In my last entry I spoke of fashion and art and the same applies to design and art. where does one start and the other end? Sometimes the boundaries are blurred. In the same way my blogging boundaries are becoming a bit blurred. I am starting to have an internal debate about whether I should branch out and have a blog, for entries like this dedicated to what is happening in the world of Sam Shendi Sculptor , to be more factually about event and news and leave The sculptor’s wife to the entries of my own ramblings matching images of my husbands work. What do you think?

Edna – we love you!

If proof was ever needed for Mintel’s 2011 annual British Lifestyles survey that said Yorkshire was the happiest place in the UK, the astonishingly wonderful furniture design coming out of Anthony Hartley’s workshop in the Yorkshire village of Haworth is it.

Bold, energetic, beautiful and uplifting – it certainly isn’t grim up north according to Anthony.

The audacious and original use of colour and form gives his furniture real movement and energy. We were blown away by Edna, a mischievous three-draw unit with more than a touch of 1960s rebellious style and attitude.

Anthony produces each piece by hand, from original drawings through to finished product. Edna is just one breathtaking design from his limited editions collection and you can work with Anthony to choose your own unique colour sequence, which is authenticated and registered solely to you. Every element of the furniture pieces can be custom made, using either colours or a range of woods to suit your environment.

The UK would be a much happier place if everyone could start the day by pulling out a fresh pair of socks from Edna’s draws…

I am always on the lookout for furniture designers whose work looks great alongside our rugs and wallpaper to exhibit with – do get in touch if you’re interested!

I love this dining room table and chair set by Yorkshire-based furniture designer Anthony Hartley. I featured some of his other cheerful, multicoloured furniture pieces after seeing them at Tent London last year in this post. This set is new to his collection. I love the zesty, citrus-y colour choices as well as the detailing along the sides of all the pieces.

This table and folding stool set by Xobo Design definitely has a playful feel to it and is available in a range of bright candy colours – I could really see it working in a children’s room or nursery! I really like the use of circles and the curved forms in the table and chair legs in particular – really unique. And, the table and chairs can all be folded flat to take up less space when not in use – another cool feature.

I seem to have been seeing these chunky knit stools everywhere over the past several months – they are the creations of Claire-Anne O-Brien. They immediately caught my eye as I have not seen knit used in such an inventive way before. Aside from the the really cool way she has imitated and exaggerated knit structures on a very large scale, these stools look really soft and plush and definitely make me want to sit down! Love the bright blue and yellow colour choices as well – would go really well with some of our pieces.

I picked out this side table from Young and Norgate as I loved the use of the solid bright blue in combination with the beautiful dark wood legs. This piece really stood out to me amongst their collection (which is quite sleek and pared back by comparison), and it really shows what one carefully chosen, powerful colour can do. I could really see one of these these alongside one of our bright blue rugs like Stratum, or even the Barnacles cushion.

Last but not least here are some wonderful pieces by Zoe Murphy who has been on the radar for some time now – not that that makes her work any less exciting! As a textile/print designer I particularly love the combination of print and wooden furniture – she gives old furniture a new life by screenprinting her beautiful designs on it. The combination of an intricate printed pattern with a wood grain texture underneath it on the tops of the tables and cabinet is particularly lovely.

Happy Sunday! Today I am spending the day watching the finals of Wimbledon and surfing around my new favorite website obsession, design-milk.com.

The website was actually recommended to me when I signed up for WordPress as a blog to follow. Well, WordPress apparently knows me better than I know myself.  I would have never sought this website out on my own, but when I saw the quality of the content,  I just had to keep reading!

This website focuses on the hottest trends in modern design, and they focus a lot on modern home decor. My personal style is very traditional, and actually very preppy if I’m being honest. Home decor that inspires me the most has always been Ralph Lauren. So classic and clean. If anyone were to walk in my house they would know it is far too late for me to go modern with my home. I do love the style though, especially the bright colored furniture. I hope you all can expand your view of what is chic and luxurious, and check out this site. Below is a small portion of things I saw today, my personal favorites. If you want to learn more about each item, just click through as I’ve added the links.

Mr Smith the Second is a multi-colored laminated beech chair by UK furniture designer Anthony Hartley.

WRONGWOODS CREDENZA LONG DESIGNER: RICHARD WOODS AND SEBASTIAN WRONG.

MONI SHELVING BY CARME PINÓS. From Estudio Carme Pinós, a modular shelving system made of 2mm thick folded steel with various depths.

Méo Shelf by Olivier Desrochers.

xx Jodie

‘Part of the mill space, Haworth’

On a Sunday we usually spend the day at home, after a busy 6 day week for my husband, Sunday becomes a day to mellow at home. Sometimes for the boys and I, that is also just what is needed, I have started to make Saturdays busy and with the school run during the week, actually it is nice to stay at home for the day. However, that said we went on a little adventure yesterday to Haworth. One of the contacts my husband made The Other Art Fair is a local furniture designer Anthony Hartley who happens to have a fantastic mill space. So last week, the works we have here in Yorkshire went along to join the show ready for the Haworth Festival this week. It’s an inspiring place. We met some lovely people and had delicious home-made cakes and tea. It was great to be able to see my husbands work in a space locally and take the boys. Haworth is really picturesque spot as we discovered on our way back taking a rather long route home.

