of stained glass design work as far as creativity is concerned, it is still the nineteenth century that saw the craft appealing almost universally, probably for the first time since the medieval period.

Although Owen Jones does cover stained glass decorative work in his 1856 The Grammar of Ornament, it is very much tucked away within the larger Medieval Ornament chapter. However, there are twenty nine examples on two large colour plates covering the time period between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries.

As with many examples of ornament around the world and in a number of different time periods that Jones included within his seminal book, he was convinced that on average and with some exceptions, the earlier the period of decoration the more symptomatic it was to an ideal that later became subverted or diluted, ending in an eventual ghost impression of the original ideal. Although this to a certain extent is a simplification of Jones theories regarding the history of decoration, it is also to some extent again, an over simplification on Jones part of the history of the decorative arts. There are always a number of factors that go into the development of styles and eras of decoration. Trying to seek the early purest form of a decorative style and isolating that style from all other influences and cultural cross-pollinations is difficult at the best of times and often impossible.

Illustration: Stained Glass from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament, 1856

This theory of early is best, was used by Jones for his all too brief description of medieval stained glass decoration. He closely associated the pattern and ornamental elements of early stained glass design with that of medieval illuminated manuscripts. In some respects this makes a great deal of sense as stained glass, along with painted wall decoration was often the only physical example of the ideals of a religion that was available to the general public. The Bible itself during this period was considered off limits to all but the chosen few and therefore interpretation was limited to the visual.

Jones believed that the more accomplished stained glass designers and craftsmen became, the more pretentious they eventually became, adding superfluous affectations and gimmicks within the work. Eventually this was to lead to the craft trying to imitate the world around it, rather than being content to interpret that world symbolically. As far as Jones was concerned, along with many of his contemporary nineteenth century critics, the attempt was always doomed to failure with the craft tradition and decorative arts always being the ones to suffer most.

Although perhaps Jones critical stand was more of an ideological one than that of one that considered the elements of practical application, there is still much to be said for the theory. There is little doubt that many craft disciplines, particularly those such as stained glass that were heavily defined by their own practicalities, have suffered by the imposition of decorative fashions and styling. There are particular eras whereby designers either failed to understand the physical limitations of stained glass, or refused point blank to curtail their enthusiasm for decorative schemes in order to accommodate stained glass limits.

This attitude has inevitably led to stained glass work that can only be seen to be classed as such under the very loosest of definitions. It was perhaps no bad thing for Victorian stained glass designers to be gently attracted towards the earlier forms of the craft by such critics as Jones.

Reference links:
The Grammar of Ornament: All 100 Color Plates from the Folio Edition of the Great Victorian Sourcebook of Historic Design (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
The Grammar of Ornament. Folio Edition
Grammar of Ornament: A Monumental Work of Art
Victorian Stained Glass Pattern Book (Dover Pictorial Archives Series)
Stained Glass and the Victorian Gothic Revival (Studies in Design)
Medieval and Renaissance Stained Glass in the Victoria and Albert Museum
English and French Medieval Stained Glass in the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Corpus Vitrearum)

Interior Pictures

2010-08-18T06:53:00.000-07:00

Interior design by integrating several warnasehingga create a cool and beautiful impression in the eye

Wallpaper Design by Otto Eckmann

2010-08-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Otto Eckmann. Wallpaper design, c1899

Otto Eckmann can be counted as one of the most interesting and diverse designers of his period. When he took up a second career in design at the end of 1894, he put a symbolic end to his first career as a fine art painter by auctioning off his entire collection of work, so as to start anew and fresh as a decorative artist.

Eckmann was involved in the design work of textiles and in particular embroidery and tugs, ceramics, metal, furniture, wallpaper and graphics. It is with wallpaper design that we are concerned with in this particular article. All of the wallpapers featured here were produced by Eckmann in around 1899. They are a stunning display of an individual's approach to wallpaper design and shows that Eckmann was neither overly influenced nor cowed or intimidated by the long history and traditions of the wallpaper industry, particularly by an individual who was approaching commercial design from a fine art background.

Illustration: Otto Eckmann. Wallpaper design, c1899

It could be said that it was actually Eckmann's artistic experience that gave him a particular edge over some of his rivals. It was the individual approach to both styling and composition that made his work appealing for both its novelty and its decorative potential. It was this external attitude that often produced work by artists and designers that stood out when they approached another and relatively unfamiliar discipline, achieving results of unexpected and unusual directions. However, this was not always the case and there were some spectacularly dire results of cross-discipline experiments. These failed ventures have proved to be of a serial nature and have dogged the decorative arts world down to our own contemporary era, mostly in the form of celebrity design launches.

Illustration: Otto Eckmann. Wallpaper design, c1899

Eckmann himself was not of this ilk and the wallpaper design work that he produced from the 1890s until his death in 1902 at the incredibly early age of thirty seven, show a clear definition of his approach to the decorative arts. It has been said by many that the artist turned designer was heavily influenced by the Japanese artistic and decorative format, and while this is true to a certain extent, it can only ever be classed as one thread of the creative work of Eckmann, not the only one.

It is the graphic work produced during the last years of his life that tended to influence the rest of his work through the various disciplines. This is an interesting development as many of the decorative arts had come to rely on the defined graphic quality of flat design. This came to be particularly true at the end of the nineteenth century when considering the textile and wallpaper disciplines for example. A number of illustrators and graphic artists became involved in wallpaper design at the turn of the century and there was a relatively busy and productive cross-pollination of ideas and theories that was to include the whole world of poster art, text, book illustration and wallpaper design.

Illustration: Otto Eckmann. Margueriten wallpaper design, c1899

It was this fruitful period that coincided with the general European Art Nouveau movement, known more specifically in Germany as the Jugendstil of which Eckmann became one of the leading lights. It was with the help of the individual styling of Eckmann's work along with that of others in Germany, that the Jugendstil made its own unique contribution to that of Art Nouveau, often countering to a certain extent, the inbuilt and often overly conscious flamboyance of the French and Belgian versions of the movement.

As with so many scenarios of the early death of a talented individual, it would have been interesting to have known how Eckmann had he lived past 1902, would have affected and influenced not only the dynamics of German decorative arts under the Jugendstil, but much further a field towards that of German Modernism. How his own personal career would have faired during the first and most important half of the twentieth century, we will never know.

Illustration: Otto Eckmann. Self Portrait

Reference links:
Modern Style: Jugendstil/Art Nouveau 1899-1905
Jugendstil, Graphik und Druckkunst
Art nouveau in Munich: Masters of Jugendstil from the Stadtmuseum, Munich, and other public and private collections
Jugendstil Art Nouveau
Ornament und Illustration um 1900: Handbuch fur Bild- und Textdokumente bekannter und unbekannter Kunstler aus der Zeit des Jugendstil (Asthetik der Alltagswelt) (German Edition)

Rajdeep Interior Decoration and Cleaning Servicescordyn

2010-08-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

Rajdeep Interior Decoration

Modern Luxury Bedding

2010-08-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

Southern Textiles Larisa Bedding is a beautiful French vanilla shantung comforter made in a cotton poly blend that easily lends itself to a variety of room décor. The vertical stripes of the bedskirt and square accent pillows lead the eye to the splash of red and the look of a gold embroid

Southern Textiles Lattice Bedding is a soft teal lattice work design on a chocolate brown background with teal micro suede accent pillows

Southern Textiles Legacy Bedding is a sophisticated ensemble in rich golden hues with detailed cording and fringe

Southern Textiles Mabry Bedding is a contemporary set featuring a block design in sangria and khaki

The Southern Textiles Malibu Bedding Ensemble is a California or Florida cotton print concept of the magnolia flower, conventionalized. The creamy-yellow petals of the flower motif are punctuated by bright red-orange centers with multi-green leaves super-imposed on a grayed blue ground.

Southern Textiles Paddock Bedding is a large contemporary paisley print in avocado green and chocolate brown with muted yellow shantung accents and stripes with the same colors combined.

Southern Textiles Prescott Bedding is a gold comforter background with large Chrysanthemum flowers in colors of bronze and light beige.

Modern Bedroom Furniture

2010-08-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

If you want a modern bed with a traditional feel, check out this Contemporary Platform Bed in Cherry finish. It has the headboard shape of a traditional sleigh bed with modern cutouts and an angular platform base. The finish is rich and stunning, and this Contemporary Platform Bed is a beautiful way to modernize your bedroom. Add additional pieces from this Collection for a complete set.

If you're looking to redecorate your child's room with class and elegance, this Contemporary Kids Full Bed is perfect for you. You can't go wrong with its subtle and sophisticated style! Add other pieces from this collection to complete the look.

Modern platform bed with mat finish, has one drawer on the side and two drawers in front of the bed. Optional two drawer nightstand. Eight drawer dresser with st steel handles. Stylish mirror has wood frame.

Modern contemporary bed in lacquer finish

Modern Beds

2010-08-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

Modern lacquer bedroom in beige color

Planning to give a new look to your bedroom? If yes! Then the best option is to go for the modern beds. The bed in the above picture is known as Maya Modern Lacquer Bed, which is a perfect bed to give a new, and a modern look to your bedroom.

Contemporary design furniture doesn’t always adopt a minimalist lifestyle. Rather, it focuses on how space can be made useful no matter how big or small it is. And this is what this modern platform bed is all about.

Contemporary elegant bed

Lace Design Work of Arpad Dekani

2010-08-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Arpad Dekani Lace design c1908

Much of the early twentieth century revival of practical lace making, but more particularly that of designing lace within Hungary, can be attributed fairly squarely to Arpad Dekani. Professor Dekani, who started his career relatively humbly as a teacher at a provincial school in Hungary, eventually became a professor at the Arts and Crafts School in Budapest. It was in this position that he had the influence to restructure some of the aims and ambitions of lace production throughout Hungary.

Dekani used old traditional Hungarian patterns as an origin point in which to engender the production of a whole new system of styles for twentieth century lace production. He was also able to engineer the training of students on two levels. Firstly, there were those who would hopefully produce lace as a going concern. These students were trained in all forms of lace making as well as that of book keeping and the general maintenance and organization of a business. On another level Dekani organized the training of students which in turn who become teachers themselves. These newly trained teachers who were well versed in the new production and design parameters that Dekani had set out for the modernisation of Hungarian lace making, would filter out into the traditional areas of lace making in Hungary, particularly in the north of the country. These Dekani disciples if you will, were given the task of restructuring and repositioning local customs and traditional frameworks of lace production, not to industrialise the craft as such, but to give it a decent competitive edge within Europe.

Illustration: Arpad Dekani lace design c1908

A number of areas of traditional lace production in Europe particularly that of Italy and Austria, had already gone through a restructuring process, giving exports a much more contemporary look and feel to their lace design work. Although still based very much as a traditional craft, European lace did see a considerably robust marketing campaign in the late nineteenth century, but particularly that of the early years of the twentieth century, when so many other crafts and traditions were also having to reshape and redesign themselves for the new century.

Hungary as a partner within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, tended to follow the structure already set out by the Austrian craft schools and college system, whereby traditional craft design and decoration was upgraded, restyled, repackaged even. However, Austria was not the only example of this repositioning of design and craft for the new century. Schools and colleges from Glasgow to Moscow were having to re-evaluate the textile craft system, its present position and its potential future in a rapidly expanding market that was becoming increasingly dominated by mass production and consumerism. Hand production of printed and woven textiles, as well as that of embroidery and lace was particularly vulnerable to market forces. The situation was not helped by the increasing reluctance of customers to subsidise these traditional crafts by paying much more for hand crafted work than they would for industrially based work.

Illustration: Arpad Dekani lace design c1908

In some respects the blame for the decline of the craft system of hand production can be placed with the general buying public as much as with industry. Many who could afford to subsidise these old traditions did so on a progressively smaller scale. As fashion began to incorporate the marketing ploy of inbuilt obsolescence, there was even less room for the craft system to manouvere, particularly with a product that was often produced with the intention that it be seen as outside the role of obsolescence and therefore fashion. Even though some craft work might have attempted to compete with fashion, by its very nature and its high price tag, craft products were meant to be bought as long term investments rather than for short term profit.

This by no means implies that Dekani and many others like him across Europe failed in their attempt to redesign and in many cases relaunch craft traditions. There is a long line of repeated craft initiatives that stretch across the twentieth century. Many of these might well have been short term or failed for various marketing, pricing and fashion reasons. However, the craft system is still with us today and as it yet again restructures itself in the form of contemporary craft, we should be thankful for the many individuals, such as Arpad Dekani who kept the ideal of production that was largely outside the increasingly fragile and some might even say destructive cycle of fashion and redundancy.

Illustration: Arpad Dekani lace design c1908

Reference links:
By Hand: The Use of Craft in Contemporary Art
Contemporary Crafts
Form Magazine - Australia
Crafts: Contemporary Design and Technique
Arts and Crafts Furniture: From Classic to Contemporary
Contemporary African Arts and Crafts: On-Site Working with Art Forms and Processes [460 Photographs; 23 Color Plates]
Common Ground: Contemporary Craft, Architecture and the Decorative Arts (Mercury Series)
Craft and Contemporary Theory
Craft and contemporary culture,
In Praise of Hands: Contemporary Crafts of the World
Exploring Contemporary Craft: History, Theory and Critical Writing
Jim Partridge (Contemporary Craft Series) (Contemporary Craft Series)

Creating a Romantic Atmosphere with Color Alloy mood of a room

2010-08-12T20:10:00.000-07:00

A title and description Can Provide essential detail about this photo.
HOLIDAY INN

Creating a Romantic Atmosphere with Color Alloy mood of a room can be influenced by many things. One of them is by color. Selection of color for the bedroom is actually not a difficult thing. The average person applying neutral colors for her bedroom. Some people, choose the bold play of color in order to create a more romantic atmosphere. Similar to build another room in the home atmosphere, while establishing a bedroom, it should also set the theme of the atmosphere is expected.

