Monday 21 October 2013

Going Loco for ROCOCO

Swirls, Curls and Pearls adorn my first design for LEWIS & WOOD

Rococo Wallpaper – heraldic
Rococo Wallpaper – heraldic

Rococo is an exciting new collaboration with innovative fabric and wallpaper producers Lewis & Wood

Rococo selvedge
Rococo selvedge

When Stephen Lewis and creative director Magdalen Jebb came down to visit my Hastings studio back in winter 2012 their enthusiasm was contagious. 

Melissa White studio
my studio on a sunny day

My studio is always chockablock with painted panels and fabrics, experiments and samples but with their designer goggles on Stephen and Magdalen were instantly focusing in on pieces they liked and within an hour had pin pointed several designs they wanted to develop with me.

I then transformed my paintings into repeats, painted the final artwork and handed it over to be translated into printable fabrics and wallpapers. 

The first of these designs, Rococo, launched in September 2013 during FOCUS (I posted about it here).

Detail of my original artwork for Rococo
Detail of my original artwork for Rococo, 
painted in a burnt orange colourway

This damask-y design fuses ornate, scrolling, shell-like motifs reminiscent of the rococo period with floral Indian motifs, all painted as if wood-block printed.

Rococo comes as a wide width wallpaper in 4 metallic finishes....

Rococo Metallic Wallpaper – Gilt & Platinum
Rococo Metallic Wallpaper – Gilt & Platinum
and 3 matte colourways....

Rococo Matte Wallpaper – Oasis
Rococo Matte Wallpaper – Oasis

As a fabric, Rococo comes printed on a fine, tumbled linen in 3 vintage colourways....

Rococo Linen – Fritillary
Rococo Linen – Fritillary

...and finally as a sumptuous velvet in cranberry and slate blue with an irresistible "teddy bear" finish.

Rococo Velvet - Imperial
Rococo Velvet - Imperial

There are more designs to come next Spring when Lewis & Wood join forces with me and another two amazing artists in a truly adventurous new collection. Stay tuned!


Pricing, dimensions, composition etc are available on the Lewis & Wood website



Monday 14 October 2013

NEW DESIGNS: a launch EXTRAVAGANZA!

LONDON DESIGN WEEK
FOCUS September 2013 
Design Centre Chelsea Harbour


Rococo and Gondolier fabrics

So I had a double whammy at the interior designer's paradise that is Design Centre Chelsea Harbour. Crammed with 99 showrooms FOCUS is their annual new collections launch fest.

I had two new designs launching. One with ZOFFANY and one with LEWIS & WOOD.

Here are a few snaps I took in the showrooms on the day I went up. First up....

THE GONDOLIER for Zoffany

Tespi and Arden fabric books
The new Tespi book (left) and last year's Arden book (right) 

After the success of my Arden Collection last year (here's my post for from that day) it was great to be back at the Zoffany showroom to see the launch of my new design for them.

The Gondolier depicts scenes of Venice and gives a narrative element to their luscious new Tespi Collection

Available as a velvet and a wallpaper, you can read more about the design in this recent post.

At the showroom The Gondolier was everywhere from their window display....

the gondolier in Zoffany's showroom window

....to a lush upholstered chair (with cushions and piping in Zoffany's utterly sumptuous Curzon velvet) ....

the gondolier upholstering a chair

....and here it is, all velvety, snuggled between other Tespi fabrics

.
left to right: Oreste, Gondolier, Granada
left to right: Oreste, Gondolier, Granada,
....and finally here is The Gondolier on Zoffany's gift bags...
(i confess I was embarrassingly chuffed to bits with the bags!)

the gondolier on zoffany's gift bags


Then it was over to the Lewis & Wood showroom to see my first design with them...

ROCOCO for Lewis & Wood

rococo swatches


This exuberant damask-y design is my first collaboration with the charming Lewis & Wood team.

In my next post I'll share some professional shots of Rococo, meanwhile here are a few glimpses of the design on launch day.

Suspended from the ceiling is Rococo as a wide-width metallic wallpaper (ultimately 4 colourways)

rococo papers at showrom

Here is Rococo as a romantic linen. The colourways are cleverly designed to sit comfortably amongst other Lewis & Wood fabrics.

rococo linen hanging at showroom

 I just love how Rococo works on a cushion. It crops really nicely because of the empty space within the design.

The cushions either side feature Skittery which is a lovely, fine linen with a tumbled finish. Skittery comes in a mouthwatering range of faded sherbet-y colours and I especially love the lemon yellow.

rococo cushion
Cushions: Rococo linen in Fritillary colourway flanked with Skittery linen cushions.  

Some discerning ladies handling Rococo which is printed on a fine, tumbled linen

ladies handling rococo linen


rococo linen detail
Rococo in Sparrow colourway - detail

Rococo wallpaper in display cabinet
Rococo wallpaper in display cabinet

Facts and figures about Rococo wallpaper and fabric can be found on the Lewis and Wood website.

I'll show you the gorgeous velvet version in my next post.