Monday, 14 January 2013

Black (and White) Magic!

Happy New Year to you all!


I've been away for a while on a bit of a blog hiatus, partly due to the festivities and partly because I had my laptop stolen in a burglary at home last week. Enthusiasm and motivation was at a low at the weekend but the only way is up, things can only get better and other 90s pop cliche's so I'm back and I have lots to report.

I'd like to begin 2013 by drawing your attention to the February issue of Kitchens, Bedrooms & Bathrooms magazine which is out now.
Back in November, on the greyest of grey days outside, everything inside was black and white. I spent a day shooting with stylist Alison Nicholls and photographer Gary Hamill in a beautiful monochrome house in Clapham for KBB's 'Opposites Attract' feature.
As usual, there were boxes and boxes of lovely products to be unpacked so I set to work, making a mental note of my favourites as I went along. As black and white are my favourite 'colours' (I'm putting that in inverted commas to spare any smart-arse from telling me that they're not technically colours) the list was pretty long! However, I should admit that I got a little over-excited (not to mention extremely envious) about one particular item that wasn't even part of the shoot: an original Rory Dobner illustration of Madam Puss! Just hanging there, nonchalantly on the dining room wall, in the most understated frame saying, "Who, me? Oh yes, I'm an original you know."
(Say it in a kind of Kenneth Williams-meets-Alan Rickman way and you'll get what I mean!)

'Madam Puss' plate, available from rorydobner.com
Apparently the owner, a make-up artist, is a friend of Dobner, but the most frustrating thing was, I don't think she actually had a clue just how amazing his work is. Grr!

Anyway, back to the shoot. With eight pages to fill and only one day to do it in, time was of the essence. We worked from top to bottom, starting with a few vignettes and even creating a fake bathroom with a ridiculously heavy basin from Porcelanosa.
Downstairs we 'tiled' the kitchen floor with some very pretty tiles from Fired Earth, re-dressed the dresser and turned a corner of the dining room in to a cosy little reading area. The stunning results can be seen in this month's issue, available in all good newsagents now. Meanwhile, here's a few shots to shatter your illusions!




Sometimes you can't see the sofa for the cushions.




Organised chaos!


It's good to be back!! More soon...
Kx