Cabinet

Furniture maker Nick James has designed and made this lovely cabinet. He invited me to design for the screenprinted Formica door panels, which was such a treat. Drawings of an early jet engine at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle inspired my design, which fits perfectly with Nick's mid-20th century inspired pieces.
And if you peek inside the drawers there are matching drawer liners.

Hanbury Hall

These glass panels are in the sitooteries at Hanbury Hall in the West Midlands. The cast faceted clear glass is set in an iron fretwork. I've seen similar in Greece.

Serendipity

I was photographing my new commission at Jurys Inn on Gateshead Quays and spotted this view.
View the whole commission on my website

The Capable Gardener

Tucked away in a sheltered spot at Kirkharle Courtyard near Wallington in Northumberland is a lovely little nursery run by Philippa Hodkinson, a National Trust gardener who is responsible for Gertrude Jekyll's garden at Lindesfarne. She sells locally grown plants, and has a shed with a great range of proper gardening tools and accesories picked by a gardener for gardeners. Everything has been carefully sourced from the UK and the sturdy gardening aprons, in a range of fabrics, are designed and made exclusively for the Capable Cardener.
There are secondhand gardening books to browse and buy, planters inspired by sheep troughs and peat free conpost.

A pot of flowers show what your plant will grow into!

Garden Day Poem

And this was Cynthia Fuller's poem


Moorbank


Take refuge here. The garden is

a cup of breathing green

rimmed by the city’s noise –

the swell and drone of cars,

the lost dogs barking to go home.

It is a living habitat

for urban birds – a nest of song.

Roots are pushing deep below

concrete and tarmac.

Time could slow here to the pace

of ancient trees, or quicken

to keep step with the sudden poppy

whose orange tissue flares

and crumples in a day.

Garden Day

Linda France, poet and writer is currently Leverhulme Artist in Residence at Moorbank, Newcastle University’s Botanic Garden.
I spent an inspiring day there last week with several poets and visual artists invited to make work in response to the space.
It is always difficult to switch off and to find something to say on the spot, but after a few false starts, I found that each plant had its own calligraphy.

Healey Church glass

This tiny church in rural Northumberland has some really interesting glass. 'Contrary Rhythm' by the artist James Hugonin has hundreds of tiny shards of antique glass floating in a grid.

Anne Vibecke Mou's delicate point engraved window.

And Leonard Evetts windows with beautiful details.

Journal Culture Awards

I printed this year's Journal Culture Awards which were given to the 15 winners on Monday night at the Gala Theatre in Durham.
The screenprint was designed to be seen from the auditorium and has circular motifs drawn from the artforms represented, on a multicoloured ground.
The added bonus was that they co-ordinated beautifully with the coat of compere for the night, the comedian, writer and poet Kate Fox.

Misprints

Making the offcuts after printing an edition is the best bit sometimes. These are like found objects with qualities I could never have designed.

"Throne Up"

Northern Print are doing a roaring trade in limited edition royal wedding sick bags.
choose from royal blue, red gold or black.

Well worth a read.
And a look  http://anoptimiststourofthefuture.com/