Běla Kolářová

I really loved the recent exhibition of Běla Kolářová's work at Raven Row (in fact I love Raven Row in general)

This morning I was looking through the catalogue, it made me so happy I thought I would share some images with you. I hope you like them and if you ever get the chance to see the works for real you should definitely do it. They're all so wonderful and considered and sparse; using simple everyday objects and often beautifully and carefully framed by the artist herself.

Thank you Robin Welch.

I have a new pot in my kitchen and it's a beauty! It's made by Robin Welch; a most wonderful ceramicist. (You can read a little more about him here). It's in a slightly bad way - all chipped and with baked on food but I take this as a blessing: it means I won't be tempted to sell it or just leave it on a shelf. I will cook with it, and enjoy it. I love the shape and the feel of it: it's chunky but even, it just feels wholesome to the hands.
I'm so pleased with it - my ceramic love is reignited, I've even started a Pinterest if you're interested.The other thing I like about it is just how easy it was to find out who made it . . . If there are any studio potters reading this (which there probably are because only the best, most high-brow folk read this blog) please take note! Don't make yourself a tiny cryptic signature stamp and then change it every few years just to be extra confusing. Just sign it big on the bottom - simple.
Thank you Robin Welch

Mayday.

Today I went to the Sweeps Festival in Rochester - an outing planned by that lovely beast Ali. It were dead good. 

We all got kissed by the Jack in the Green (who is my favourite) and I got gifted with ivy . . . which I didn't realise was for fertility until after I took it. I love folk traditions, they're so inspiring and bizzarre.
Do you have a favourite folk tradition or character?

Hardworking blankets

Being a furniture dealer involves a lot of lugging and praying things don't break in the back of your juddery old van. Luckily I've managed to amass a whole load of trusty blankets real quick. If I was a real dealer I'd have a load of shaggy grey blanketish-things that I'd call 'wraps'.
'I've got some wraps in the back'.
Lucky for you guys I'm a poncy pattern fairy who wants only the the most handsome wraps. And here they are displayed for you. These photos were taken in the back garden of the shop - which I'm in the process of clearing out to make nice. Exciting! I will show you pictures when it's looking lovely - this will mean a lot of hard work as well as evicting the resident fox.

Adventures in Toot Town.

Ok you lovely lumps - here is some Toot.

A nice souvenir bag that looks and feels a bit like a rag rug.

A handsome dustpan and brush - so you can be dead authentic even when you're on your knees scrabbling at dust bunnies.

A swirly cutlery tray - I really like it. When Mum spotted it in my box of stuff she was like BLEURGH!

Handsome bookends. On a similar swirly, whirly theme.

Modern, sleek bookends that can be used together or . . . 

. . . individually. You can roll out the curl of metal and grip the books with it - dead smart.

A nice lino print.

A mangy horse made of real mangy horse hide.

A stonkin' bakelite bracelet.

Saucers in nice patterns - would look good under a lush and healthy pot plant (I haven't got many of those at the moment).

An espresso machine. 

Some Victorian playing cards - such nice designs.

Some WW1 lead toys - poor spindly folk heading off to war.

A large wall-mounted mouth.

A mug with ears.

And some scientific posters that are made of whiteboard material, I thought they'd be pretty fun to have in the kitchen to write your shopping lists on.

Phewf! There you have it. I'm off to work in the shop and today and I'm expecting a visit from a chum who is due to have a baby any minute now (maybe we'll have the most tasteful birth session ever, straddling an Ernest Race) and a person named Lion.

So that's nice.

A triptych of lighting in the shop

I am enjoying the shop, it is nice that if I buy a lampshade it gets to go on an actual light in an actual room or lamps get plugged in - dead snazzy! Here's some lighting I've gathered so far . . . 

The Glow Baby. This one is actually a bed warmer! Can you believe it? The warmth from the bulb heats your sheets for you. And if you hop in with it the light from the bulb will also illuminate your nether regions. Handy.

A nice fifties shade all cut on a slant and with stripes. Nice.

And a woven daffodil light. I love yellow so much.