I am having to stay local again today as the car is in the garage but we managed the long walk back from school up hill passing various breeds of sheep, cows and horses on the way. It made me think again about country living and how reliant we are on using the car. I am very aware that we could be a little ‘greener’ in the way we shop too. We do get milk delivered to our door by the local farmer, and I have been collecting eggs from local small holdings who leave their eggs in a large tub full of egg boxes at their door with an honesty box for your £1 (again using the car!). But there are other things that we could buy more locally – it is often just that little bit more expensive. Anyway I digress a little. If you are local and can get to Haworth…by car or public transport then do take the opportunity to call in on the open studio at Damside Mill.

Great news today as Anthony’s ‘Mr Smith The Second’ chair was featured in the Independent Newspaper!

“The 50 Best homewares” article featured various interior delights including…

Lace Strip Coasters by Lucentia Design

and the SUBLIME Balance Shelving by Conran.

Congratulations Anthony – good stuff!

You can find Mr Smith The Second on the ContemporaryLab shop.

Happy Friday to you all!

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog where we continue our countdown to the Diamond Jubilee – 28 days to go!

This blog was viewed about 2,500 times in 2011.  Most visitors were from the UK, but there were also visitors from USA, Australia, Asia and South America!

The busiest day of the year was 2nd October. The most popular post that day was Helping to save the Loggerhead turtle.

In 2011, there were 36 new posts, with 338 pictures uploaded – that’s about 7 pictures per week.

Please ‘sign up’ for all our posts in 2012 when we hope to feature more fabulous days out and holidays in the UK and abroad.

In 2011, we loved working with/for the following clients:

Anthony Hartley (Furniture designer)

UltraMarine Magazine

Marine Habitat

On: Yorkshire Magazine

Earth, Sea and Sky (Turtle conservation charity)

Biteback (Shark Conservation Charity)

The Deep (Hull)

Swaledale House, Swaledale, Yorkshire

Agra Cottage,  Nidderdale, Yorkshire

Tea & Cake Cafe (Almondbury)

National Federation of Women’s Institutes

Tea & Tarts WI (Huddersfield)

Cafe Nouveau

Birkby Lodge Dining Club

Yo Yo’s Restaurant (Shipley)

Bettakultcha (Leeds)

Culture Vulture

What’s on up North

Smallholder Magazine

Yorkshire Evening Post

If you have accommodation you’d like to see reviewed here, please contact us.

Likewise, if you have places, products or food to be photographed, please drop us a line.

If you’d like to buy canvas or framed prints, please visit our galleries: www.aspinallink.co.uk

Anthony launched his new collection of dynamic contemporary furniture designs at ‘TENT’  they even have their own names from Mr Smith the second, Mrs Smith, Ednas 1 and 3, Sidney and Harrington. NB: This furniture is not Edible!

Anthony Hartley

Mr and Mrs Smith the second

Anthony, creates dynamic and engaging furniture of the highest technical quality. He produces each piece by hand, from original drawings through to finished product.

Anthony Hartley Mr & Mrs Smith the second

Mr & Mrs Smith the second

Edna 1

 

Edna 1

The technical integrity of the pieces is achieved through his years of experience of joinery and creating furniture by hand, understanding the technology and science of his materials and pushing to the limit the stress of woods, ply and plastics. Hand finishing and the closest attention to detail means that each piece looks amazing and performs perfectly.

Edna 1

Anthony Hartley

Edna 3

Anthony Hartley

Anthony Hartley

For more information please click here http://www.anthonyhartley.co.uk/default.html 

TENT LONDON - http://www.tentlondon.co.uk/

Blog Tour 2011 http://www.blogtour2011.com/ 

And here I am trashing Anthony's beautiful creation to compensate for the damage here is my blog

Our shows of choice this year were Tent and Decorex, sadly didn’t make it to 100% Design despite having registered , as it was all quite a lot to take in and we didn’t want to become trade show zombies! Being such a new company we weren’t able to get it together quite in time to exhibit this year but are really looking forward to doing so next year!

While we really enjoyed both shows, there was something about the vibrant, experimental showing at Tent that really left a lasting impression on us. So without further ado, here are our top five picks for this year’s Tent:

1. SurfacePhilia

What really struck us about this year’s showing was the prevalence of digital printing in wallpaper and textile design. More than ever, designers are embracing convenience of producing their work digitally and the freedom that it gives them when designing, and we think it is great! There were many lovely examples of  digitally printed wallpaper but one of the most striking was SurfacePhilia. These designs really show off the complexity and variety you can achieve when you’re not limited by having to print with a set number of screens. Images courtesy of www.surfacephilia.co.uk

2.Shapeways

Shapeways were just too cool for words. They were showing examples of various objects that have been printed digitally using 3D Printing technology, and we just stood at the standing staring in awe and disbelief at the fact that this was even possible. Among they key pieces they were showing were some examples of jewellery by Nervous System, which echo our own abstract, organic design sensibilities. Images courtesy of http://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com