Therefore, the bedroom becomes a place of rest, then the atmosphere must also be quiet and romantic. One way to create an atmosphere of calm and romantic, among others, using soft colors that match. If you want to add a motif, it can also be added floral motifs. For example as accent walls, curtains, or floor elements.

Moreover, note colors also blend elements of the space with color / motif beddings. Wherever possible, keep the color difference and the motive is not much different. Contrast differences can be reduced antarelemen harmony. Which consequently, may reduce the quality of calm and romantic atmosphere you want created.

INDONESIAN,Ravana model bed with coffee,

2010-08-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

Ravana model bed with coffee brown color finishing we offer to you at cheap prices.
Get a set of Ravana's room at a price of Rp 12.3 million, - which consists of a bed, a cupboard, three doors, one tolet / dressing table and two nightstand / bedside.
Moisture content of wood / Moisture below 10%.
By size:
Length: 200cm
Width: 180cm

Ravana model bed with teak wood is to use first quality teak TPK Perhutani.
With the best finishing processes with wood natural color makes this bed is very elegant and makes a fantastic work.
This bed is the best selling products in jeparamebel.
Contact us now to get these beds.

Bohemian Embroidery

2010-08-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Egerland embroidered cuff

Bohemia is the westernmost region of the modern Czech Republic and for centuries was part of the multi-ethnic and sprawling Austro-Hungarian Empire. Bohemia itself was, to a certain extent, an example of at least a bi-ethnic community with both Czech and German towns and communities within its regional borders. The embroidery within this article is generally Bohemian in context, but to be more specific it concerns what was generally known as Egerland embroidery. Egerland, surrounding the town of Eger, modern day Cheb, was in the extreme western area of Bohemia and was until as recently as the end of the Second World War, largely populated by those of German descent.

Illustration: Egerland embroidered cuff

In this respect it is probably wise to differentiate, at least partially, between German and Slav embroidery in the region. All the examples of embroidery shown here are of Ederland and therefore German origin. The rest of Bohemia tended to follow the larger Slavic tradition of national costume with large areas of embroidery work. However, Ederland embroidery was much more localised, and became more so the closer we get to the twentieth century where modern clothing replaced much of the traditional national costumes of the area. Embroidery became limited to much smaller areas of decoration, particularly around the cuffs of shirts and blouses.

Traditional Egerland colours for embroidery work tended to contain large amounts of blue and yellow, rather than the predominant red of Slavic embroidery. Whether the colour variation was used to differentiate regions and ethnic divisions is unclear, although the Egerland population's natural and consistent sympathy towards German culture, whether that be Austria itself or neighbouring Bavaria, rather than with the Slavic Czechs in the rest of Bohemia, may have something to do with the consistency of colour.

Illustration: Egerland embroidered cuff

What is interesting about the design work shown here is how closely at least some of the examples are to the decorative work produced at the turn of the twentieth century, particularly by those designers associated with the Wiener Werkstatte. This groundbreaking and popular decorative movement, which was founded in 1903 and was to dominate the decorative arts of Vienna for at least a decade or more, was dominated in its turn by what at the time was considered traditional peasant art. The regional diversity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire proved a particularly rich resource for the designers of the Werkstatte.

Bohemia was connected directly to the Wiener Werkstatte on a number of levels. At least a dozen of the large contingent, who worked for the Werkstatte over its lifetime, were born within Bohemia or Moravia, including Josef Hoffmann himself. Factories and workshops within the region also supplied products with the distinctive Wiener Werkstatte look, particularly in glass of which Bohemia was and still is famous.

Illustration: Egerland embroidered cuff

Although no sweeping statements can be made about designers with Bohemian or Moravian backgrounds swamping the Werkstatte with ethnically derived decoration, it is within the realms of possibility to say that at least some of the background and initial ideas of an artist or designer can originate from childhood memories and neighbourhoods. Josef Hoffmann himself has gone on record as admitting that his Moravian background influenced at least some of his Werkstatte decorative work.

Whatever the reasoning behind any influence on the Werkstatte itself, the design work shown here is fresh, lively and unpretentious. There is little of any classically static engineering of the decoration, with work appearing to be both bold and spontaneous. This general style of embroidery work which could be found across Central and Eastern Europe provided an enormous inspirational vocabulary for a number of schools, organizations and movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is certain that its influence, at least to some extent has been downplayed by the perceived influences of more exotic areas of the world outside of Europe. Perhaps this has more to do with European ethnic and regional decoration being judged as largley unaesthetic and broadly amateur in quality and nature. However, this makes it all the more important to recognise as an influence on the decorative arts of Europe.

Illustration: Egerland embroidered cuff

Egerland Embroidery, like all other regions of European embroidery work, has a decorative list of parameters that makes it unique within the larger European framework. It is this regional uniqueness, all with separate vocabularies, that has allowed European embroidery to become such a rich, diverse and influential medium that has spread well beyond its own craft.

Reference links:
Peasant Art in Austria and Hungary
Wiener Werkstatte: 1903-1932 (Special Edition)
Embroideries & Patterns from 19th Century Vienna (Embroideries & patterns from nineteenth century Vienna from the Nowotny collection)
Goddesses and their offspring: 19th and 20th century Eastern European embroideries
Wiener Werkstatte: Design in Vienna 1903-1932
Textiles of the Wiener Werkstatte: 1910-1932
Viennese Design and the Wiener Werkstatte

Mixed Media Artist Judith Plotner

2010-08-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Judith Plotner Adirondack Journal I

Many creative journeys are supremely private; others less so, many are degrees in between. The work of textile and mixed media artist Judith Plotner, although largely falling into the former category, can still be considered purely as an example of the rich world that can be composed from the elements that go to make up a mixed media base.

Illustration: Judith Plotner Slate Valley

Plotner uses the broad spectrum of the creative arts, bringing into her compositions the sensibilities of a fine art painting background, as well as that of printmaking, collage and textiles. The great strength of mixed media is the fact that layering and juxtapositioning can be achieved not only with the raw materials available within the different mediums, but also with that of mediums themselves. It is always fascinating to observe how sometimes a medium can complement another, while at other times the opposite can be both the aim and result. This can cause tension within a composition which can be intentional on one level, but have reactions and unforeseen results, sometimes on more than one level.

Illustration: Judith Plotner Adirondack Journal III

The compositions chosen for this article seem reminiscent of small contained packages as if they were enclosed personal observations of the artist themselves. In some respect that is exactly what they are. These observational diary pages if you will contain information, thoughts and muses, often scattered and seemingly random, though often connected by both the individual and the experience.

There is a sense of confinement that is physically attached to the compositions. The surrounding and inert space of these observational essays can seem to isolate the experience, but in fact it is much more a case of the outside space allowing the artist to pinpoint an experience. This helps to discover and identify the completed observation and in some ways allow the outsider to study at least some elements of the parameters that contain the thoughts and processes of the artist.

Illustration: Judith Plotner Autumnal

Although the outside observer is not privy to the internal creative workings of the artist, whether that be personalised or externalised observations and encounters, they can in some respects be privy to the journey itself. By understanding the practical application of mediums and materials, whether that be through layering, stitching, stamping, dyeing, painting or printing, this functional part of the creative journey can be both observed and admired.

It is said that all creativity is subjective, and in many respects that is true. However, often the practical working journey of materials and processes used by the artist can be objectively followed, sometimes producing profound or at least interesting analogies and discoveries.

These five compositions of Plotner's are finely tuned and specifically composed. They are an interesting example of both the personalised experience of an artist, but also of the sometimes complex procedures that can entail the practical application of a mixed media artist. The compositions are wide ranging in their use of mediums and materials and show the genuine creative scope that can be found within the mixed media world.

Illustration: Judith Plotner Global Warming

Judith Plotner has exhibited extensively across the US. She has her own comprehensive website where many more examples of her work can be found. A link to the site can be found below.

All images were provided with the kind permission of the artist.

Reference links:
Judith Plotner website

Home Decorating:New Home Fashions for Fall

2010-08-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

The New Necessities with Susanna Salk

Many of the pieces debuting for fall have wonderful personality. They feel handcrafted but not old fashioned; modern but never slick. From sofas to accessories, there's texture and personality in the details and, as a result, these pieces bring immediate character to any space. As unique as they look, there is always a modern accent at play. They can work with the existing look of any room—from antique to modern—so you won't have to compromise your style!

Home Decorating:New Home Fashions for Fall

Anders Zorn Tapestries

2010-08-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Anders Zorn. Dalecarlian Scene tapestry panel, 1909

Anders Zorn the Swedish fine art painter is probably better known outside of his native Sweden, as that of an accomplished and highly successful nineteenth and early twentieth century portrait painter. Zorn travelled widely in both Europe and North America and his portraits made him wealthy and acclaimed. However, as if a tonic for the often unrewarding profession of portrait painter, Zorn had a keen interest in the traditions of his native Sweden. The representation of both a rural and traditional basis of life in Sweden became more important to him as his life and career progressed, so that nearer the end of his life the subject of the traditions of Swedish life and culture became much more acute.

Zorn produced a number of compositions with subject matter that were based on the ordinary traditions of rural life in Sweden. These came in a number of disciplines, most admittedly within fine art painting, but some within the traditionally strong Swedish discipline of textiles. This was not particularly unusual for the period as many fine artists were keen to be seen as pan-discipline workers, producing efforts not only in textiles, but also that of ceramics, metal, glass and wood. That much of this work was art rather than design based did often limit the results, but it is still interesting to note the results of the process of a fine art sensibility being transposed into craft or design.

The examples shown here are relatively straightforward transpositions from a fine art origin to that of woven tapestry. Although there is no overly unique interpretation from Zorn, it is interesting to note how he has interpreted his compositions towards a textile based medium. The work has all the appearance of a graphic based dimension, with figures and backgrounds appearing both fresh and spontaneous, giving the impression of an element of contemporary vitality and spontaneity to the traditional rural scenes. Admittedly, this is not always the impression that has been immediately connected to either rural or traditional lifestyles, particularly by those of a more urban disposition.

Illustration: Anders Zorn. Dalecarlian Scene tapestry panel, 1909

All three tapestries are connected and should by rights be seen as a triptych of panels showing various aspects of the one theme. That theme was to illustrate the life lived in the Dalecarlian region of Sweden. Dalecarlia or Dalarna, is an area of the country that had become associated since at least the mid-nineteenth century as being in some respects, the heartland of both Sweden and its culture. The native Arts & Crafts movement was particularly interested in using Dalecarlia as a metaphor for all that was considered vital in preserving and prolonging the traditions of Swedish life.

Perceived heartlands were a particular necessity for a number of Arts & Crafts movements, more so in Europe than elsewhere. Specific regions and areas were often interpreted as literal vaults containing the uncontaminated traditions and root culture of a nation. Although much of this was clearly romantically misplaced sentiment, it does not change the fact that areas like Dalecarlia became the subject of intense retrospection and rich subject matter for a wide ranging list of creative individuals that included fine artists, designers, craftspeople, photographers, critics, musicians and writers.

These particular pieces by Zorn were even displayed at the 1909 Exhibition of Swedish Applied Art that took place in the capital, Stockholm. Zorn was not the only fine artist represented at the Exhibition, a number of popular and well-placed names in both Swedish fine art and design were represented such as Alfred Wallander, Carl Larsson and Gunnar Wennerberg. Zorn's tapestry work can be seen as a fine example of both the traditions of Swedish craft and culture, along with the sensibilities of a contemporary artist to those traditions.

Illustration: Anders Zorn. Dalecarlian Scene tapestry panel, 1909

Anyone interested in good selection of the fine art work produced by Zorn during his career might wish to follow the link to the Anders Zorn website which can be found below in the Reference links section, along with some relevant books on Zorn that can be found on Amazon.com.

Reference links:
Anders Zorn website
Anders Zorn
Anders Zorn Rediscovered
ANDERS ZORN, His Life and Work
Nationalism and the Nordic Imagination: Swedish Art of the 1890s
Greeting Cards: Anders Zorn Paintings
Anders Zorn In the Woods 19 1/2 x 15 1/2 Print
Anders Zorn 1860-1920: An Introduction to His Life and Achievements
The Prints of Anders Zorn
Anders Zorn
The Etchings of Anders Zorn: From the Collection of the Springfield Art Museum
Dagmar, 1911 Giclee Poster Print by Anders Leonard Zorn, 24x32

Embroidered Panel by George Washington Jack

2010-08-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

Illustration: George Washington Jack. Embroidered panel, 1890

George Washington Jack is the patriotically named Scottish American designer who spent much of his professional career in England. Jack trained as an architect and from 1882 became the chief assistant of Philip Webb, taking over sole responsibility for the company in 1900 when Webb retired.

Jack was largely responsible and best remembered for his prodigious amount of furniture design produced for, amongst others Morris & Co. Much of this work was produced during the 1880s when Jack became a convert to the English Arts & Crafts movement. This may well have been through his contact with William Morris, through Morris friendship with Webb and Jack's work for Morris & Co. However, Jack was no mere disciple of Morris, but in fact an independent and enthusiastic supporter of the movement which can be noted by his membership of such prestigious groups and associations as the Art Workers Guild for example.

Although trained as an architect and mostly remembered now for his furniture design work, Jack was also a designer of at least a certain amount of stained glass and textiles. As far as textiles are concerned, a particularly fine example is that of an embroidered panel produced in 1890. The example shown in this article is an excellent representation of what can be achieved through the medium of embroidery. Both the colours and composition are forceful, without appearing strident. There is a rich, though graphic quality to the work that places it very much as an example of the contemporary state of the decorative arts in England as it approached the final decade of the nineteenth century.

It is an example also of Arts & Crafts sensibilities, with the usual use of the abundant elements of the natural world. However, while much of the output of the English Arts & Crafts world was largely tempered by conservative values, along with the characteristic natural inclination towards understatement, Jack's embroidered panel is anything but. A certain element of the exuberant curving of the foliage could be seen as an indication of the inroads being made by the European Art Nouveau movement, and it must be remembered that this piece does date from 1890. However, although elements pertaining to Art Nouveau could be seen in the composition of this piece, it does not necessarily mean that that is what they are.

