Kazakhstan!

Back in London for a couple of days from Grenada and Miami to dump my summer clothes and pack up my winter things for my trip to Almaty in Kazakhstan.  A wintry -12 there – but I’m a hardy Canadian so I was looking forward to a bit of real winter weather. 

Well, I got it!  Had no idea what to expect, which was a good thing because it was a total surprise.  Gorgeous Asian women up to their eyes in furs, wearing the latest Chanel, Armani, Versace… yes, the posh shops are all there.  No sign of Borat though! 

I was in Kazakhstan to speak at a design conference about Art Deco in Contemporary Interiors.  I managed to put in some of my photos of Miami’s Art Deco hotels in all their ice cream colours — they seemed impressed!  On the second day I walked around the snowy city taking pictures and visiting the Museum of Kazakhstan which had obviously been built during the Soviet era of the 60s as nothing much about or inside the building appears to have changed.  A fascinating day in a fascinating place.  Here are some photos:

I was amazed to see how much of the West had infiltrated the country.

Marvellous Miami

Just back from two weeks in Grenada working on the design of 20 holiday flats (oh, they’re going to look great!) and a full-on week of shopping for kitchens, bathrooms and furniture in Miami.  I got to know the interiors of Home Depot, BrandsMart and Ikea in North Miami intimately thanks to Steve the appliance salesman (think Joe Pesci meets Andy Garcia — black slicked back hair, a gold tooth, white shirt, pressed trousers, and gold rings, “Yes, Ma’am, no problem Ma’am”; Katia the Peruvian kitchen sales manager/taxi driver at Ikea “You must do all thee work at Ikea, this ees how we are cheap.  I lub my job”; Briana the Ikea kitchen department trainee working the CAD program “Oh, cheese and rice!”; Emilio who sells the cheapest kitchens in Miami, with a loose grasp on paperwork ”I gotta wait until my secretary gets back”; Jeff the hearty, hefty bathroom guy at Home Depot “Geez you guys look tired”; and Nigel the Hispanic Richard Carlyle tire salesman (don’t ask) who really should be in the movies “no offense, y’know whad I mean?”  Thanks has to go to our laconic, dry humoured driver Kendra “If I’m all lost, then you’all are lost too,” and “You know, I never drive on the freeway, but, hey, I’m gettin’ a lot experience now”; Candace the make-up artist at MAC (well we all need a treat) — “I think purple eyeshadow is your colour, how about some hot pink lipstick?”; and Mark the amazing masseur looking dapper in his hospital scrubs standing outside Rina’s Hair Salon and Nails soliciting tired shoppers (us!).

Headed down to the Art Deco district on South Beach for Thanksgiving.  I love the gorgeous colours and curves of the buildings lined up along the beach – my client Lucille and I joined the “see and be seen” crowd sipping drinks (strawberry mojitos) at Starck-designed Delano, sipping out drinks slowly as they were bloody expensive.  We headed off for some pizza and salad at an outside cafe for our Thanksgiving lunch and enjoyed a spot of people-watching.

Here are some photos!

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Abstraction + Colour = Kelly Washbourne

I’ve been a big fan of artist Kelly Washbourne’s energetic and muscular abstract art since I first laid eyes on it at the Affordable Art Fair in London a few years ago.  Kelly’s fearless use of colour (something I wholeheartedly applaud!), and strong sense of form and structure, create art which is confident, provocative and energetic.

I specify her work whenever I can, and am saving up for my own Kelly Washbourne!  Here are a couple of her paintings in a penthouse I designed in London.

I’m very excited to be representing a selection of Kelly’s work exclusively on the Guest Artist Gallery on my website www.adriennechinn.co.uk for the next four months.  Prices are on the website.  Do have a look and get in touch if you want own your own Kelly Washbourne  painting too!

One more taster!

And the artist herself:

 

100% Design Fair London

Good grief!  I can’t believe it’s been over two months since I’ve posted a blog.  It’s been a hectic summer, mostly wrapped up with pulling together the Urban London stand for the 100% Design fair in London at the end of September.  The stand looked fab thanks to wallpaper & fabric designer Annette Taylor-Anderson‘s (www.atadesigns.com) amazing wallpapering skills, operations manager Melvyn Fickling‘s (www.adriennechinn.co.uk) acerbic wit, glass designer Sue King‘s (www.suekingglass.co.uk) cheerfulness and interior designer Celia James‘s (www.celiajamesinteriors.co.uk) teacherly abilities with our student visitors.  Here’s that stand looking pristine just before the show opened:

Annette and I were delighted to have just won the Best Wallpaper Award for our Mind the Gap and Made in Britain wallpapers at the International Design & Architecture Awards, and I was very pleased to be listed as a Finalist in the New Product category for my Grille rug in the Blueprint Magazine Awards at 100% Design.

Our stand was listed in the recommended Design Trail at 100% Design by journalist Barbara Chandler of the London Evening Standard newspaper and Blueprint Magazine, so this guaranteed a constant stream of visitors to the stand.

