HELEN FOOT DESIGN

On Saturday I went to a fantastic symposium organised by Meadow Arts, the group responsible for putting on the House of Beasts exhibition at Attingham Park.  What I found thoroughly interesting was a talk by one of the artists Sarah Molins, who's work had totally passed me by in the exhibition.  Her piece is actually viewable online so I thought I would share the link with you.  Based on the colourful history of one of Attinghams past residents I find the story and the site most intriguing.  See what you think . . .

I recently came across Stewart Easton's print and stitch work at an exhibition in mac Birmingham and totally feel in love.
'Using folk song and story as a starting point Easton weaves story-based narratives, utilising the space of a single panel to explore time, movement and transition within his tapestry based works.'
The pieces he had on display were a combination of digital print and hand embroidery.  Heres a few examples of his work . . .

Here are some images from a styling shoot with Ella Ruth Photography and Styling by Rosie Taylor which were taken in January . . .

Feeling slightly fraudulent labelled as Helen Foot Design's UK Buyer I visited HOME and Top Drawer at London's Earls Court last week.  The quality of the exhibitors was exceptional so I'm going to share my top 5:
One. . .
Je Vous En Prie.  The owner and designer, Fabienne, was one of my interns when I worked at Wallace Sewell, so it's fantastic to see her doing so well.
Two . . .

The second stop on my North Wales trip was the Oriel Mostyn Gallery in Llandudno.  The stunning building is a clever integration of old and new, designed by architect Dominic Williams.  Mostyn consists of 5 galleries which showcase the best of contemporary art being produced in Wales and internationally.  I'm not sure I understood the exhibition that was up when I visited (an ant selloptaped to a book and a film of a woman stuffing a tin of sardines in her mouth featured) but I really loved the space.  The stairwell with its wood-effect concrete finish is amazing . . .


well worth a visit.  Images from here.

I've been here there and everywhere over the last couple of weeks and seen many exhibitions.  The first of my trips was to North Wales last week to catch the Ptolemy Mann show at Ruthin Craft Centre before it closed that weekend.  The gallery space was a glorious wash of colour, bold, sharp and rich.  Lengths of digitally printed fabric hung floor to ceiling alongside Ptolemy's signature hand woven art pieces.  Displayed were also designs from her consultancy for architects and collaborations with fashion and interior designers.  A truly beautiful show.

Unfortunately the exhibition has now finished but if you would like to see more of Ptolemy's work then visit her website : www.ptolemymann.com.  Blog image from here.

'Building the Revolution' also introduced me to the work of Liubov Popova.  As a female she was a rare commodity in the male-dominated world of Soviet art.  Her work fused Cubo-Futurism, Suprematism and Constructivism, for which she gave the term 'Painterly Architectonics'.  Having worked extensively as a painter she extended her practice to include poster, book, theatre and fabric designs.  I find her print designs particularly inspiring . . .