Art Nouveau struggled to make any headway in England, 1890 being still relatively early for an all out assault by a designer on the English market. This does mean that there was no evidence of the new European movement in England at the time, but is unlikely that a man as steeped in the philosophy of Morris, Webb and the Arts & Crafts movement would have seen the potential of Art Nouveau, when most saw it as a mere fashion fad that had no depth or substance. Most English and in fact British critics saw Art Nouveau as a European, but mostly French folly that would be replaced rapidly by an equally trivial folly. That Art Nouveau made such a fundamental and fairly universal impact on the decorative arts of not only Europe but also that of North America, and was to lead directly into the even more universal and all-pervading Art Deco style, perhaps showed the lack of objective judgement made by the British in regards to that of Europe, but more particularly France.

It would be tempting to imagine that Jack had brought an element of exuberant and youthful vitality from the new world to that of a stuffy and overly traditional old one. It seems unlikely that this is the case as Jack himself was very much an integral part of the English Arts & Crafts movement and of its traditional English philosophy, though it can perhaps not be ruled out entirely.

In the case of Jack's embroidered panel of 1890, it seems more a matter of exuberant detailing on the theme of the English Arts & Crafts mould, but perhaps more specifically of that of Morris. Notably, some of the central foliage seems reminiscent of a Morris design style, particularly some of his more Indian inspired textile work. The embroidered panel also seems similar in some respects to that of a furniture inlay. This perhaps should not be so surprising considering Jacks history of both furniture design and his woodcarving ability. However, whatever the reasoning or origins of the design piece, it is still a fine example of English embroidery work of the late nineteenth century, and should be taken as such.

Reference links:

International Arts and Crafts

The Arts and Crafts Movement
Arts and Crafts Movement (World of Art)
The Arts and Crafts Movement in Europe and America: Design for the Modern World 1880-1920
Textiles of the Arts and Crafts Movement
The Arts & Crafts Companion
Arts & Crafts Design

Interior Kitchen Spanyol

2010-08-09T00:45:00.000-07:00

Interior Kitchen Spanyol

Italian Bedroom Furniture,Best Bedroom Furniture Home Designs

2010-08-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

the Domino bed has a fabulous padded headboard covered in fine Italian wool, with a Tobacco Oak frame also topped with Italian wool (both in cream). The Domino has fabulous matching bedside cabinets & chests in a huge variety of lacquer & wood colours & the bed itself is also available in with a fully wool covered frame.

Domino Short Bed with Kelly Red Wool cloth bedframe & set

Bedroom made in Italy

Domino Bed with Black Pony Bedframe and set

Modern Italian Bedroom,Bedroom Furniture

2010-08-08T17:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a modern corner bed that will be the centerpiece of your bedroom. It is beautifully and carefully constructed with built-in nightstands. The versatility of corner platform bed makes them an ideal interior design. Its cherry color gives a modern feel to any room.

To those who prefer a wooden touch on their contemporary bedroom, then this modern Italian bed would suit their tastes.

The ultra modern Italian bed is designed to provide a functional bed space on a room that emphasizes the importance of space. This bed is wide enough for one to stretch on without feeling cramped.

If you want a solid, opaque atmosphere on your contemporary bedroom, then this modern Italian bed would do the trick.

This modern Italian bed fuses solid colors of black and white to create a deep, spacious feel all throughout the room. This platform bed is designed to provide low-rise balance which aims to keep the owner at ease and comforted as he sleeps on it. The bed is also spacious enough to accommodate slumber parties as well as sudden honeymoons.

Contemporary bedroom with black and white lacquer and white leather headboard, including lights from both sides

Italian Bedroom Set

2010-08-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

This contemporary Italian bed is made up of sleek, functional designs that try to make the bedroom space as functional as it can be. It is designed to keep up the balance not just in terms of style but as well as comfort. This bed is made of wood and is finished with wood veneer for a more traditional look. The cherry color provides a nature-inspired color making the whole bedroom piece as homely as possible.

Modern contemporary furniture considers not only a minimalist style but as well as the infusion of various elements that would satisfy one’s need for comfort, function and style. This is the main objective of this modern Italian bed.

Obsessed with the color white? Then this bed is made just for you.

This modern white leather bed is designed to meet the needs of those who want a white, clean and heavenly feeling in their bedroom. It is an Italian platform bed that is upholstered in top grain leather.

Bedroom set made in Italy

Joseph Paton Tablecloth Designer

2010-08-06T10:50:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Joseph Neil Paton. Linen tablecloth design, 1851

This series of linen damask tablecloths were featured at the Great Exhibition of 1851. They were produced by the Scottish company of Beveridge, founded by Erskine Beveridge and was based in Dunfermline.

There is a small element of confusion concerning the designer of these particular tablecloth pieces. In the catalogue that accompanied the Exhibition, the designer was listed as Joseph Paton. However, there are two Joseph Paton's, father and son. Joseph Neil Paton the father was a well known Dunfermline designer of damask work. However, Joseph Noel Paton his son, also produced damask work in Dunfermline, but only briefly before his real career as a successful fine artist became paramount.

Illustration: Joseph Neil Paton. Damask tablecoth design, 1851

Illustration: Joseph Neil Paton. Damask tablecloth design, 1851

It is probably correct to think that Joseph Neil Paton a professional designer, was used for Beveridge's prestigious display at the Great Exhibition, though the work of his son cannot be entirely ruled out as a possibility, especially as Paton was to become a firm favourite of Queen Victoria, which Beveridge would have been an unwise not to have used as an opportunity. However, Joseph Noel Paton was at the start of his fairly illustrious career in 1851, and it might well have been a little too early to have caught the imagination and eye of Queen Victoria.

In this respect these design pieces will be attributed to Joseph Neil Paton. The work is typical of the 1840s and into the 1850s. Much of the decorative work is European based, particularly French in style. An interesting point is that tablecloth design work often seems to have imitated carpet and rug design work. This can clearly be seen with the examples shown here. There is much in the design work that imitates French carpet styling and decoration during the period of the 1840s and 1850s.

Illustration: Joseph Neil Paton. Damask tablecloth design, 1851

These tablecloths may well appear to us to be a little overly decorated for a table top cover. However, they are extremely fine examples of the genre and it must be remembered that they would have had to have competed with the best that France could produce, which was substantially above what British companies were manufacturing during this period. Although the company might well have struggled in supplying France with damask table linen, they did have a healthy export market to the United States as well as a very good domestic market for their product.

Beveridge the company, was obviously not taking any chances at either mis-representation or under-representation as these examples are only a handful of over a hundred that were on display at the Great Exhibition. Textiles were a very large part of the Exhibition, particularly during a period when Britain dominated the cheaper mass-production side of the world market. However, it was the decorative and design led textiles that drew attention, rather than, as was hoped, the technology of the machinery of mass-production.

Illustration: Joseph Neil Paton. Damask tablecloth design, 1851

Patriotism and a certain element of ingratiation was expected from a large proportion of at least the British and British Empire exhibits. Beveridge produced at least a proportion of tablecloth work that fitted this criterion. A medallion of Queen Victoria is one of the most obvious examples shown here. However, there were also examples that showed St George and the Dragon, and figures representing St Andrew and St Patrick. However, these were only ever meant to be display options and possible souvenirs, while the bulk of Beveridge and Paton's work was for the serious business of marketing and hopefully the creation of new export opportunities.

Many dismiss the Great Exhibition as a vulgar display of excess, badly designed and mis-placed creativity, and monotonous machine produced work. To a certain extent this was true, but only partially as there was a fairly broad spectrum of machine and hand made work, with many diverse examples from across the planet. To have engineered this extraordinary event, displaying the world as it was in 1851 at one venue, is a feat worthy of admiration. However, for all future generations it has proved to be a valuable snapshot, an example of the state of decoration and ornamentation, for better or worse, of the mid nineteenth century. It gives us an unrepeatable and fascinating library of decoration and design.

Reference links:
The Great Exhibition of 1851: A Nation on Display
The World for a Shilling: How the Great Exhibition of 1851 Shaped a Nation
Britain, the Empire, and the World at the Great Exhibition of 1851
The Industry of Nations, As Exemplified in the Great Exhibition of 1851. the Materials of Industry (2010 Reprint)
The Great Exhibition, 1851
1851 Great Exhibition Fete Paris Grand Ball Hotel Ville
Echoes Of The Great Exhibition (1851)
The Great Exhibition, 1851: A collection of contemporary documents; (Jackdaw)
Lectures On the Results of the Great Exhibition of 1851: Delivered Before the Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce
Great Exhibitions: London-New York-Paris 1851-1900
Journal of a trip to London, Paris, and the great exhibition, in 1851

Metal Beds

2010-08-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Larissa bed frame features a smooth satin nickel texture in an antique brass finish with engraved Gold castings.

The Aberlour has a clean, classic, romantic style with sweeping curves and elegant design. Creating a relaxed and sophisticated look in any bedroom. Available in glossy ivory or satin black with antique brass.

The Ballina has a clean, classic, romantic style with sweeping curves and elegant design. Creating a relaxed and sophisticated look in any bedroom. Available in textured ivory with gold highlights or textured black with gold highlights.

The Carrick Solo has a clean, classic, romantic style with sweeping curves and elegant design. Creating a relaxed and sophisticated look in any bedroom

Wallpaper Motifs of A W N Pugin

2010-08-05T10:56:00.000-07:00

Illustration: A W N Pugin Wallpaper design 1840s

The decorative work of Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin is often seen to be a style that was both complex and highly ornamented. While this is true of a certain percentage of his decorative work, particularly that as seen in the Palace of Westminster where overlayering and gilding seemed to rule the day, it would be unfair to say that this was the only contribution made by Pugin to the decorative arts.

The wallpaper design works shown in this article were all produced by Pugin during the 1840s. While these examples were by no means the only wallpaper work produced by Pugin during this period, they do give an indication of perhaps a less formal, or at least less ceremonial, aspect to his style.

Illustration: A W N Pugin Wallpaper design 1840s

These charming and very English motif wallpapers are examples of what was to be known as the Victorian Gothic Revival. Although the Revival itself could appear excessive in certain circumstances, thinking of the Palace of Westminster again, much of the decorative pattern work could often appear in a relatively simplified form. This draws analogies at least with the start of the Reform Movement of the 1850s and onwards, but also that of, if not the styling at least the sentiment and philosophy, William Morris and the later Arts & Crafts movement.

Pugin himself, like all of us, was inconsistent and contradictory. On one level he talked of an early version of what we would see as Form follows Function with the quote: there shall be no features of a building which are not necessary for convenience, construction and propriety. Although this quote does apply specifically to architectural structure and not surface decoration, it does call into question some of his judgements concerning internal decorative schemes, thinking yet again of the Palace of Westminster, which of course stands out before all others in it's over embellishment. However, with caution, we can say that these particular wallpaper designs produced in the 1840s were unusual for British interior decoration.

Illustration: A W N Pugin Wallpaper design 1840s

Many wallpapers of this era tended to overstate their presence with cascades of full blousy flowers, ribbons and other paraphernalia that made walls appear festooned with jungles of impenetrable foliage that bordered on thickets. It was this type of decorative pattern work that the reform movement tried to temper, if not discard altogether. With an individual such as Pugin, the movement had an instant, if inconsistent champion of the merits of a structural vocabulary in the discipline of pattern design and surface decoration in general.

Even Pugin's more complex and heraldic type wallpapers have an underlying and simplified structure and framework to them. This was often missing from many of the more floral representations that were so popular with public, manufacturers and retailers alike. It was this underlying structural simplicity that was such a part of so much of Pugin's output, which makes him stand out as one of the early pioneers of Victorian decorative art and pattern work.

That Pugin died at the ridiculously early age of forty was a particularly tragic loss to the decorative arts of Britain, but also potentially that of both the Reform and the Arts & Crafts movement. By his removal from the design world in 1852, Pugin was unable to contribute towards the changing Victorian world of the 1850s and 1860s which saw the introduction of new art and design schools and colleges, the Reform Movement under Henry Cole and the rise of both William Morris and the Arts & Crafts phenomenon.

Illustration: A W N Pugin Wallpaper design 1840s

Pugin might well have not become a particularly strident supporter of any of the movements and forms that the decorative arts took in Britain during the mid-nineteenth century. He might well have voiced a counter-argument against reform, that would have been his prerogative of course, and probably within his nature to be deliberately both antagonistic and contrary in equal measures. However, if the imagery of the motifs of these simplified and clutter free wallpapers were to continue, Pugin may well have found himself alongside Henry Cole and Owen Jones amongst others, perhaps even championing the causes and ideals that called for some form of tempering and plain speaking within the decorative arts world.

Although there is a decidedly thin line between some of the aspects of Pugin's work, the Reform movement, William Morris and the Arts & Crafts movement, the line is there and Pugin was an inspiration, at least partially, to a number of designers in the decades following his death in 1852. It is these designers who were to take elements of Pugin, along with other examples and influences, and were able to transform British decoration and pattern work into a truly unique phenomenon that was to influence and mould much of the rest of the Victorian era in both Britain and indeed much further afield.

Reference links:
A. W. N. Pugin: Master of Gothic Revival
A.W.N. Pugin: An Annotated Critical Bibliography
Contrasts and True Principles
The Present State of Ecclesiastical Architecture
An Oak Kneehole Desk by A.W.N Pugin (1812-1852) Giclee Poster Print by Alvar Aalto, 9x12
The Stained Glass of A.W.N. Pugin
The Collected Letters of A. W. N. Pugin: Volume I: 1830-1842 (Collected Letters of A.W.N. Pugin)
The Collected Letters of A. W. N. Pugin: Volume 2: 1843-1845 (Collected Letters of A.W.N. Pugin)
The Collected Letters of A. W. N. Pugin: Volume 3: 1846-1848 (C Clpug T Collected Letters of)
Pugin-land: A.W.N.Pugin, Lord Shrewsbury and the Gothic Revival in Staffordshire

upholstered beds

2010-08-05T10:40:00.000-07:00

The Chicago bed is upholstered in a luxury cord fabric to create a warm and inviting bed. With contemporary styling, the chicago bed will sit comfortably in any modern bedroom.

