SPRING SAMPLE SALE @ CRAFT CENTRAL

MANN FOR MADE…

As in MADE.COM…. but firstly big apologies for my lack of Blogging recently. Autumn is well and truly with us and with it I hope to get back into the blogging swing of things. Time always seems so short and there seem to be more and more things to do.

… For now I’m delighted to share my new collection of rugs and cushions exclusively available from MADE.com. A relatively new company who have started a very clever business model several years ago which aims to bring contemporary design straight to the customer at a competitive price. Currently selling in the UK, France and Germany they have a small number of showrooms and do everything online. They have been a real joy to work with and we are also developing another collection – more on that soon!

The collection is called ZAP IKAT and aims to do just that – bring a Zap of colour into your life this winter. Citrus bright ikat stripes of colour – perfect for Christmas presents and delivered in time for Christmas (free delivery right now too)…. Fantastically well made and reasonably priced you can find the collection here:

Give colour!

New Summer Colour Rugs…

The sun is streaming through the window as I type. Apologies for such a gap between postings… the joys of DIY are taking over my life.

However, we just got these gorgeous blasts of colour sent over from India. Inspired by Sonia Delaunay, Dan Flavin and Josef Albers these are slightly smaller than usual and come in two sizes – our more accessible range of summer flatweaves – treat yourself to a special blast of colour – bring the sunshine in!

This Creative Life….

After a staggeringly inspired visit to the Sonia Delaunay show at Tate Modern last week I am compelled to celebrate the idea of art and design standing hand in hand. She represents a true merging of the two and appears to be equally respected as a very commercial textile designer (much more so than I realized) and also as an artist. So good to see this at the Tate being given the space it deserves.

A delicate balancing act between these two worlds confronts me every day – the artist in me and the non functionality of the wall pieces takes precedence (and was my first real creative occupation) but Delaunay’s work as designer and artist shows the two can sit side by side with real meaning.

Then a moment sitting in the Rothko room and I’m completely overwhelmed and blown away by the beauty of this creative life.

Here are some of my own contributions…. (recently returned from Munich)

 

POP UP SHOW IS OPEN……

Dear Significant Colourists… delighted to say the Pop up Show is now open and we’ve had a fantastic first day.

Thanks everyone for coming in. For those of you that can’t make it see below for a taste of colour… I’m especially touched at how far people have travelled to see us. Scotland, Stroud, Bath and Forest Hill to name a few places people have come from today. Thanks!

 

Celebration of Cloth and Colour – Show Opens Tuesday 28th April – Next Week…

A Final reminder to make your way to Clerkenwell this week from Tuesday 28th April – Saturday 2nd May to Celebrate Colour and Cloth at the Craft Central Gallery. I will be there all five days, with Julian Blair from Rugmaker, from 10-7pm with a special late night opening on Thursday 30th. We will be showing a spectacular array of hand dyed and woven artworks alongside our stunning new Gelim Flatweave Rug Collection. We have made some very special new cushions from mid-century 1950’s kimono fabric and we will have a selection of lampshades on show. Finally;  some of the last stock of mohair throws and bed linen will also be for sale.

It will be a veritable cacophony of cloth and colour to inspire you – where art and design come together – We look forward to seeing you.

 

 

SPRING CIRCLE – An entirely new kind of flatweave rug

I’m so excited to be able to share a sneak preview of an entirely new rug.

In fact, I’m not sure I have EVER seen a circular flatweave rug. Never. Please let me know if you have? This is called SPRING CIRCLE – a delicate circular  delight of fresh spring colours. Acid lime like wild garlic, pale primrose pink, deep tulip magenta, sky blue aqua; a symphony of spring chroma dancing before your eyes. Exquisitely edged and beautifully woven by our master weavers in India.

For some reason the wonderful ’roundness’ of this just lifts my spirits. We have yet to photograph this in a resplendent setting but I wanted to share with you to inspire you all to come to Clerkenwell in the last week of April to see this first hand at our Gallery show: Celebration of Cloth & Colour.

As if that wasn’t enough SPRING CIRCLE has some fellows to join it.

RHANA – (named after my fair sister in NYC) shows a more symmetrical dynamic; hot striations of tangerine and maroon singing next to scarlet and grey with a hot pink centre.

And finally… PINK SPHERE… almost (dare I say) Rothko-esq chromatic minimalism – vibrating within it’s circular confines. It can’t possibly get more pure than this.

Let me know what you think…..

 

 

Gelim Furniture – In time for Pop Up

28th April – 2nd May @ Craft Central – Clerkenwell

It’s that time of year again… My annual Pop up event at Craft Central. This year more of a gallery theme than last year. We will be focusing on Gelims and Art. I have a stunning array of new woven pieces for sale and we also have two new pieces of furniture to share with you. A Petrol Grey Gelim Sofa (some of you may remember the Lime Pink Sofa we did for London Wool Week last year). This is a very special piece… graphic and dynamic – a fusion of traditional and modern. We have also made a Black and white Tub chair; to cosy up and read a book in.

Both are for sale: Email info@ptolemymann.com for details.

Hope to see you at the Gallery! 

 

 

 

BBC Radio 4 …for the weekend

I’m very honoured to have been asked to be on BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour. For those who live further afield Women’s Hour is a bit of a British institution. It’s a programme which airs every day for an hour and discusses all things related to the life of women in the UK and throughout the world. Often thought provoking and always interesting in one way or another it feels wonderful to have been invited to speak about Craft with a group of magnificent women. Usually live, this edition was pre-recorded for the Easter weekend Bank Holiday and is devoted to craft in all shapes and sizes, both amateur and professional, historical and contemporary it aims to pack a lot into a relatively short period of time…

I was lucky enough to meet some fabulous ladies including Donna Wilson and her marvellous creatures (whom she brought along) and the free-style dressmaker Chinelo Bally – to name a few.

To hear the programme please do listen on 6th April at 10am BBC Radio 4 and if you miss it you can catch up on the BBC iplayer here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05plght

PS. Also quietly celebrating over 40,000 hits on the blog!!! Yay!

Go CRAFT! Go Significant Colour!

 

A colourful vision of the Taj Mahal

My final post this week links the previous ones together… (magazine covers + colours of India) – as you may have gathered I went to India recently to meet my rug weavers and while I was there we went to the Taj Mahal – which of course – was mezmerizing. Soon after I got back I was asked by FX magazine to participate in a column they do called ‘If only…’ in which they ask a designer or architect to visualise a project of imaginary proportions that they would like to do if budget and circumstance were no object. Its a tricky question as there are no boundaries and it’s a bit like asking a weaver ‘how long is a piece of thread…’ After some thought it occurred to me that placing temporary colour on the Taj Mahal would be an amazing thing to do. This is a building so inherently celebrated for its exquisite whiteness.  When I saw it on a dusky evening it was being visited by 1000’s of mainly Indian tourists, not very many western tourists, and they were there in their flowing saris and it was surrounded by colour. I thought, for a country so synonymous with colour that they might like to see it draped in sheer dyed lengths of transparent silk and tiled brightly. Below is what I came up with… FX liked it so much they put it on the cover! 2 covers in one month…

Click on the cover to see the whole magazine…