Here’s Annette and me having a well-earned sit down on the stand:

And me and Sue King:

And a very special visitor, my nephew Henry, who approved of the chair and loved the scaffolding tower:

We couldn’t have pulled the stand together without the help of some great collaborators, including Mohammed Rahman of www.lumenahome.co.uk who made the prototype chairs and stool for us based on a design by high school student Omar Cham in a project I participated in with the after-school furniture club at St. Paul’s Way Trust School in London’s East End.

The full range of Urban London rugs, tiebacks, wallpapers and fabrics was on show, with the wallpaper murals proving a big hit with everyone.  Sue King delivered her gorgeous Urban London glass, which I’d specially commissioned to compliment the range — it’s all for sale by contacting me at adrienne@adriennechinn.co.uk .

Other new arrivals in the Urban London collection are lampshades

cushions…..

clever storage stools on wheels designed by student Abdul Tahir at St. Paul’s Way Trust School….

and a fabulous Urban London neon coffee table by neon artist Darren West.

The highlight of the show for me was the visit by the St. Paul’s Way Trust furniture club to the show.  All the boys worked really hard on some fantastic designs based on my brief to design a chair or stool which could use my Urban London fabric.  Along with Omar Cham and Abdul Tahir who I’ve already mentioned were Tonny Duong who had designed a clever folding chair:

and Maruf Ahmed who had designed a table that turns into a chair:

They were accompanied by the multi-talented photographer and teacher Magda Plewa-Ould who was the one who’d invited me to get involved with this wonderful project.  I also have to mention “the invisible man”, furniture maker Rick Levene, the co-leader of the furniture club, without whose help the prototypes would never have seen the light of day.

A percentage of the proceeds from the sale of the Abdul’s storage stools and Omar chairs and stools will go back to St. Paul’s Way Trust School to fund further development of their after school furniture club.

We’re in the process of  downloading all the new products to the Shopping Section of www.adriennechinn.co.uk, but in the meantime if you’d like more information about any of the products you’ve seen here, including prices and lead-times (and don’t forget we can do custom sizes!), please contact me on adrienne@adriennechinn.co.uk .

20th Century Girl

Inspired by a wonderful afternoon mis-spent amongst the stacks of mid-century furniture, knick-knacks, records, clothes (Ringo Starr circa 1965 is my style icon), and ephemera of the Vintage Fair on London’s Southbank yesterday, I thought I’d troll through some of my favourite 20th century furniture sites and pick out some items which appealed to me.  Here’s a little taster of my 20th century taste.

1970s Turquoise and Lucite Buffet at Talisman Antiques

Leather Chair by Hardoy for Knoll at Talisman Antiques

Pair of Murano Wall Lights at Gallery 25

1960s French Chandelier at Fiona McDonald

Ico Parisi Sofa at De Parma

1940s Italian Cocktail Bar at Sean Berg

Pair of 1950s Italian Armchairs at Gordon Watson

1940s Paolo Buffa Cabinet/Bar at Gordon Watson

1950s Fontana Arte Mirror at Decoratum

1850s French Ceramic Vase at Fiona McDonald

1940s Italian Mirrored Coffee Table at Circus Antiques

A Point of View

I’ve always loved extraverted colours and strong, simple, masculine shapes.  But I also like the brooding qualities of greys, velvets and things that obscure and veil.  These images and feelings hover in the background when I design, and I find, the more I design, the more these elements are pushing their way into the foreground.  I’ve been thinking about these influences, which seem to be deep-rooted, and it dawned on me the other day, when I was asked what my favourite art is, that I knew exactly where these afinities came from.  And this does have a great deal to do with being a Canadian, and having spent my early years in the wild areas of wind-blown Newfoundland, and in the countryside and by the lakes of Quebec and Ontario.  So, in case you haven’t had the experience of the art of the great Canadian painters known as the Group of Seven, as well as Tom Thompson and Emily Carr, let me introduce you to the people who’ve coloured my design perspective.

Tom Thompson “Autumn Birches”

Tom Thompson “Jack Pine“

Tom Thompson “West Wind”

Tom Thompson “Red Maple“

Lawren Harris “Algoma”

Lawren Harris “Emarald Lake”

Lawren Harris “Red Maples”

Franklin Carmichael “Mirror Lake”

J.E.H. MacDonald “Mist Fantasy”

A.Y. Jackson “Nellie Lake”

A.J. Casson “White Pine”

Emily Carr “Blue Sky”

Emily Carr “Tree in Autumn”

Emily Carr “Indian Hut”

Emily Carr “Indian Church”

Emily Carr “Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky”

Whatever you do, celebrate your unique point of view.

Contemporary Interior Design

King of Glass

Am so delighted to be featuring the wonderful glass designer Sue King in the Designer Gallery on my interior design website for the next few months.  Sue designs and creates contemporary fused glass for residential interiors and commercial interiors.  Her range comprises wall tiles, splashbacks, window and door panels and sculptural pieces.  She also creates table platters and dishes which echo the style influence from the 1950s and 1960s with an added contemporary twist.

Here’s a taster of her pieces for sale on our Gallery page