Sheer indulgence. Create a warm and contemporary look with this micro suede bed. Gentle curves combined with clean lines help to give the Salerno its stylish good looks. We’ve given it a retro edge here, but it works with a number of styles.

The Saragova bed frame is fully upholstered in a luxury Black Rose Suede fabric including a full sprung slatted base for additional support and comfort.

Invest in fabrics that thrill the finger tips. Enjoy the beauty of sumptuous suede look fabric. Gorgeously tactile, this stunning piece will create a contemporary focal point any bedroom.

Italian Bedroom

2010-08-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

This rustic styled modern platform bed creates an inviting look. Finished in solid wood veneer, this modern bed with its cherry color and slick design will definitely add a special ambience to your bedroom décor. Simple yet stylish, the Italian Bedroom set offers a distinctive look with its beach wood chest and bedside tables.

Comfort and tranquility await you on contemporary platform bed. This authentic Ital|ian style bed fulfills your family’s needs and used as a personal home décor. Italian Cherry bed reflects the latest charm and brings peace and harmony to all the rooms in your home, whether you choose to have this modern platform bed grace for your master bedroom or your child's bedroom or in any other bedroom in your home.

Presenting you with the sleek, flush design, modern platform bed and you can imagine this bedroom set giving your room a very relaxing feel that you could enjoy after a long day at work. It is just like a journey in some imaginary land, when you relax on this bed.

A stylish modern Italian bed in your bedroom gives it a real meaning to look forward to when going to sleep. A well-structured bed is always essential for good sleep and a comfortable body posture while resting. This model called the Trendy Tobacco is made in Italy that gives you a fine and classy platform bed to soothe you in those good times and also satisfies your need to own a piece of modern furniture. This contemporary design bed is hard to resist with its mesmerizing structure and color palette.

Student Lace Design Work

2010-08-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Agnes C Martin Lace border design 1896

Student work of any era can give a good indication as to the healthiness, or not, of contemporary design and the decorative arts. Although much student portfolio work becomes lost and discarded over the generations, we are lucky to have some examples saved through a system of competitions that were particularly popular during the last couple of decades of the nineteenth century and the first couple of the twentieth.

Competitions became regular features in a number of monthly art, design and decoration magazines, with two influential titles standing out in particular. The German Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration published between 1897 and 1932 was by far the best magazine available in which to chart the development of the decorative art, design and craft over that period. This was closely followed by The Studio magazine published between 1893 and 1964. It is an 1896 issue of this British magazine from which the illustrations for this article are taken.

Illustration: George Marples Lace border design 1896

The regular competitions proved particularly popular with students and colleges alike as it gave both an identity and public awareness through the readership of the magazine. It also appealed to magazine editors as it appeared as if the magazine itself was both supporting and directly interacting with colleges, students and through them the future of design art, design and decoration.

Although the entries were obviously highly vetted and edited by the magazine itself, and there were sometimes references to the poor standard of entry, on the whole the exercise proved to be both successful and informative as to the styles and design techniques that were presumed popular with students at a national level.

Illustration: L Tyler Lace border design 1896

Admittedly, not all of the entries were through educational establishments, as competition entries could be as diverse as the readership of the magazine. However, many were assocoited with specific colleges and art schools. Also interesting is the number of female entries which was encouragingly high for a period which still saw some reluctance in female educaztion, at least at college level.

Competitions took on most of the obvious interior design and decoration disciplines such as furnishing fabrics, wallpapers, stained glass, metal work, book binding and furniture. However, two of the most popular disciplines proved to be embroidery, followed to a lesser degree by lace. A fair proportion of the competition embroidery work tended to be more formulaic and somewhat unadventurous in nature, while lace was interestingly less so.

Illustration: Mary L Goodacre Lace border design 1896

Lace design with its structured history of specific regional styles, is often seen as a craft and design discipline that has limits to its use as a contemporary medium. With a general impression that the craft has little room for innovation, experimentation and general manouvrability, it is often dismissed as a craft of tradition rather than one that can face modern tampering. However, the student design work shown in this article, along with many other competition works found within The Studio, Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration and other periodicals over a time period of forty years or more, shows that much can and was conceived as being achievable within the lace craft.

It is true that not all, and perhaps very few of these design winners had their work put into production. However, they are fascinating examples of styles of decorative pattern work, many of them with a particularly contemporary feel to them. Student work is often unaffected by the constraints of financial budgeting, and although this could be said to be an unrealistic view on the students part of the true parameters of the market place, it is also true to say that the student was also not constrained by the general reluctance of both manufacturers and the retail trade into innovative aspects of design and decoration that could not guarantee a predictable profit.

Illustration: W Tyndale Lace border design 1896

While these competitions may not have necessarily raised the level of contemporary standards, they did give an indication as to what was going on inside the schools and colleges of the various nations of Europe and North America during the vital design period of the turn of the twentieth century, and the direction that those students would take when professional designers themselves.

Reference links:

The Studio. An Illustrated Magazine of Fine & Applied Art. 1900: Volume 18

The Studio V8: An Illustrated Magazine Of Fine And Applied Art (1896)

The Studio. An Illustrated Magazine of Fine & Applied Art: Volume 6. No. 34

Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration (German Edition)

Historic Print (S): Deutsche-Kunst und Dekoration

DEUTSCHE KUNST UND DEKORATION

Historic Print (L): Deutsche-Kunst und Dekoration

Deutsche Kunst Und Dekoration: Jahrgang 30, Heft 1: Oktober 1926 (Band 59)

Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration. Illustrierte Monatshefte fur Moderne Malerei, Plastik, Architektur, Wohnungs-Kunst und Kunstlerische Frauenarbeiten. XXXI. Jahrgang. Heft 1. Oktober 1927

Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration. Illustrierte Monatshefte fur Moderne Malerei, Plastik, Architektur, Wohnungs-Kunst und Kunstlerische Frauenarbeiten. (1929).

Historic Print (M): Deutsche-Kunst und Dekoration

DEUTSCHE KUNST UND DEKORATION; German Art & Architecture Magazine, 1929

Mariska Karasz Embroidery

2010-08-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Mariska Karasz Calla Lily embroidery 1951

The Hungarian American designer and artist Mariska Karasz approached the craft of embroidery with the sensibilities of a fine artist. Karasz is perhaps one of the earliest examples of an increasingly expanding genre within the general textiles framework, one which today we is familiarly known as textile or fibre art.

Karasz herself spent much of her career as a clothing designer. However, after the Second World War she reinvented herself and put her energies into the development of a highly successful second career in textile art. She used as the basis of this art, her Hungarian background and heritage of textile crafts, particularly that of embroidery. It was this craft that fuelled her imaginative compositions that took her all the way through the second half of the 1940s, but particularly through the following 1950s. This was a decade that saw an ever widening and large scale expansion within the craft world in general, with craft workers taking on many of the aspects of a fine art sensibility. There were a number of particularly fruitful and creative crossovers including a number of individuals from the fine art world who found themsleves working in ceramics, glass and textiles, sometimes for the first time.

Illustration: Mariska Karasz Babble embroidery 1955

The work that Karasz produced during the 1950s is an interesting blend of vocabulary from both design and art worlds. The artist plays with backgrounds and foregrounds, colour, tone and texture in order to produce a layered, abstract compositional framework that seems perfectly suited to the medium of embroidery. While the work is definitely set in its era with compositions producing abstract and colour textures that were so much a part of the 1950s, the work of Karasz is also timeless in its abstractness. The work of the artist was an exploration of a medium rather than an end result. However, more specifically it was that of a journey of discovery of a craft discipline, one that up until that point had, with some exceptions, seen little contemporary examination of its purpose, and more particularly its potential for the inventive and creative expansion of its parameters.

Illustration: Mariska Karasz Honeycomb collage 1959

It is individuals such as Karasz that have become the universal access points of all future creative explorers. To highlight and remember the work of artists and craftspeople such as these is to encourage all future exploration within and across disciplines and to constantly question boundaries, conventions and suppositions as to the role of such potentially diverse and adaptable disciplines as embroidery. Contemporary craft is fast reaching a point in its development whereby it is beginning to take on the maturity of a discipline that can explore its own reasoning. It is not an exaggeration to say that it has been a hard and long journey, but individuals such as Karasz have given both inspiration and much needed understanding within and without the craft world.

Illustration: Mariska Karasz Star Clouds collage 1959

Karasz work was extremely popular during the 1950s as indeed was she as an individual celebrity. She toured, lectured and wrote throughout the decade and is still remembered today as a pioneer of the fine art sensibility grafted onto the craft tradition. In the Reference links section below is a link to a very good and comprehensive website dedicated to the life and work of Mariska Karasz. Also listed below are a number of the books produced by Karasz still available on Amazon. You might also be interested to know that an exhibition presently being held at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Textiles Recycled/Reimagined running from March 10 to September 5 2010, has some examples of Karasz work within the exhibition.

Illustration: Mariska Karasz Hieroglyphics embroidery 1960

Reference links:
Mariska Karasz website
Modern Threads: Fashion and Art by Mariska Karasz
Adventures in stitches;: And more adventures-fewer stitches
The Good Housekeeping See and Sew: A Picture Book of Sewing
How to make growing clothes for your baby
Design and sew,
Growing Clothes
See and sew,: A picture book of sewing

Contemporary Textile Work of Artist Marlene Cohen

2010-08-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Marlene Cohen Healing

Marlene Cohen is a British textile artist that has taken her own strong and contemporary attitude towards her chosen medium, and created a distinctive style of composition and layering that is entirely her own. Cohen uses both printmaking and fine art disciplines, along with the usual aspects of textile work such as layering and stitching, to produce work that although technically part of the quilt medium, has managed to stretch that medium farther than most.

Although Cohen works in a wide range of colours, tones and textures, I have chosen instead to concentrate on a series of pieces that she has produced in a much lower and more minimal colour scheme. Shoah is a series of pieces that, although seemingly stark and severe, are in fact full of the most astounding build up of imagery and text that is strong in graphic, illustrative and fine art techniques.

Illustration: Marlene Cohen Target Zero

These pieces, to my mind at least, seem to have a number of reference points that lead to the drawing of similarities to some aspects of the leading edge of European graphic design work in the 1920s and 1930s, particularly those artists and designers who dealt with the exciting photomontage medium. However, Cohen's work could never be said to be derivative of that era. What it does share is that same powerful and uncompromising imagery that places it at the forefront of the senses. This work is not meant to be harmonious with its background, but is meant to make an uncompromising statement and in this it shares a position with so much of the fine art and design work that that was at the forefront of the Modernist movement.

This series of textile pieces is extraordinary in it's focused awareness of what is truly achievable through the textile medium, rather than what is expected or delivered. It is uncompromising and skilful, and although dealing with historical issues that are highly personalised, the compositions can also appeal on a much wider level, those dealing with compositional balance, graphic awareness and strident ambience.

Illustration: Marlene Cohen Cover Up

It is artists such as Cohen who are both pushing the boundaries of what is expected and accepted as textile art, and also and perhaps more importantly, expanding the parameters of fine art itself, allowing it to ultimately include aspects of textile work on an equal basis. Cohen's work seems to deliberately cross over various discipline boundaries and so her work can well be appreciated by individuals who have a background and interest in general textiles, quilting, printmaking, graphics, illustration and fine art.

The more expansive and uncompromising textile artists become in both their focus and their range of creativity while at the same time retaining the unique aspects of the textile medium, the more seriously textile art will be taken outside of the immediate discipline. Cohen is an artist that is at the forefront of this movement towards fine art acceptability.

Illustration: Marlene Cohen Mixed Messages

Marlene Cohen has exhibited widely, she lectures and writes profusely and has her own comprehensive website where much more of her work can be seen, along with the imagery shown in this article. The website link can be found below in the Reference links section.

All images were provided with the kind permission of the artist.

Reference links:

Marlene Cohen website

Gunnar Wennerberg Tapestry design

2010-07-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Gunnar Wennerberg The Willows tapestry design c1913

The Swedish designer Gunnar Wennerberg is probably better known inside and outside his native Sweden, for the innovative glass and ceramic decorative work that he produced during the last few years of the nineteenth century and the start of the twentieth century. However, Wennerberg also produced a certain amount of textile work, particularly but not exclusively for the Handarbetets Vanner and the Licium.

Wennerberg produced a number of tapestries during the first decade of the twentieth century and those shown in this article give some indication at least as to the style and compositional qualities that were very much associated with him at the time.

Wennerberg is often seen and categorised as an Art Nouveau designer, particularly as regards his use of foliage and flora for decorative means. However, his style bore little resemblance to the excesses of French and Belgian Art Nouveau and some would see it as somewhat typical of the Swedish love for nature based themes. This is born out distinctively with The Willow tapestry, which although having certain aspects in common with Art Nouveau, tends towards a much sparser and tranquil examination of nature than would be expected within the general Art Nouveau movement. This was one of Wennerberg's particular traits and it can be seen within the other compositions also shown here.

Illustration: Gunnar Wennerberg tapestry design c1905

It is interesting to note that it could be said that Wennerberg's extensive work within the glass and ceramics industries, was somewhat reflected within his later textile work. The imagery and compositional balance are interestingly similar in style with what would be expected both within stained glass work and also that of ceramics. The use of light, particularly within The Willows, is almost similar to a ceramic glaze, and perhaps this was not purely coincidental but could be seen as that of a conscious or unconscious bleeding through of ideas and strategies from another medium altogether.

The greatest boon to cross discipline designers and artists is when the tools and vocabulary of one discipline are used either for the same purpose or for that of a completely different aspect within another discipline. It is this cross-fertilization that has given us many purposeful creative constructs and indeed a number of happy accidents as well.

