Spring Spectrum….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camouflage Print for Bill Amberg….

I’m sorry for the long silence… The Architecture of Cloth, Colour and Space went to Dovecot Galleries in Edinburgh (more on this soon) and generally things have been VERY busy.

I’m pleased to share my latest collaboration with the extraordinary Bill Amberg. The undisputed master of all things made of leather Bill asked me to design a camouflage print especially for a new bag he wanted to make. Based on some photographs I took of a fruit tree this ‘Damson camouflage’ emerged after much experimentation. Chocolate browns, inky black and a creamy soft beige merge together in a delicate scattered print on canvas with rich dark leather trim. Due out for Autumn Winter 2012 this will hopefully be the ‘it’ bag of the season and I intend to test it out when I scour the jungles of deepest Indonesia looking for Ikats (lots more on this too!)

….but for now it’s camouflaging nicely with the Cherry Blossoms in Sussex…..

 

 

 

 

Orchid Colours

I went to Marle Place on a rainy Tuesday and took these pictures in the orchid house there… Sensual bursts of colour pulsating on soft clouds of delicate cream backgrounds. Reptilian camouflage scattered across the petals. Beautiful…

Flower Spectrum – Purple and Black Auricula

I’ve recently discovered the Auricula… I guess I always had seen them around but never given them a REALLY close look. I’ve decided they represent the perfect essence of a Spring flower. Small, elegant, neat florets clustered together overlapping slightly. A vast spectrum of colours and combinations including the most graphic black and white…these flowers were made to be drawn. Photographed here on a graphic African batik fabric they seem to sing for my attention.

I’ve also started Pinterest for anyone who’s curious… a broader, quicker platform for all that inspires me.

http://pinterest.com/ptolemymann/

 

 

 

 

Colours of the moment: Easter Tulips

The Easter tulip covers a wide spectrum of colour; hot red-maroon and violet black stripes separated by yellow, creamy peachy flesh. Sultry hot pinks with white  scalloped Parrot edges.

Shameless and gorgeous…

 

 

 

SECRET PLACES, HIDDEN DESIGN @ CHELTENHAM DESIGN FESTIVAL

I’m speaking at the Cheltenham Design Festival on Saturday the 21st. If anyone is in the area please do come along…it should be great. I’ll be part of a panel discussion: Secret Places, Hidden Design.

This has all come about because Lizzi Walton who runs Stroud International Textiles asked me to be involved. She is presenting the Gloucester Cathedral leg of my Architecture of Cloth, Colour and Space Tour. Lizzi has also organised an event called Parings II – Conversations and Collaborations

It’s all happening in Gloucestershire!

http://cheltenhamdesignfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/CDF_Schedule.pdf

Ptolemy Mann – Artist Galley Talk at ARAM – 12th April at 5 -6pm

I’m giving a free talk at the ARAM GALLERY this Thursday the 12th at 5pm if anyone is interested in coming along. It will be an informal oppertunity to hear more about the pieces in the show and the collaborative projects on display.

All are welcome but please RSVP to gallery@thearamgallery.org

Ptolemy Mann – Talk at THE ARAM GALLERY – Thursday 12th April at 5pm

 

Ultimate Fish Pie…. (in Turquoise Le Crueset) and Sussex Pond Pudding

I know I promised that this blog will be about colour but sometimes I can’t help squeezing food in there too. The Ultimate Fish Pie was made this weekend at my house…a collaborative effort. Having made a fair number of fish pies in my time I have to say this was the best ever (and it was in a very fetching Turquoise Le Cruset)… Continuing the watery theme we also made a Sussex Pond Pudding and now that I live in Sussex I hope to master this; a suet pudding with a whole lemon nestled in it’s midst that you cook for 4 hours until the entire lemon disintegrates (this is the part I haven’t quite mastered). The recipe is taken from the Queen of ‘English Food’  Jane Grigson and her book of the same title.

This pudding packs an incredible punch… and its lemony tartness follows on from the fish pie magnificently…

(but not for weak -hearted or dieting souls)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stockholm’s Rainbow Apartment

A few years ago I had seen images of an incredible apartment where the oversized parquet flooring was an undulating expanse of changing colour and it had somehow slipped from my radar and I have just found some images of it to remind me of its splendor.

By the fabulous Stockholm based practice, Tham & Videgård Arkitekter, this is a rare and extraordinary example of architecture full of bold sensual colour. For more about the Humlegården Apartment see: http://www.tvark.se/humlegarden/

In their own words:

“Departing from the interior use of colour and pattern developed by Swedish artists and architects like Carl Larsson and Josef Frank, this apartment also relates directly to it’s setting overlooking Humlegården park, where the greenery outside changes with the season. From winter grey and black, to bright and deep green in summer, to orange, red and yellow during autumn.”

Significant Colour hits 1STDIBS.COM in the USA

I’m testing the USA market with a new agent called art1. Two artworks have been listed on a site called 1stdibs…apparently the place in the USA to source unique and unusual furniture, art and antiques. I’ve already got my eye on a couple of Bauhaus tubular steel chairs…