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Food, photography and decorative painting are all combined in this gorgeous-looking new book called A Feast For The Eyes written by ornamentalist Lynne Rutter and fellow cooking artists. Take a look through the pages in the preview. You can order from there too. Recipes include starters, main courses, delicious sounding puddings and a lavender martini. What's not to like?
Helen
Whilst thumbing my latest issue of Vogue, I was struck by this photograph by Steven Meisel of a frock and skirt by Prada. Does it not look stencilled to you? If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will know that we always encourage stencilling your clothing. It would be nice to think that even the top designers are at it too!
On another note, I do love the hats in this photo. Oh why is not de rigueur that we girls all wear hats like this anymore? To me, they just complete the outfits.
Rachel
I was recently interviewed by Regina Garay for the Fauxology Blog. It was a very pleasant experience. If you would like to know a little more about The Stencil Library or myself then do take a peek. Regina is a very talented artist and writes an entertaining and informative blog. You will find some good information about colour trends, the White House decorator and a new magazine. I hope to feature her soon in our 'Featured Decorative Artists' section.
The picture is from Regina's gallery of her work.
Helen
Soon after seeing the Northumberland Lights at Kielder (posted last week), I visited the fabulous Enchanted Parks event at Saltwell Park, Gateshead. I believe there will be one next year. Catch it if you can and combine it with a trip to The Stencil Library!
I must thank Mr Austin Dunphy who rescued me by taking photographs for Design Inspiration when I realised my camera was mislaid. Other pictures were supplied by Northern News. I'm thankful for their kindness because wandering through the Enchanted Park was truly a wonderful experience and I did want to share it with you. I had gone there primarily to see Yoko Ono's wishing trees. I have wanted one in our village for years. People wrote their wishes on labels and tied them to the trees.
Eventually the wishes will go to the Imagine Peace Tower in Videy Island. Photo BBC Tyne.
Other trees were hugged with woolly wrappings.
Photo North News.
Others were illuminated by Granny's knitting threading though their branches. (Photo North News) In the Garden of the Towers a melancholic spectre in a globe read poetry and sang for us when he was not slowly zorbing around the lawn.
This was a free event and was well attended but did not feel crowded.
I spent twenty minutes watching the blacksmith in his landscape of fire and water and barely saw another person.
I bought a hot chocolate and sat alone in each of the rose bowers in turn. They all had different stories to tell of lost love, true love and unrequited love. All were whispered to me whilst I sipped my drink and warmed my hands on the cup.
Sometimes when stories are told in our local dialect, I could not understand them. I've lived here for thirty years now and do not always grasp the accent but these were clear and entertaining.
An outdoor ballroom with gilt chairs set around the edges of a woodland reminded me of my own garden with mirror balls hung in the trees. I did this in my garden Christmas 2007 and they have stayed there since.
One of the last installations involved transforming the bandstand into a frosted glass cage.
A camera caught images of bystanders and set them into frames of snowflakes,
this one is me. Austin took sound recordings and bite size videos of the evening which you can see here. The event was as much about sound as it was about light. All the uncredited pictures on this post are his work. Thank you again, Austin. Does anyone have similar festivals where they live?
Helen
Last July, I was contacted by Erin who was designing the set for the autumn production of Macbeth by the Lakewood Playhouse, a non-profit theatre in Lakewood, Washington. She sent me this mockup of what they wanted to do:
They wanted a super large version of our MD78 Supernova stencil to put the in the centre of the floor. The "arm" (radius) of the stencil was to be 10 feet which would make the whole design 20 feet in diameter. Brilliant! To make it, we had to take one of the arms from the overall design and split it into two sections. We made a third stencil of the central circle. All Erin had to do was place and stencil the central circle then using the registration marks provided, place and stencil one arm and then repeat the process for the other arms (no doubt whilst chanting, "Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn, and cauldron bubble") until the full design was complete.
Recently she sent me the photos of the production which took place between October and November of last year. I think the result is great! For a minimal set, she chose the perfect stencil to emote the skulduggery and turmoil of the Shakespeare tragedy.
We have sold stencils for theatrical prductions before (as well as TV shows and movies), but this is the first time that we have seen the process involved from story board to finish. Thank you, Erin, for sharing the photos and I hope the Lakewood Playhouse has a fantastic season in 2009.
Rachel
At this dark time of the year, many Northern Brits like to see light.
I have hung some chandeliers (Ikea's sale)in the weeping ash tree on our lawn and will place candles in jars through the branches of the cherry tree. Rachel and I lit a log fire in the garden on the shortest day. We sat beside it and toasted the return of summer with mugs of hot chocolate. Many northern climes have festivals of light. We celebrate with bright parties, fireworks and events such as Enchanted Parks and Northumberland Lights.
At the end of November, two friends and I drove to Kielder Forest. It is the least light polluted part of England and site of a new observatory. The event was part of Northumberland Lights. We packed torch lights and flasks of mocha laced with chilli then set off to follow a two kilometre length of lakeside at Kielder Water. The journey involved us in many beautiful light and sensory displays. We wandered through this volcanic pathway
and spent time watching a palm tree serenely growing new colours whilst it floated on the lake.
Metal discs suspended in the trees 'sang' when the breeze blew through them.