Wennerberg, although not strictly a textile designer or artist, should be included within the framework of Sweden's prestigious textile crafts, particularly that of tapestry design of which Wennerberg produced some excellent examples that were neither derivatave of the rest of contemporary Europe, or indeed that of Swedish traditional crafts. His work is an excellent example of the individuality that can be achieved by both artist and designer when considering the importance of the uniqueness of an individual's creative journey, rather than that of fashion, fad and styling.

Illustration: Gunnar Wennerberg tapestry design c1909

Incidentally Gunnar Wennerberg should not be confused with the other Gunnar Wennerberg, who was the Swedish poet and composer who died in 1901, Wennerberg the designer died in 1914.

Reference links:
Scandinavian Design (Taschen 25)
RORSTRAND: SWEDISH ART NOUVEAU PORCELAIN, FROM THE ROBERT SCHREIBER COLLECTION
Rorstrand Porcelain: Art Nouveau Masterpieces
Vavda tapeter (Swedish Edition)
SWEDISH TEXTILE ART: Traditional Marriage Weavings from Scania (The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Swedish Textile Art)

Divan Beds

2010-07-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

The Bolero has 1000 pocketed springs with a layer of natural latex on the top. Natural latex is a plush, super-soft comfort layer that works in perfect harmony with our pocket springs. As well as being soft, latex is very robust so your mattress will never need turning over. Latex is also naturally hypoallergenic and aerated for better ventilation.

Designed for immediate impact whether you opt for soothing natural chenille or vivacious red faux leather, this stunning circular bed with tubular chrome feet is an iconic centrepiece for the modern home.

The 10cm memory foam mattress with luxury soft removable cover. Absorbs and distributes the body weight across the entire sleep surface to relieve painful pressure points and reduce tossing and turning. Memory foam adapts its position to the body shape, thus reducing the contact with some sensitive areas-head, shoulders, pelvis, knees and feet

The Ocean Ottoman divan set has been specially developed to cater for the growing demand for greater storage whilst still offering tailored comfort, style and choice. Available in Natural Hemp or Luxury Cocoa fabrics.

The Sky Ottoman divan set has been specially developed to cater for the growing demand for greater storage whilst still offering tailored comfort, style and choice. Available in Natural Hemp or Luxury Cocoa fabrics

2000 Heat treated pocket spring system • Hand tufted with woollen tufts • Lavish layer of pure white cashmere, silk, wool, cotton & mohair • Superior Damask fabric with 5 Flag stitched Handles on a 3 tier stitched border • Shepherd castors on a fully upholstered sprung edge base

Guest Beds

2010-07-29T13:20:00.000-07:00

An attractive deep quilted mattress, which will offer good levels of comfort and support. The mattress is upholstered with generous layes of super soft polyester fillings and finished in a stitchbond cover

Finished in maple this is a high quality guest bed that combines style and practicality. Unlike standard guest beds both upper and lower mattresses are 190cm (6'3) long. The lower base slides out to reveal the under sleeping platform which has drawers built into the underside This product is a fantastic bed for sleeping guests and a great space saving design

The Leo is a fashionable bedstead with a contemporary low style design. The curved wooden sides of the head and foot ends give the bed an attractive chic style. The solid durable hardwood frame in a maple finish is supplied complete with a sprung beech slatted sleeping platform, which provides extra comfort and support through the night

The Restus Trio is part of the Guest Bed range, and has the following features: Popular and versatile range for over 20 years. 3 bed size options all in one bed - a 3ft single, a double or even 2 single beds. An excellent product for hotels, guest houses or as a spacesaver in any household. 13 gauge Kozee open coil spring in both mattresses

Coptic Textile Design Work

2010-07-28T10:32:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Silk textile design from Alexandria, 6th century

Some of the most colourful and obviously charming textiles to come out of what we would see as Ancient Egypt were those produced during the early Christian era. These Coptic textiles, named after the Christians of Egypt, the Copts, have little that seem at first to be immediately identifiable as belonging to Egypt. Many of the designs and pattern work derive from sources closer to Greece, Rome and Byzantium than they do Thebes or Memphis. However, these textiles come from an era when Egypt was first a province of Rome and then of the Greek Byzantine Empire and so the outside influence is obviously much stronger than that of Egypt itself.

Illustration: Textile roundel design from Egypt 6th century

Many of the examples that we can see today were actually robbed from Christian cemeteries in the nineteenth century. Interestingly it was gold ornaments that were at first surreptitiously removed from graves and then sold in the markets in and around Cairo, while the textiles were cast aside. However, when a steady market was discovered for ancient textiles in Europe, much more care was taken and grave robbing took on a more professional and careful stance. Unfortunately one of the habits of the local robbers was to divide spoils equally therefore a number of textile pieces were cut up and divided between individuals. These pieces were not always sold together and so original design work was often scattered across Europe. Another form of dividing fabrics was to cut out interesting motifs, panels or medallions and sell them separately from the rest of the garment. While this made good business sense, it has left us with lots of interesting detailed work, but relatively few intact garments, and so it is sometimes difficult to put the work in the context of a costume.

Illustration: Woven tapestry panel of wool on a linen background, Egypt

Much of the Coptic textile work that was sold by this method ended up in European museum collections. The V&A procured an increasingly large collection through the influence of the British in Egypt who occupied the country from 1882. The textile work robbed from graves was mostly in the form of clothing, much of it either woven or embroidered. Woven linen was the usual construction, with embroidered work often in wool which was unfortunate as although the linen survived largely intact, the wool was prone to be attacked by insects and eaten. However, some fine examples were produced that still had their original colouring largely intact and it is these items that today make these Coptic pieces so valued and popular.

As said earlier, there is little to truly identify these pieces as immediately Egyptian, rather than any other Eastern Christian region. The motifs used are largely standard Christian ones and any ornamental text is usually in Greek. The decorative work identifies quite closely with that of mosaic pattern and design work found right across the later Roman Empire and Byzantium. However, there are small, but definite reminders of Egypt's past, in particular the use of a stylised lotus motif that is not always prominent in the decorative composition, but is often placed perhaps as a reminder of Egypt's past uniqueness.

Illustration: Tapestry inlaid into a linen cloth background, Egypt 3rd or 4th century

It is sometimes hard to imagine the sheer longevity of the Egyptian culture. Egypt was already old in the period of Classical Greece, and when it became a province of the Roman Empire it had existed as an entity for over three thousand years. It is the power of Egypt's uniqueness that we are in awe of today. However, although there is an element of an unchanging and unbroken nature to the culture of Egypt, it is interesting how vibrant and young these textile pieces appear. It may of course have something to do with a culture adopting a relatively new religion, but it perhaps says much more about the lively human condition, that although a nation, empire or region may appear to be old and intransigent, the people who inhabit it are anything but, and the zest for creativity continues unabated.

Illustration: Woven tapestry and needlework star ornament, Egypt

It is difficult to try to condone or quantify grave robbing in any form. The dead were not expecting to relinquish their grave goods and certainly were not expecting to be stripped of their clothing to fuel Europe's expanding Museum collections. However, the textile skills of these anonymous Egyptian weaving, tapestry and embroidery crafts people is so spectacular that an uncomfortable balance has been formed between extricating grave goods and applauding the techniques and skills base of this particular Egyptian phase of their culture.

Reference links:
Looms and Textiles of the Copts: First Millennium Egyptian Textiles in the Carl Austin Reitz Collection of the California Academy of Science (Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences)
A Coptic Textile Fragment Egypt, circa 4th-7th Century AD Giclee Poster Print, 36x48
Coptic Textile Designs: 144 Egyptian Designs from the Early Christian Era (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Coptic Weaves: Notes on the Collection of Coptic Textiles in the Merseyside County Museums
Coptic textiles;
Coptic Textiles in the Brooklyn Museum
Late antique Coptic and Islamic textiles of Egypt
Coptic Fabrics
The Coptic Tapestry Albums: And the Archaeologist of Antinoe, Albert Gayet
Early Coptic textiles: Stanford Art Gallery, Stanford University, May 4 to May 25, 1969 (Stanford art book)

The House Interiors Design

2010-07-28T06:48:00.000-07:00

The House Interiors Design

The Influence of Islamic Decoration on the Victorian

2010-07-27T10:23:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Wall tiling decoration of the Pavilion of Mahubay, 16th century

The influences and origins of nineteenth century English decorative arts, its pattern work, design styles and principles, is both complex and wide ranging. However, at the forefront of these influences is undoubtedly the impact of the decorative arts of Islam. From the reform principles of Owen Jones to the accomplished founder of the English Arts & Crafts movement William Morris, to the many designers, decorators, critics and writers of Victorian Britain, Islam proved to be a particularly rich deposit of what determined to be the fundamental level of all design, decoration and pattern as seen by the Victorians. Many saw and were on record as stating, that the principles behind the Islamic decorative arts system, along with its extremely effective visual record, was the only effective means of producing contemporary surface or flat pattern work.

Illustration: Islamic wall tiling decoration, 16th century

From woven and printed textiles, to carpet weaving, wallpaper design and ceramic tile work, the Victorians took Islamic design principles to heart. Non-representational, flat and graphic inspired pattern work was produced across design disciplines, and while some may dismiss this appearance as a form of fashion or intermittent enthusiasm for the decorative effects of Islamic design, very much as the revival movements that plagued the nineteenth century, this particular movement was much more centrally based within the Victorian decorative psyche.

Islamic designers were particularly expert at producing surface pattern. They had an innate understanding of both the materials used and the medium of surface decoration, as well as a mature approach to colour and tone. This greatly appealed to the English design reform movement. These reformers were trying to make sense of the muddled and chaotic decorative arts that had been a product of the first half of the nineteenth century with its new, wide-ranging but undisciplined manufacturing and retail system. They were determined that the second half of their century was to see a more settled period that used good judgement and sound design principles. They had particular issues with the whole aspect of the use of three-dimensional style illusions used on flat surfaces.

Illustration: Wall tiling decoration of Qasr Radwan, Cairo, 17th century

One of the fundamental points of surface decoration and design is to understand and therefore appreciate the surface that is to be decorated. Textiles in particular need good judgement when working out pattern work. Although three dimensional illusions may appear to be acceptable within the framework of the history of decoration and particular that of Europe, in general they are ill suited to the medium. Flat and graphic style pattern work is much more sympathetic to a textile medium and can produce much more in the way of variation between simplicity and complexity, colour and tone, than can ever be achieved with the slim palette of realism.

Illustration: Wall tiling decoration of Qasr Radwan, Cairo, 17th century

British design reformers saw Islamic principles of decoration as a perfect format to be used within their own decorative arts system. Colour and form were to be placed above that of any type of realism, or false illusion as they preferred to term it. From this fundamental view of decoration, all pattern work it was hoped would eventually one day be based. Much of the decorative styling of the eighteenth century was either dismissed or treated as essentially flawed. Although this attitude and perspective on the decorative arts was by no means universal, it did take on an aspect that eventually proved to be amongst the building blocks of Modernism.

In some respects it could be said that there is a linkage, however tenuous, between Islamic decoration, the reform movements within Europe and the eventual Modernist stand that has shaped much of the world we live in today. Although the Modernist movement might well have arrived at and achieved its ultimate goal of form follows function, without Islam, it is interesting nonetheless to speculate whether the same result might have been delayed or have taken a tangential route even, without the timely example of Islamic decoration and the principles underlying that decorative work.

Illustration: Wall tiling decoration of the Mosque of Amir Shaykhu, Cairo, 18th century

Reference links:
Islamic Designs for Artists and Craftspeople (Dover Pictorial Archive)
The Majesty of Mughal Decoration: The Art and Architecture of Islamic India
Islamic Designs in Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Islamic architecture and its decoration, A.D. 800-1500;: A photographic survey
Nishapur: Some Early Islamic Buildings and Their Decoration/E0058P
Ornament and Decoration in Islamic Architecture
The Language of Pattern: An Enquiry Inspired by Islamic Decoration (Icon Editions)
Islamic Designs (International Design Library)
The Art of the Islamic Tile
Islamic Ornament
Islamic Designs for Cornice, Balcony and Mashrabiyah Decoration, from "Art and Industry" Giclee Poster Print by Jean Francois Albanis De Beaumont, 12x16
Islamic Design (Dover Pictura)
Splendors of Islam: Architecture, Decoration and Design
Pattern in Islamic Art
Arabic Geometrical Pattern and Design (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Ornament and Design of the Alhambra (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Geometric Patterns from Islamic Art & Architecture

Wallpaper Design by Sidney Haward

2010-07-26T10:03:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Sidney Haward wallpaper frieze 1893

Sidney Haward, one of the best known of British textile and wallpaper designers of the period spanning the decades that saw the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries, is relatively unknown today. Despite the fact that Haward was seen in the same light and at the same design level as other British designers such as Voysey and Mawson, and that he also ran the Haward Design Studio which was to provide Liberty with much of its design work during this period, it seems strange yet interesting how his work seems to have faded away.

The illustrations shown in this article are all wallpaper designs and, apart from the frieze which was produced in 1893, are from the first decade of the twentieth century. Although by no means particularly astounding design-wise, Haward's work is still within the general remit of what can only be called the English Art Nouveau style. In other words an Art Nouveau decorative format that was much more formally based than perhaps was expected to be found as the norm in Europe.

Illustration: Sidney Haward wallpaper design 1908

Haward's pattern work is fairly complex for the period and has some reminiscences and nuances that bind it to the much earlier Gothic styles of Pugin's wallpaper work for example. It is the graphic, but symmetrically standardised format that clearly separates it from anything that might be considered free-flowing and asymmetrical as would be expected with much of the French and Belgian versions of the Art Nouveau.

It is sometimes difficult to separate out the English hesitancy towards the new, their suspicious nature as regards Europe in general, and their natural tendency for the reigning in of any form of decorative excess. These wallpapers, in effect, have tried to find a solution to what many might judge as a difficult assault course of contradictions. As decoration they are by no means subtle and have taken a format so rigidly framed as to appear intransigent and stilted.

