VELVET DRAGONS

Supplied to The General Trading Company 

This world-famous department store has long been a favourite of the Queen and once held the wedding list for the Prince of Wales. In Spring the store relocated from Sloane Square to South Kensington introducing  new designers along the way.

I was invited to supply a collection of velvet cushions hand painted with a slightly fierce, slightly demure looking dragon head. This design is based on an Elizabethan grotesque wall painting found in a house in Surrey.

Elizabethan wall painting

Here are some shots I took at the workshop then in store later on.

Newly painted Dragon cushions at the Fairlyte workshop.

Dragon cushions piled up at the workshop before delivery to London

Dragon and pompom cushions amongst others at The General Trading Co. Store.

Cushions dotted around the store

Along with the Dragon cushions I also supplied unpainted pompom cushions and some linen cushions painted with leaves:

Pompom cushions in six colours. Pictured here at the workshop against one of my  fresco secco panels titled "Dragonfly tree"

Linen cushions with painted leaves in four shades pictured at workshop

It was good to have a large order like this from such a prestigious shop. The connection was made in November 2010 when The GTC hosted the first gathering of QEST scholars. Called The British Craft Fair this was an opportunity for craftsmen and women to sell their crafts to the public. I became a QEST scholar in 2007 when I was awarded a sum of money to carry out further research into Elizabethan painted interiors. Hopefully there'll be another show this year. I'll keep you posted.

As for the Dragon; I've been very fond of this dragon wall painting for a while now and as an aside, here's a fresco secco panel I painted recently:

 

Bagshot Dragon Fresco Secco

WHERE TO BUY:

Dragon, Pompom and Leaf Cushions
Available uniquely from The General Trading Company. Priced variously between £90 and £185

Bagshot Dragon fresco secco panel
30cm2, £170 from Early Oak Reproductions

Dragonfly Tree fresco secco panel
w122cm x h92cm, £950. Available directly from the Fairlyte Workshop - Contact Melissa: info@fairlyte.co.uk

Welcome

MY FIRST POST

Hello

I'm Melissa White and I established Fairlyte Hand Painted Interiors about eight years ago having been a decorative artist since 1995. I work from my large workshop in Hastings, East Sussex where I hand paint all things decorative for interiors.

I've decided to get this Blog going to replace the newsletters I've been sending out for a few years now. Rather than waiting to build up bits and bobs worthy of a newsletter I think I'd prefer to give shorter snapshots of what I'm up to in Blog form.

I hope that my precious mailing list subscribers will be happy to follow me here instead. If you are new to Fairlyte, may I suggest a quick nosey around my two websites (listed to the right).

I'm excited about how this Blog could develop. To get the ball rolling here are some random shots of my workshop as it stands this week:

Some fresco secco panels of repeat patterns I've been working on.

Piles of vintage linen, a painted swatch of an Elizabethan design & a painted linen cushion


Some off-cuts of Elizabethan painted cloths

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