3. Abigail Borg

Although we generally tend to stay away from florals as (we feel) they’ve just been done to death, the floral wallpapers and home accessories created by Abigail Borg were just exceptional. We were really impressed with the precision and intricacy of her drawings and repeat structures. Images courtesy of www.abigailborg.co.uk

4. Anthony Hartley

This was someone we had not seen or heard of before, and we just loved his cheerful, inventive furniture pieces in a huge spectrum of colours. Refreshingly different! Images courtesy of www.anthonyhartley.co.uk

5. Rugs – Sonya Winner & Ceadogàn

We are cheating a little bit for #5 by lumping two different exhibitors in the ‘Rugs’ category, but as we just love rugs so much we couldn’t pick! We’ve been eyeing the ‘After Matisse’ rug by Sonya Winner for a while now, and it is even more beautiful when you are seeing it at actual size and able to admire little details like the varying tuft heights up close. Ceadogàn rugs really impressed us with their bold, graphic patterns and vibrant, colourful wall display of carpet swatches, and they are all made locally in Ireland too! Images courtesy of www.sonyawinner.com and www.ceadogan.ie

One of Richard Aspinall’s photos can be seen in the September edition of Home and Gardens magazine (page 25) and simply dozens of major design websites.  Our client, Anthony Hartley, is being tipped as ‘the one to watch’ for this year’s Tent London design exhibition and his cutting edge design has been picked as the one Home & Gardens thought best ‘summed up’ Tent London.

Mr Smith

Mr Smith the second

To see more of Anthony’s fabulous designs (and more of Richard’s photos) please visit: http://www.anthonyhartley.co.uk/

As a quick Google search will prove - there’s  a lot of media interest in the designs so, Richard’s photos of Anthony’s chairs have been used far and wide:

http://design-milk.com/mr-smith-the-second-chair-by-anthony-hartley/

http://roundedoff.com/2011/08/09/mr-smith-the-second-by-anthony-hartley/

http://www.chairblog.eu/2011/08/09/mr-smith-the-second-by-anthony-hartley/

http://www.archiscene.net/design/mr-smith-chair-anthony-hartley/

http://www.designer-daily.com/mr-smith-chair-by-anthony-hartley-17642

http://www.nochintz.co.uk/blog/2011/08/one-to-watch-anthony-hartley/

http://modernisticdesign.blogspot.com/2011/08/mr-smith-second-by-anthony-hartley.html

There’s even a Greek site featuring the chair:

http://www.designmadness.gr/index.php/2011/08/10/chair-mr-smith/

Here’s a sneak preview of his latest clever design – This time, a set of drawers!

The Tent London exhibition takes place 22-25 September, Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London, E1 6QL  www.tentlondon.co.uk

Anthony makes each piece by hand from sustainable redwood pine or European, and will paint them the colour of your choice, and yet they cost around the same as the outdoor furniture found in many local garden centres.  His company, Tea-Pea.com produces a range of outdoor furniture including the popular ‘Adirondack’ garden chair, based on a traditional New England design.

Adirondack oak chair

For sheer style and beauty, an investment in the Oak chair and footstool will be appreciated for many years to come (£395 for chair and footstool).

Without a doubt, the most eye-catching of the range are the painted pinewood Adirondacks (available in natural, delicious ice-cream pastels or stylish traditional garden colours; £195 including your choice of colour).  The Adirondack chairs and benches are complemented by a range of more contemporary designs, unique to Tea-Pea.com.  From the elegant Cuban lounge chair (£75) to the stunning solid lines of the outdoor sofas and armchairs, these are pieces which bring a modern twist to any size of garden or balcony.

Anthony holds true to the old-fashioned belief that any furniture should be comfortable, stylish and made to last.  He says:

 “Sadly, so much furniture nowadays seems to be made to be disposable; to be changed every year or two with your colour scheme or garden design.  Our resources are too precious for this throwaway approach, so I build from classic designs which can easily be update with a fresh coat of paint every few years, but which will happily live outdoors for many years with minimum maintenance.”

Tea-Pea.com is based in a spacious Victorian canal-side mill in Slathwaite, with stunning views across the local hillsides. Part of the mill complex is nowhome to an artisan bakery (which sells the most delicious bread I’ve ever tasted), while another part will shortly house a new vintage clothing outlet.

This summer, Anthony is busy preparing to launch a range of designer furniture at TENT London (part of the London Design Festival) this September. He’s being tipped as ‘the one to watch’ so, if you want to be ahead of the crowd, get your commissions in now before the rest of the world hears about this Yorkshire gem!

TENT Poster by Richard Aspinall

More of Anthony’s garden furniture range can be seen and ordered on www.Tea-Pea.com  His designer furniture is featured at: http://www.anthonyhartley.co.uk/

To place an order, arrange a visit to the Mill or discuss a commission, please call Anthony on: 07758 779183

Studio photos by Richard Aspinall: www.aspinallink.co.uk © Aspinall Ink