Illustration: Sidney Haward wallpaper design 1908

For work that was produced nearer the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, rather than that of the beginning, they appear a little out of synch with the standards of decorative work being produced across Europe, particularly in Germany and Austria. From the days of William Morris and the ascendancy of the English Arts & Crafts movement, English decorative design work seemed to have lost both impetus and direction.

While there was to a certain extent, an interest in England towards the new formats being devised in Europe, the interest tended to be both sporadic and localised. Many were unconvinced that there was any long term gains to be made from the decorative movements in Europe, particularly those that dealt with the future of architecture and design in general. However, it is such a shame that more potential couldn't be identified amongst the English, who were still very much involved with the Arts & Crafts movement, and so therefore much of the groundwork that was laid in Germany for the eventual birth of the Bauhaus, was largely missing in England.

Illustration: Sidney Haward wallpaper design 1907

storage beds

2010-07-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

The gentle curving headboard of the Blaze Bed is enhanced by the striking natural fabric which is easy to co-ordinate with virtually any colour scheme. The Lift 'n' Store option provides the perfect solution to clearing up a cluttered room. This bed comes with a wooden floor! 10 year frame guarantee.

The New Chenille Ottoman features a fully upholstered base with floor standing matching headboard (included) available in Sand, Stone or Mocha fabric. The base is fully upholstered with twin piping, twin castors and linking bars

The Boston Deluxe Storage Bed has a sumptuously deep and comfortable padded headboard and is available with 2 colour options ;- Latte - Faux Suede (pictured) and "Bison". The Boston Deluxe Storage Bed offers an exceptional storage space combined with luxury and style

Boston is a fantastic space saving ottoman with a revolutionary pivoting base and gas strut allowing an easy lifting mechanism for hidden storage components underneath the mattresses sprung base. The bed has a contemporary frame design mixing the desire of a bed frame with the practicality of a divan bed. Made from chocolate bycast leather, it is sure to compliment any bedroom surroundings.

The bold lines of the Storm bed are essential for creating a contemporary living space and are enhanced by the natural fabric choice. Complement your choice with a co-ordinating nightable. The Lift 'n' Store option provides the perfect solution to clearing up a cluttered room. This bed comes with a wooden floor! 10 year frame guarantee

Modern Bedroom Sets

2010-07-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

Imported from Spain, this exclusive walk on platform bedroom set in wenge finish and red glossy lacquer accents. Award-winning innovative design with walk-on platform illuminated from underneath. This unique modern platform bedroom set is also available with storage underneath the bed.

Imported from Spain, this exclusive modern bedroom set is done in a wenge or light oak finish and glossy red, light grey, light coffeee, white or ebony lacquer accents. Innovative contemporary design features a floating bed.

Sometimes you long for the extraordinary, something that’s completely unusual. The Tokyo 701 Modern Bedroom Set by Milmueble is an answer to such wishes. Providing an elegant transformation to your private space, this spectacular designer bedroom set is nimble without exaggeration

A symbol of modern design and superior craftsmanship of luxurious bedroom furniture is the Tokyo 706 Modern Bedroom Set. Made in Spain, Tokyo 706 Designer Bedroom Set was inspired by the aerial view of modern skyscrapers.

Pushing the traditional notion of design to its limits, the Tokyo 710 Walk-on Platform Modern Bedroom Set is a clear example of the infinite imagination and innovation in furniture design.

Allow yourself the luxury to stand out and make a statement. Diamond by Rossetto is a collection expressing a great desire to be modern and striking using its daring elegance and suggestive glamour.

Gap Modern Bedroom Set by Rossetto is elegant, streamlined and exclusive offering a combination of materials, perfectly contrasting to create a striking, one of a kind modern interior.

Kitchen Basket

2010-07-24T03:18:00.001-07:00

Kitchen Basket

Our range of kitchen basket are manufactured as per the contemporary trend to suit the look of the modern kitchen. The baskets can accommodate assorted kitchen appliances in a safe and convenient manner. We can manufacture them depending upon the size of the kitchen and specifications provided by the clients. The stainless steel used is of premium quality and steps are taken to prevent it from corrosion

The baskets are highly efficient as it has a large storage place accommodating heavy utensils. Storing heavy utensil always poses a problem and hence our product is manufactured to cater to the particular need. We are distributors of SS, PVC, Maharaja & instyle kitchen basket.

Stainless Steel Kitchen Cabinet Accessory

2010-07-24T03:18:00.000-07:00

Product Description

This basket can hold and organize many stuff and goods, very convenient for people to take stuff when the basket is pulled out. It's really an effective organizer and helper, also can act as a luxury and elegant decorative to your housework, With a plastic drip tray can keep the cabinet dry and clean.

antique bedroom

2010-07-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

The Nice features original styling, contemporary lines and quality materials making it a real classic. The Victorian design frame is finished in Glossy Ivory with a sprung slatted base for extra comfort.

Long live romance. Inspired by classic Italian design, the Como, finished in soft natural tones helps create a truly individual look.

The Lyon bed is produced to high quality with solid metal wire to give the bed a superior finish in the design and to make the bed stronger and heavier. A rich coating of glossy pink, completes the bed with an excellent finish. The bed has a sprung slatted base.

The Lyra bed frame is finished in White and features a full sprung slatted base for additional support. The 3’0 single version of this bed comes complete with a standard free Solo mattress which features a quilted open coil sprung mattress finished in a hard wearing stitch-bond cover

A tranquil design frame in matt black finish with a rod slatted base which has a central support and central legs to give robustness.

The Nimbus features original styling, contemporary lines and quality materials making it a real classic and favourite amongst our staff! The Victorian design frame is finished in Ivory Gloss and also has a sprung slatted base for extra comfort.

Macrame Decorative Work

2010-07-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Nineteenth century macrame border fringe design

Macrame is a form of knot work that although not strictly considered to be lace itself, is related to that discipline and was sometimes in the past known as macrame lace.

The name macrame originally comes from the Arabic migrameh which is said to denote ornamental fringe. It was used effectively in the Islamic world and is said to have originated from weavers in the thirteenth century, who got into the habit of tidying up the stray warp and weft threads of woven fabrics by tying knots that soon became more ornamental than practical in fashion. Eventually the technique progressed to such an extent that it became separated from the weaving entirely so as to become an independent craft in its own right. This form of hand knotted fringe and trimming work proved to be particularly effective and popular.

Illustration: Nineteenth century macrame border fringe with picots design

It is thought that macrame entered Europe via Islamic Spain and it is this country that the rest of Europe tended to identify with the early stages and origins of the craft. In Europe itself, macrame was often used as a decorative finish for ecclesiastical vestments and interior fabrics. However, it was also used domestically for both interiors and costume.

The process of macrame is produced by using the fingers to tightly tie short ends of thread, either horizontally or vertically. By interweaving these knots a range of decorative pattern work can be achieved. Usually because of its nature, geometrical type pattern work is best suited as any other type or style is very difficult to achieve because of the nature of the knotting process. However, macrame is incredibly durable and versatile. Because of the variation in thickness of thread used, from near rope to silk thread, the effect can extremely wide ranging. In this respect macrame has been used for fringe and border work throughout the whole spectrum of textiles, with heavier work being produced for interior accessories, while much finer work tended to be used in fashion.

Illustration: Nineteenth century macrame border fringe with pointed scallops & large tassels design

The Victorians were particularly taken by the craft of macrame and many specific books and guides were published throughout the era in order to both teach the fundamentals and also the more complex skills associated with the craft. As the Victorians were keen on all forms of embellishment, including trimming and fringing, the craft was obviously well suited to the era and many homes would have seemed bereft without some form of macrame craft work.

In the 1970s with a full blown craft revival in all its forms, macrame made a temporary but wide-ranging come back. A number of bright and breezy books and guides were published, many of them trying to reflect the seeming diversity and variety of macrame. However, the amateur craft tradition of this particular era did not last into the 1980s and today macrame, though still practised by some, is not considered a particularly popular textile craft. However, with yet another amateur textile craft revival taking place, macrame could well see yet another revival.

Illustration: Nineteenth century macrame border fringe design

For anyone interested in this particular and fairly unique craft, a couple of links are shown below in the Reference links section. These links are to sites giving short tutorials, information, videos and free patterns, and deal with the basics of the macrame craft. There are also a number of helpful tutorial videos that can be found on You Tube. I have therefore also added a You Tube link on the specific subject of macrame and tutorials, which is also listed below, along with a selection of macrame books which are all available on Amazon.

Illustration: Nineteenth century macrame border fringe design

Reference links:
How to macrame site
Free macrame patterns site
You Tube macrame videos
The dictionary of needlework;: An encyclopaedia of artistic, plain, and fancy needlework
The Macrame Book
Magnificent macrame
The New Macrame: Contemporary Knotted Jewelry and Accessories
Macrame: The Art of Creative Knotting
Step-By-Step Macrame: A Complete Introduction to the Craft of Creative Knotting
Decorative Knot Craft: Over 20 Innovative Knotting And Macrame Accessories
Art of Macrame
Macrame: Creative Knot-Tying

Tambour Embroidery Work

2010-07-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Nineteenth century tambour work

Tambour style embroidery work is said to have originated in China and then travelled throughout Asia via India, Persia and Turkey, eventually reaching Europe in the eighteenth century. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the style was brought directly to Europe from China by the French, also in the eighteenth century. Whichever is true, tambour work did not become widely popular until the middle of the latter half of the eighteenth century.

One of the main characteristics of the production of tambour or tambouring as it was often called was the use of two circular frames, one fitting snugly into another. This was in order to hold the backing fabric taught in order to produce the embroidered stitch work without the fabric losing its taughtness. The word tambour derives from the French word for drum which the outline of the hooped frame resembled.

Much of the earlier tambour work was produced using white stitching on a white background. This minimal but effective and accomplished embroidery technique proved to be extremely popular during the last half of the eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth century.

Although it was an accomplishment of many women of the upper classes in Europe, much of the real work was produced by lower class women. Tambour work was produced on a variety of finely woven backing fabrics, muslin being a particular favourite.

Nineteenth century versions of the discipline tended towards a more colourful spectrum. A wide range of coloured silks and gold thread became popular, allowing the discipline to expand and diversify from the original whitework. By today's standard many might well see the original whitework as being of a superior nature to that of the later coloured work. However, it must be remembered that many of these traditional handcrafts, and particularly those concerning textiles, were struggling to survive in the nineteenth century. The marketplace had reached a particularly competitive and robust phase with industry putting intense pressure on the scope and availability of hand crafts.

The nineteenth century saw a range of innovations and transformations, many of which were speedily introduced into the domestic and interiors market. A wide colour range was an integral part of the nineteenth century's decorative palette and therefore tambour work, along with many other versions of textile craft, could only helplessly reflect those trends and impositions.

True tambour work used a hook with a wooden handle, as opposed to the more usual needle as can be found used in many other forms of embroidery craft. This has led many to see a link, or at least certain similarities, between tambour work and crochet some even believing that crochet directly derived from the earlier tambour work. Although having certain similarities, a tambour hook is much finer and sharper that the average crochet hook.

Tambour work has been used highly successfully and effectively within the fashion world, very much since its original popularity in the eighteenth century. It is still used, to a certain extent, within the confines of the haute couture world. However, it is also still popular with a number of individuals, both amateur and professional. It is a relatively cheap craft to launch into, and seems likely to remain in use in a variety of guises for at least the foreseeable future.

Reference links:
The dictionary of needlework;: An encyclopaedia of artistic, plain, and fancy needlework
Mary Thomas's Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches
Clover Kantan Couture Bead Embroidery Tool-
Clover Turnable Hoop-7-1/2"
Tambour Beading With a Ring Frame
Embroidery Stitches - 1912 Reprint
Complete Book of Embroidery: Includes Crewelwork, Goldwork, Ribbon Embroidery, and Embellishments

Barbara W Watler and the Fingerprint Collection

2010-07-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Barbara W Watler Fingerprint series #50: Unity

The textile art work of Barbara W Watler is intriguing in more ways than one. She gives us blown up images of small, intimate areas of life that we might well recognise as belonging to part of the near micro world. Through her unique imagery of the natural world that she sees around her, the artist allows us to connect to the intimate and the solitary, pinpointing the stand alone elements that make all aspects of the natural world unique. She helps us to understand how utterly unique and diverse this world really is.

Illustration: Barbara W Watler Fingerprint Series #46: Vortex

Watler has a number of differing projects and sets of work, but probably her most well known series is that of her Fingerprint collection. This series of art pieces that now number more than fifty, is continually growing and transforming as it develops. It deals with the all too human twin obsessions of identity and the loss of that identity. Fingerprinting is a near unique aspect of our human world, one that cannot be quantified, packaged, or mass produced. It has been a unique feature of the thousands of generations before us, the six and a half billion of us today, and of the thousands of generations that will follow us. In some respects these are large abstract maps of our own individuality, showing us that we are more complex than we often appreciate.

Illustration: Barbara W Watler Fingerprint Series #46: Vortex (detail)

By concentrating on this aspect of human development she has in fact pinpointed, through compositional means, both a uniqueness that is such an integral part of the ideal of the individual, and through that the uniqueness that can easily be attributed to each of her works in this series. All are unique and all stand alone. This one of a kind perception underlines and matches the same values that can be found in the human species.

Watler takes the simple idea of honing in on a small element of the human body and expanding it to utterly fill a composition. However, although the idea itself may appear to be simple, it is full of meaning and sophistication. By highlighting the seemingly inconsequential aspect of the end of a finger and allowing it to fill a compositional space to the edge, the artist gives the fingerprint the emphasis it has always had in nature, but which is so frequently neglected in our own human world.

Illustration: Barbara W Watler Fingerprint Series #16-20: Painter's Prints

The uniqueness of each and every one of us is often underplayed and trivialised even amongst our own species. We have become, over the last century and a half, standardised consumers. The retail, financial and media empires regularly bracket us within spending and lifestyle parameters. To class us as individuals within our contemporary world is counter productive. It is a world that no longer values our uniqueness, but sees us as part of the mass production machinery.

