Atelier Magazine

The Paper Cutter: Time Lapse Video

This is genius!  And the result is just so beautiful.  Enjoy! Oh, it's taken from the Graphic Art Fair that ran at Somerset House a while back.

Rob Ryan timelapse at Pick Me Up gallery from karl sadler on Vimeo.

Fine Cell Work: The Unlikely Work Space

H.M.P. Wandsworth, England's largest prison, is home to a  group of men who produce quilts and quilted items.  The video is touching and the quilt, which is currently showing at the V&A, is a representation of their collective voice.

A very unlikely place for such delicate work to be produced, the inmates use quilting as both therapeutic and creative outlets.  The means of quilting as therapy was also used by British soldiers in the 19th century whilst recovering from injuries. 

finecellwork video from Fine Cell Work on Vimeo.

Print Club London: The Live Printing Studio @ Somerset House

This summer just keeps getting better!  From April 23rd to May 3rd, Pick Me Up Contemporary Graphic Art Fair will be at Somerset House. 

And with that comes the live printing studio of Print Club London.  Over the course of the fair, Print Club London and Somerset House are inviting some of their favourite designers to print a poster live in their workshop.

The poster will be available for sale on that day in limited editions of 50 for £50 each.

Oh, and paper artist Rob Ryan will be hosting an open studio throughout the entire run of the fair, relocating his paper cutting studio and printing presses from his studio in East London so that visitors can follow the entire process of the creation of Ryan’s work.

Enchanted Palace: The Veil That Obscures The Restoration

Kensington Palace is being transformed. As the walls of the palace are being shaken by a £12 million renovation project the rubble and the dust is unleashing powerful and secret stories about the lives of Kensington's princesses.

At the heart of the Enchanted Palace  journey is a quest for the seven princesses who once lived here. Their lives have been re-imagined as installations offering a fascinating interpretation of the palace's hidden stories.

OK, this is amazing;  An exhibition space opened in the middle of a construction zone.  It's as if  Rei Kawakubo has built a guerilla exhibition and performance space in one of the most famous of London palaces. The Enchanted Palace will feature works and pieces from Vivienne Westwood, William Tempest, Stephen Jones, Boudicca, Aminaka Wilmont and Echo Morgan.

As I was a little late for entrance earlier today, I will have to wait until Monday to visit Kensington Palace and experience the fantasy for myself.

Quilters for the Rural Industries Bureau: The Ever Changing Work Space

"At the start of the 20th century, increased access to mass-produced goods such as bed covers marked a decline in traditional craft skills.  Quilt- making survived in economically deprived areas such as Wales and the north-east of England, where the design and sewing of quilts were both an important means of self-expression and a way of earning money for widows and families with no income.

The Women's Institute (WI) helped to sustain traditional craft skills.  They encouraged British women to find creative and domestic pleasures by learning crafts.  The government-funded Rural Industries Bureau (RIB), recognizing the commercial appeal of regional quilts, promoted quilt-making as a means of bringing income to households struggling to survive in a period of economic depression."

Quilts 1700 - 2010, V&A Museum, London

Visiting the Quilts exhibit at the V&A was one of the most fascinating things I have experienced here in London.  Not only was the literature and exhibited pieces eye opening, but being surrounded by so many elderly ladies with fascinating tales and stories was entertaining;  The eavesdropping was fantastic.  But the most compelling thing I encountered was the history of the groups of ladies who quilted for the Rural Industries Bureau.

Most of the ladies who quilted for the R.I.B. were not just 14 years of age.  There were several audio interviews with tales of their experiences.  The R.I.B. would circulate a catalogue of regional designs to homes and the group of ladies would then travel to your location to complete the project on site, setting up their quilting frames in a spare room of the home.  As the pay was not great, many searched for more lucrative ventures yet "these women were highly innovative and inventive with their designs, working the shapes and decoration of everyday objects into their patterns."

Quilt that was commissioned by Claridge's Hotel, London

  Quilt design that was inspired by the curves in a bent-wood chair.

Anna Piaggi: The Work Space

The first time I saw Anna Piaggi with her Olivetti, I became intrigued with the personalization of the space in which one works.  How does this space affect how we create?  Or does it just serve as a mere box to shade us from outside influence?

In her book, Fashion Algebra, it all becomes quite clear.  For Anna, creativity is within her ... just as she needs air to breath, she needs to release her creativity.