The forest became a kaleidoscope of colour then faded to darkness. (Photo John Williamson)
The moon played a starring role, majestic and ghostly it lit the clouds and the lake....and the palm tree. We sat on rocks enjoying the sounds and the light on the water, thankful that we had packed warm gloves and socks. There were many good photographs of other light festivals in our area on the BBC website. In a few days I will take you to see the Enchanted Parks. Pack your flask and put your gloves on!
Helen
In their winter 2007 issue, Window and Wall Ideas magazine featured our JA119 Chrysanthemum Panel stencil.
I have recently finished a stencilling commission using the same design.
The JA119 was stencilled onto walls and fabrics.
This project gave me an excuse to use my new mushroom. What is a mushroom? It's a tool that I bought from Buon Fresco. It's basically a dense foam applicator twisted and wired to make three quite different surfaces.
The originator of the mushroom told me that it is the best tool for applying waxes and plasters through a stencil. As I have little to do with either medium, I invite readers to leave their nuggets of expertise and mushroom related experiences in our comments section. I do fancy taking one of Buon Fresco's plaster courses. They are relocating soon so it will have to wait. The mushroom was perfect for applying a monotone coverage of ivory emulsion (latex) paint. I wanted a heavy, uniformed finish with no paint runs and that is what I got. The finished result was a little stark for this particular client, but that is not the fault of the tool.
I needed more softness in the design so I took a large stencil brush and applied a little Venetian Rose colour to the chrysanthemums. On the ivory wall, I stenciled the medallions in pink and on the pink wall they were predominantly ivory.
I found a silk cushion cover at BHS. It was inexpensive and a perfect colour match. A partial medallion was stenciled onto it.
Our decoration was built around an elaborate French style bed. The bed and fabrics were chosen first and then the rest of the look came easily. Because the bed was huge and heavy looking, I broke up the vast expanse of ivory colour by thinning the rose stencil paint with some acrylic glaze.
The rose colour was brushed onto the carved recesses on the bed. Then using a clean stencil brush, I stippled the surface of the glaze. Next, the overspill was wiped away with a clean cloth. The function of glaze is that it slows down the drying time of the paint allowing one to manipulate the finish and wipe away excess colour with ease.
I stippled all the other pieces of furniture in the same way.
The decoration took a less than a day and I was very happy with the result, but more importantly, so were the homeowners.
Helen
Regular blog readers will know that Helen has recently had her Vogue cover (compliments of Chips), but it was a bigger thrill to find that we had been put on Vogue's 'most wanted' list on Style.com. The Stencil Library Chinoiserie panels are placed number 7 on Top 10 list of "Start the New Year with Updates to Your Home" ideas. Go to their site and check out the whole list.
I could have easily spent an hour on their site. It's now in my favourites file. To help those that don't stencil, they also gave a phone number and address of the USA based International Decorative Artisans League so that readers can find a stenciller near them.
Now all Vogue has to do is put me on their best dressed list and I would be a very happy girl.
Rachel
The other day, I checked through my e-mail and was intrigued by one with "You've been blogged" in the subject line. I figured (hoped) it would be something nice, but for a split second, it did sound as though something slightly mischevious had occurred to me. Thankfully, my initial reaction was correct.
Recognise the stencil in the background? It is our CH32 Willow Pattern Repeat stencil done in gorgeous burgundy tones. The owner of the house is Emily Evans Eerdmans, author of "Regency Redux". The blog is Style Court (well worth bookmarking) and they wrote a piece about Emily's blog and went on to mention the stencil and the fact that it came from us. Thank you, Style Court!
Here is another treatment of the Willow Pattern repeat so you can see it in a different colourway:
Thank you to Lynne Rutter, decorative artist behind Ornamentalist, as well for telling us we had been blogged. With the rising popularity of blogs, I suppose it was only a matter of time before blog became a verb.
Rachel
Recently, I received this lovely e-mail from Hannah from Philadelphia, PA:
Hello,
I'm a big fan of your site, so I wanted to share some pictures of 2 projects I've done using your stencils. I've gotten so many compliments and BIG reactions! People walk in to the rooms and inevitably exclaim, "WOW!" or "COOL!". They say, "Is this wallpaper?". When I answer that is actually paint, they can't believe it! They have touch the wall to make sure, then they tell me I must be crazy to have taken the time to do it. Well, it was quite a bit of work but well worth it. They came out really funky and make quite a statement. One thing you can't call me is timid, I really went for it with these!
This photo shows a bathroom using our JA62 Circles stencil:
And this one features a sumptuous Art Deco bathroom with our DE323 Repeat stencil in the alcove (don't you just want to indulge in a long soak in that tub?):
The rooms are so wonderful, I just had to share them with you. I can see why Hannah has received so many compliments. She has done a beautiful job. Just a reminder....we love to see photos of rooms or things people have created using our stencils so if you have some, send them through to us. Next, Hannah tells me she plans to use one of our Big & Bold masks on her basement floor. I hope she will send photos of the result which of course, I will share with you.
Rachel
We are Helen, Chips and Rachel, partners in The Stencil Library. We design, make and sell stencils. We also teach, decorate with, eat, breathe and live with stencils. Inspiration comes from many places for us. We would like to share our inspiration and projects with you. All our stencils are designed and made in Northumberland, England. They are sent to customers worldwide.