Watler gently reminds us that although we may well be part of a mass organism of six and a half billion units, each of those units is a specifically unique, never to be repeated individual. For us to forget that fact puts our humanity in jeopardy.

Illustration: Barbara W Watler Fingerprint Series #42: Elephant Print

Barbara Watler work has been seen in various exhibitions across the US. Her unique style, both within the Fingerprint series and beyond, has proved both popular and successful. She has a comprehensive website where much of her work can be seen, a link to which can be found below in the reference links section below.

All images were used with the kind permission of the artist.

Reference links:

Barbara W Watler website

Frida Hansen Tapestry Design

2010-07-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Frida Hansen Tapestry door hanging 1900

In her tapestry work the Norwegian designer Frida Hansen wisely interpreted the discipline as woven painting. In so many cases over the centuries the composition, if not the technique of tapestry weaving, has followed a fine art route often using cartoons or reinterpretations of well established fine artists whose work was more used to being seen on canvas.

The tapestry piece shown here was produced by Hansen for the 1900 Exposition Universelle held in Paris. It was actually made by Det Norske Billedvoeveri (The Norwegian Weaving Society) whose artistic director was none other than Hansen. It was awarded a gold medal at the Exposition, one of the reasons for which was the technique of construction itself. Hansen pioneered her own interpretation of what she termed transparent weaving. This involved leaving some of the areas of the warp exposed and therefore under woven, as opposed to the conventionally woven areas. The two contrasting areas of weaving were also often separated colour wise, so that for example, conventionally woven areas would be highly coloured, while the seemingly transparent areas would be more subdued colour wise. By also using the composition to reflect these changes, such as using a transparent background and a conventionally woven foreground, spectacular results could be achieved.

This particular tapestry door hanging or door curtain was meant to hang within a door entrance space where the full effect of the semi-transparency of the woven piece could be appreciated in its entirety. It must have been very effective and impressive at the Exposition, so much so that the V&A purchased the piece in Paris in 1900 and has been in their collection ever since. Unfortunately the work was never particularly practical and so is fragile, but heavy and has to be supported on a backboard thus losing its original effect. However, it is still a positively stunning piece and shows to great effect the real skill, not only of Hansen, but also that of Det Norske Billedvoeveri.

Hansen herself was often criticised inside Norway for not more fully making her work more amenable to the indigenous culture of Norway. This had much to do with the Norwegian struggle for independence from its neighbours Sweden and Denmark and the attempt to separate Norwegian culture from that of its occupiers. However, although Hansen understood the concerns regarding the preservation and reinterpretation of Norse culture, she was unconvinced that it should be uttermost in her work. Although Hansen herself did produce a certain amount of work based on Norwegian myths and legends, she felt herself to be more in tune with the European popular internationalism of the period, particularly seen within the decorative arts world with international movements such as Art Nouveau in which she became closely associated style wise.

In some ways Hansen felt that as a Norwegian, it was perhaps more beneficial for her and her work to be seen as looking outward and forward, rather than that of looking inward and backward. This by no means criticises either those who saw Norwegian independence best served by a reliance on traditional crafts, or those who saw the future of Norway as being part of a more internationally inspired craft tradition. In fact the two seemingly incongruous visions did achieve a lasting reputation and direction for the country's craft and design framework.

By emphasising the importance of traditional and indigenous craft skills, but also managing to maintain and increasingly develop an international presence and outlook, Norway has been able to place itself at the forefront of contemporary craft design, while still maintaining its traditions. The country now has some of the leading craft designers and artists in Europe, along with an impressive infrastructure of support for the crafts through events, exhibitions and galleries headed by the Norske Kunsthandverkere (Norwegian Association for Arts & Crafts) a link to which is given below in the Reference links section.

Reference links:
Norske Kunsthandverkere (Norwegian Association for Arts & Crafts) website
Norwegian Touches: History, Recipes, Folk Arts Notably Norwegian
Norwegian Handknits: Heirloom Designs from Vesterheim Museum
Norwegian Folk Art: The Migration of a Tradition
Norwegian Native Art
Norwegian Tapestry Weaving
Scandinavian Design (Taschen 25)

Armani Fifth Avenue in New York, United States

2010-07-19T23:15:00.000-07:00

Armani Fifth Avenue Design Interior 1

Armani Fifth Avenue Design Interior 2

Armani Fifth Avenue Design Interior 3

Armani Fifth Avenue Design Interior 4

Armani Fifth Avenue Design Interior 5

The Armani Fifth Avenu, designed by Studio Fuksas Situated in the centre of New York, United States in one of the best known streets, the project takes up the first three floors of two buildings localized between the 5th Avenue and the 56th Street.

Besides the basement, the show room develops on four differents levels, the nucleus of the project being the staircase connecting the floors. It’s a structure wrought with a radiating grill of steel, covered in a plastic which highlights the sculptural form. It’s a completely independent element that can be assimilated with difficulty to a simple geometric figure, originating as a whirlwind with great dymanism, surrounded by the different levels of Armani’s world.

In a ribbon-like movement the staircase skims each of the floors creating flowing forms unrecognisable from any two different stand-points.

The fluidity of the internal space is rendered by the uniformity realized by monochrome lacquered wood panels. Different bends in the threads of these panels give rise to fields and handles for the different product areas. Folds give hospitality to the dressing-room and the VIP hall, in other points there are areas reserved to the staff, cash desk, or special product areas like Armani Dolci.

Every element of the internal design, from the exhibitions to the rooms to cloak rooms, from the desks to the armchairs, follows and satisfies the movement concept generated by the staircase, becoming a part of the same whirlwind.

Inside the restaurant, filtered by an amber veil, there is a splendid view of the 5th Avenue and in the end of Central Park. The colours and the materials utilized are the same of the rest of the show room, but the suggestions are new and different. The space becomes recreational, a line of light on the floor that leads to the entrance of the restaurant underlining the sensuality of the bends of the wall. A virtual curtain, they activate the passage and suggests a theatrical space.

Medieval Sicilian Textiles

2010-07-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Sicilian Islamic themed woven brocade 12th century

Although the Islamic occupation of Sicily did not reach its final stage until 965, the influence of partial occupation and trade links with the larger Islamic world for the previous two centuries had an enormous influence on the crafts and culture of this Mediterranean island.

Sicily was well known for its textile production during the emirate period of its history. To be fair, most if not all of the textiles produced were largely Islamic in flavour and theme. However, Sicily had long been both a province of Byzantium and had maintained a sizeable Greek population. The culture of the eastern Greek empire was enmeshed into the local one, so that what textile work was produced had a combination of Byzantine and Islamic flavours, though of course it should be noted that the Islamic influence was always the strongest.

Illustration: Satellite map of Sicily

Sicilian Textiles not only found their way to different ports along the North African coast, but interestingly, much further north into Central Europe. They were well prized, expensive and even made their way into royal collections. It is interesting that although Christian Europe was technically in confrontation with Islam throughout this period, at a practical level trade and cultural exchange seemed relatively unhindered. It would be interesting to note how far Sicilian produced textiles, with their Islamic inscriptions and motifs, travelled into the heart of Christian Europe.

With the coming of the Normans to the island in about 1060, it added yet another element to the already confusing layers of Sicilian culture. Without going into the politics or religious aspects of the island's history in too great a detail, it is fair to say that the combination of cultures, although clashing ideologically, did produce some of the most beautiful textiles of the period. The border area of Islam which was to include all of the major islands in the Mediterranean from Crete to Mallorca, and of course modern Spain and Portugal, was a hot bed of innovation and creative thinking through a whole range of crafts from ceramics through to textiles.

Illustration: Spanish Islamic woven textile design 14th century

The illustrations shown in this article are all from the twelfth century and all from Sicily, bar one. The fourteenth century woven textile design above was placed here because for a long period this particular fabric was considered to be either Sicilian or Spanish. It couldn't really be decided in which region it had originated. It seems as though most experts are now happy to authenticate the design as being from Islamic Spain. However, although it is important to trace the origins of this particular piece, what is more important is that it also clearly represents a very similar style to the work produced in Sicily. It can be seen from this how extraordinarily expert was both the design and production of these European Islamic textiles.

Illustration: Sicilian Islamic themed woven brocade 12th century

It would be tempting, though inaccurate, to see Sicily with its Classical Greek and Roman routes, its layers of Byzantine, Islamic and Latin Christian cultures along with that of the Normans, as an ethnically and religiously tolerant oasis in the maelstrom of early medieval Europe. Although admittedly even long after Sicily became a province of the Normans, Arabic was still spoken as the court language and much of the Islamic institutions were kept in place, it proved only a matter of time before an intolerance of Islam, much harsher than that of the previous Islamic rulers, was set in place. Islam and all its external influences, including the decorative arts, were cleansed of much of the work that could be attributed to Islam. This spelt the end of a period of Sicilian textile history that had separated it, in style and influence, from the mainland of Italy and much of Europe. Later Sicilian textile work, although individual to the island to some extent, did tend to follow the fashions and themes set down by the mainland and the rest of Europe.

Illustration: Sicilian silk textile design 12th century

The loss of a connection between Sicily and North Africa was also a loss of connection between Europe and the Islamic arts. As European history developed any connections that did remain between the two cultures got narrower and more alien, until eventually the gulf between the two proved too difficult to bridge. However, these Sicilian Islamic themed textiles are still part of the European tradition of textile design and they were to play an interesting and important role in nineteenth century Britain in particular, where William Morris much admired the workmanship of these iconic designs.

Reference links:
History of Islamic Sicily (Islamic Surveys)
Arabic Administration in Norman Sicily: The Royal Diwan (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization)
Siculo-Norman Art: Islamic Culture in Medieval Sicily (Islamic Art in the Mediterranean)
Al-Idrisi and Representations of the Medieval Muslim World: An entry from Gale's Science and Its Times

Owen Jones and Egyptian Revival

2010-07-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Egyptian Ornament from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament 1856

To many it must seem at times as if there were so many revival themes that passed through the nineteenth century that there were far too many to even count. Many were short lived, while others lasted decades, and others still, saw more than one revival in the century. This could, to some extent, be said to be true for the Egyptian Revival which initially gained much public popularity and even excitement through the exploration of Napoleon and his army in Egypt in the first few years of the nineteenth century, but also saw continual waxing and waning of its fashion status throughout much of the Victorian era.

Illustration: Satellite map of Egypt

Victorian Europe became entranced with the exotic and the eclectic in all its forms. Architecture and the decorative arts, as well as that of the fine arts, became imbued with all aspects of cultural fancy, both past and present. That much of this exoticism was the creation of the Victorian mind and had little if anything to do with original cultures was not important. The fact that elements of cultures could be transported across continents and time, added to exteriors and interior themes, sometimes seamlessly, at other times not, but at least with little or no hesitancy, says much about the confidence, if little else, of the Victorian psyche.

Although very few individuals were confident enough to stretch to an entirely ancient Egyptian themed interior, accessories were easily produced and Egyptian elements could be seen within textiles, ceramics, furniture, jewellery, metal and glass. Much of this interest was tied in with the ongoing rediscovery, through archaeology, of ancient Egypt.

Illustration: Egyptian Ornament from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament 1856

The original Egyptian culture lasted well over three thousand years, so there was an obvious dearth of cultural and decorative evidence available for exploration and exploitation. As the century progressed ancient Egypt was unravelled as a culture that seemed so much more complex, exotic and utterly alien to the relatively juvenile nations and populations of Europe. Large and small artefacts were shipped to Europe from Egypt during much of the nineteenth century. They occupied not only museum collections, but could also be seen as new monuments in parks and other public areas. Some were used as highlights reflecting the new found international and colonial strength of Europe. Along with copious detailed drawings and illustrations, usually produced in site in Egypt, there was enough information to keep the Egyptian Revival healthy fuelling its development in order to style itself across the century.

Illustration: Egyptian Ornament from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament 1856

Owen Jones in his The Grammar of Ornament, published in 1856, obviously felt comfortable and confident enough to produce a chapter on Egyptian Ornament that contained no less than nine full colour plates on the subject. This puts the number of plates on a par with the Indian, Medieval and Renaissance chapters. The plates gave ample examples of the unique colour and decoration perspective of ancient Egypt, and could be used by any student or designer to develop for a range of disciplines. Although Jones book was by no means the only example of its kind available, it was a high profile example and goes someway into explaining its continued popularity today.

As to ancient Egypt itself, it captivated and mesmerised its contemporary rivals and neighbours alike. It was considered ancient, exotic and singular by the Romans, and its eventual rediscovery by modern Europeans imbued it with yet another rejuvenation. It has influenced styles and themes throughout the following twentieth century, and in our own century is perhaps even more popular still. Exhibitions and museum collections are guaranteed good business if there is the possibility of an ancient Egyptian theme.

Illustration: Egyptian Ornament from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament 1856

The Victorian Egyptian revival, as in all revivals can never be seen in isolation. There are always connections, influences and inspirations in all these decorative revival styles. It is as well to be aware of this when viewing Jones The Grammar of Ornament. Although his book is not a slave to revivals or fashion, he was aware of underlying interests and fascinations within his own culture. To explain and quantify the cultures that fuelled those fascinations is at the root, at least partially, of The Grammar of Ornament.

Reference links:
The Egyptian Revival: Ancient Egypt as the Inspiration for Design Motifs in the West
Anubis Egyptian Revival Sculptural Clock
Egyptian Revival Jewelry and Design
14Kt Yellow Gold Egyptian Revival Amethyst Ring
Egyptian Maiden Torch Table Lamp/light New
Egyptomania: The Egyptian Revival : A Recurring Theme in the History of Taste
A Pair of Egyptian Revival Carved Fruitwood and Inlaid Side Chairs, English, Circa 1880 Giclee Poster Print, 18x24
Egyptian Revival in Bohemia (Czech Institute Monographs)
Egyptian Revival
The Revival Styles in American Memorial Art

Walter Crane Nursery Wallpapers

2010-07-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Walter Crane Illustration from Sleeping Beauty 1876

Walter Crane is well known for his widespread and still relatively popular illustration of children's literature. Working in tandem with this was the work he produced for children's themed wallpaper, or nursery wallpapers as they termed.

Crane's wallpaper design work for children in particular, came directly from his illustrative work for children's literature. He was often inspired, and sometimes even specifically asked, to submit work that was influenced by his illustrative work. Therefore, there are wallpapers produced by Crane that follow both the nursery rhyme and fairy tale themes of his book work.

Illustration: Walter Crane The House That Jack Built nursery wallpaper 1886

It was in 1874 that he was first approached by the popular and innovative wallpaper manufacturer and retailer Jeffrey & Co. The company specifically asked for design work that was close to Crane's illustrative design for literature and from that point on he produced intermittent children's wallpaper design work until the end of the 1880s.

Crane himself tended to separate the children's wallpaper themes from the rest of his design work for Jeffrey & Co. This was not necessarily because of the juvenile quality of the themes, but had much more to do with ideas he had concerning production. The nursery wallpapers were usually machine printed, whereas many of the adult themed wallpapers were hand-block printed. Whether this had anything to do with the perceived perception of the aesthetic requirements of children versus adults is unclear, but Jeffrey & Co obviously spent more time and effort on adult, rather than children's decoration. As far as the designer was concerned it was purely a matter of quality that separated the design work, not genre.

Illustration: Walter Crane Illustration from The Frog Prince 1874

Crane had a number of problems, as did many other designers and manufacturers of the period, with rogue wallpaper manufacturers who were reproducing his illustrative book work as fully designed nursery themed wallpapers. This was without his or the publishers permission. It tended to be a problem that was endemic to the ocean divide between Europe and North America, with each side trying to circumvent any rudimentary copyright laws that existed. The main creative loser was often the designer. Crane himself was usually more upset by the innappropriateness of some of the design work, along with the lack of creative input into the finished wallpaper design, than he was with copyright infringement.

Illustration: Walter Crane Miss Mouse at Home nursery wallpaper 1877

Only two of the illustrations shown in this article are actually nursery wallpapers designs. The others are actually illustrations from children's literature. it seemed more than appropriate to show both book and wallpaper illustration work in order to make it clear how closely allied the two really were.

Crane always had a strong affinity to wallpaper decoration and he candidly admitted in an interview in 1894 that if he had not first travelled down the road of book illustration he would have taken the decision to follow a wallpaper design route instead. Although he was well aware that there were technical differences between book illustration and wallpaper design, Crane was also aware that the two shared a similar language and vocabulary. Crane was by nature a born illustrator and graphic inspired artist and could value and appreciate the technical and creative aspects of both disciplines and to his merit, denigrated neither.

Illustration: Walter Crane Illustration from Puss in Boots 1873

Reference links:
The Art & Illustration of Walter Crane
Flora's Feast: A Fairy's Festival of Flowers
The Frog Prince and Other Stories (Illustrated Edition) (Dodo Press)
Walter Crane as a Book Illustrator
Best Loved Fairy Tales of Walter Crane
The Buckle My Shoe Picture Book (Illustrated Edition) (Dodo Press)
Mother Hubbard, Her Picture Book, Containing Mother Hubbard, The Three Bears, & The Absurd A, B, C. Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm
Beauty and the Beast: Beauty and the Beast A TALE FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT OF JUVENILE READERS
Line and Form (1900)
An Alphabet of Old Friends ; And, the Absurd ABC

Coral Villa located in Hawaii

2010-07-14T12:30:00.000-07:00

Hawaii is resplendent with beautiful beachside villas and we just finished talking about the Starfish Villa a little while ago. Another bright option to enjoy some great holidays in Hawaii is the Coral Villa which too overlooks the beautiful beachside and ocean. The Coral is more upmarket as compared to the Starfish and that is the reason why the prices for booking the villa overnight can reach as high as $1,750 at times. For the extra money, you can of course avail more luxurious features compared to what you get at the Starfish.

Modern Interior Apartment Design

2010-07-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

Modern Interior Apartment Design

The Aemilia Ars Society

2010-07-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Aemilia Ars Society needlepoint lace

Lace making in Europe saw a great, if temporary renewal in its fortunes during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Various organizations and schools were set up across the continent and had varying degrees and rates of success. Many were linked to either government or aristocracy, or both. Much was done to restructure an old but often tired, derivative and unprofitable textile craft.

One of these organizations was the Aemilia Ars Society founded in Bologna in 1898. The society was founded with the help and support of such contemporary Italian creative individuals as Alfonso Rubbiani and Achille Casanova, in order to promote a new and vigorous craft tradition in the Emilia region of Italy. To some extent it drew inspiration from the English Arts & Crafts model, though was entirely Italian in its makeup and cultural inspiration. Although the society itself was by no means limited to the revival of lace production in the region, it was in fact interested in revivals of metal, wood, embroidery and other crafts; it was the work with lace that is best remembered today.

Illustration: Aemilia Ars Society lace design

Although much of the initial lace produced by the Society was based on past greatness, designs were taken from an old volume of lace designs owned by the Marchesi Nerio Malvezzi, this did not mean that new work was not attempted. Although lace work produced by Aemilia Ars was perhaps not as contemporary looking as that being designed further north in schools across the Austro Hungarian Empire, the lace produced in Bologna and eventually all over Italy was seen as being of a particularly high standard with a pedigree based on the history of Italian lace.

Illustration: Aemilia Ars Society drawn linen and lace design

One of the main instigators for the renewed popularity of lace in Italy was the now famous international Milan Exhibition of 1906. At this venue native lace making was given a particularly high profile. A whole room was dedicated to lace work from across Italy. It was exhibited very effectively against a pure white background with more than adequate and sensitive lighting. It was this exhibition space that helped to internationalise the new vibrancy and direction that had been found for one of the older traditions of Italian textile craft.

The problem, as always with such labour intensive crafts, was the lack of enthusiasm provided by any potential lace workers. There was little to inspire women to take up the craft as it had always been and still remained a tiring, time consuming and poorly paid occupation which often led to recurring health problems, particularly those involving eyesight.. There were new and easier options for young women in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Italy, to make far easier money. On top of that was the changing emphasis on fashion which saw a reduction of layers and decoration and a move to produce a more minimal, trimmer and practical figure for women, devoid of lace.

Illustration: Aemilia Ars Society lace coverlet

Although lace making has never truly died as a craft, it often appears as a less attractive textile craft option than perhaps it really is or should be. Although there are no real signs of a large scale revival in the fortunes of lace, it cannot be surmised that there never will be again.

Anyone interested in Italian lace in particular, might like to try the link to the Italian Needlework blog that can be found below in the Reference links section, along with a variety of books on Italian lace that can be easily be found on Amazon.

Illustration: Aemilia Ars Society short curtain in needlepoint lace

Reference links:
Italian Needlework blog
Identification of Lace (Shire Library)
Italian Lace Designs: 243 Classic Examples (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Carmela Testa Variety #1- Italian Cutwork & Filet Lace c.1921
Old Italian Lace - Vol. I.
Old Italian Lace - Vol. II.
Italian Laces and Embroideries

All Top Interior House Design

2010-07-14T07:15:00.000-07:00

All Top Interior House Design

Modern Design Badroom

2010-07-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

Snurk Bedding came up with an unconventional and bold bedding collection. White Laundry series are seemingly normal white sheets, but at a closer look an extra treat is revealed. Casually throwing clothing items on beds is very common. However, in the case of Snurk Bedding this led to a fun design idea. The collection features a total of five different clothing products: a robe, a shirt, a bra, a pair of socks and a thong. The sets are 100% cotton which means durability and quality. We imagine comfort was not left behind either. By the way, “snurk” is Dutch for “snoring”. We don’t know how many of our readers would go for such a crazy design, but the idea is definitely worth showing off.-via Stilsucht

Bosnian Embroidery

2010-07-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

Illustration: Traditional embroidery for a man's shirt

The history of Bosnia is one that represents a complex patchwork of cultures and religions. The decorative crafts, particularly those concerned with textiles, reflect that same diversity. Embroidery has always been an important component of cultural identity, no more so than in the Balkans where shifting political boundaries have for centuries been largely irrelevant compared to those of the cultural variety. Bosnia may have sat uncomfortably within the sphere of empires and dominating cultural regions. However, it has managed to produce decorative work, which although influenced by those around it, does reflect the diversity within its borders.

Illustration: Traditional Bosnian Islamic costume

Embroidery in Bosnia can be crudely segregated into three distinctive styles. Urban centres were largely Turkish administrative points for the Turkish Empire and so were therefore mostly Islamic in makeup. The south and west of Bosnia had a stronger decorative affiliation and strong trade links with the Mediterranean and Italy in particular. The northern part of the region bordering the Austro Hungarian Empire was much more heavily influenced by the styles of Central Europe. Obviously these are generalizations and the complexities of Bosnian regional and specifically those of a highly localised variation, abounded.

Illustration: Traditional Bosnian Christian costume

As with many regions embroidery was often a domestic craft produced by women. Both Islamic and Christian families used embroidery extensively for festivals and particularly weddings. However, embroidery had a much wider scope than this and could be found as a decorative effect used domestically and as an addition to other textile crafts such as knit. Knitted socks with embroidered embellishment was a particular feature of the region, though not necessarily Bosnia specifically.

Although there are regional differences in pattern work throughout Bosnia and particularly within national costume, floral based decorative work was popular in both urban and rural areas. It can sometimes be confusing in trying to differentiate between the main decorative style in Bosnia, as for example both Islamic and Christian groups used floral motifs extensively, as did the two other main influences on the region Italy and Austria.

Illustration: Traditional Bosnian embroidered cap

Part of the problem with identifying the decorative origins of work produced in such diverse cultural areas as can be found in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, is that of the multi-layered effect of history and its influence. There are so many cultural layers of peoples, empires and religions that have influenced and guided the decorative effects of at least a certain proportion of embroidery work within the region, that it will always be difficult to disentangle those influences on the pattern work of the region. However, this does not mean that much of the embroidery work within Bosnia cannot be identified with a specific religion or ethnic background.

Recently due to the violent fragmentation of Yugoslavia, Bosnia has had to restructure itself along largely religious, rather than truly ethnic grounds. Catholic Bosnians have become associated with Croats in the west. Greek Orthodox Bosnians have become associated with Serbians in the east and north, while the largely urban Islamic Bosnians occupy the centre of the country.

Illustration: Traditional Bosnian embroidered cap

Because of this largely artificial division that did not really exist within the old Yugoslavia, Bosnians have had to redistribute themselves, often forcibly, to the regions that their religion identifies them with. This has largely broken up the traditional patchwork of cultural and craft traditions of the region, scattering those traditions across the country and beyond. However, those same traditions have managed to survive and in time may well flourish. New traditions are forming from the old as craftspeople from different backgrounds interact in the new divisions of Bosnia. This interaction will hopefully lead to new pathways for craft work in general and Bosnian embroidery specifically.

Reference links:
Peasant Art in Austria and Hungary
Embroidered Textiles: A World Guide to Traditional Patterns

Beautiful Staircase Design Ideas by Cast

2010-07-07T22:34:00.000-07:00

If you are building a new home or updating your current home you may want to add a stunning addition to your home. You can choose to add a staircase to your home making it more elegant and sure to stand out from the crowd.You will need to choose which style of stairway you want.The Italian Company Cast offers you a variety of staircase.Personally i love the flowery inspirations which was created that gives the impression of an ascending or descending garden with every step you take.The staircase from Cast gives your loft a new stylistic interpretation and also are available accessories such as limited edition glass fiber vases and chairs adorned with delicate, hand-crafted embellishments.

Modern Foppish Inland Design

2010-07-07T11:10:00.000-07:00

Transparent glass volume and wooden box volume creating contrasting and floating effect of this villa concern design. This design also perfect for preclude hot of the upper house, shade with wooden slats in unique placement. Sustainable feature with innovative economy and energy efficient obtained from astir objective construction and geothermal power. Inside the straight glass in first floor, open volume kitchen-dining-living space exist with modern foppish inland design, correct to display arts craft collections. Designed by Paul De Ruiter Architects.

The house concept have combined from leaves

2010-07-07T10:12:00.000-07:00

Leaf House is a building in which people can simultaneously be and inside, and in a garden. The house, the cottage which has revived at coast in Sydney, tenants name Pavilion for Merge to the Nature. Look a video in detail showing all process of building of this unusual object.

The building is integrated into surrounding landscape and reflects qualities; the top block mixes up among trees, the base merges with plain.

The copper-plated roof reminds the fallen leaves; in the house the dynamical structure reminding a bush of grapes grows.

In the given project authors used design and technologies for achievement is high-adaptability to manufacture also complexities at the limited expenses.

Hotel Los Angeles

2010-07-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

Hotel Los Angeles

Modern Bedroom" Special Design"

2010-07-05T00:23:00.000-07:00

Exotic design bedroom

Luxury bedroom decoration

New ideas for the modern bedroom. Natural materials, make you sleep comfortably till morning ....

Modern kitchen "germany design"

2010-07-05T00:19:00.000-07:00

Modern kitchen

Modern kitchen

Modern kitchen

Modern kitchen design as kitchen which make chef or cooker to cook a meal and move fro one place to another.

Los Angeles Interior Hoteles

2010-07-01T06:19:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles Interior Hoteles

Home Interior Design 2010

2010-06-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

Home Interior Design 2010

All Gallery Interior Apartement

2010-06-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

All Gallery Interior Apartement

Gallery Interior Apartement

2010-06-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

Gallery Interior Apartement

Interior Taj Mahal

2010-06-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

Interior Taj Mahal

Interior Design London

2010-06-20T00:33:00.000-07:00

Interior Design London

The Interior City

2010-06-20T00:29:00.001-07:00

The Interior City

Beautifull Interior Design

2010-06-20T00:29:00.000-07:00

Beautifull Interior Design

Gallery Badroom

2010-06-19T07:21:00.000-07:00

Gallery Badroom