All Things Considered

St. Jude’s notebooks
Posted by Simon Lewin

Although they've been available for some time now, I've only just got round to updating our website to show the new 210mm x 210mm notebooks and sketchbooks we're now producing.

Our designs feature the work of Angie Lewin, Mark Hearld, Jonny Hannah and Old Town - in a range of A5 and 210mm square notebooks/sketchbooks.

To see the full range and for details on how to purchase, please see our website.

Posted by Simon Lewin on March 29th, 2009

Jeffrey Fisher
Posted by Simon Lewin

Picked up a copy of 'Birds' by Jeffrey & Christine Fisher yesterday. Features 46 hand-painted portaits. Beautiful.

Born in Melbourne, Australia and now based near Paris, he's perhaps best know for his cover of Louis de Bernieres' "Captain Corelli's Mandolin".

Posted by Simon Lewin on March 27th, 2009

Robert Harling
Posted by Simon Lewin

In response to my post about the Playbill typeface I'd recently purchased, our friend Phil Abel from Hand & Eye kindly dropped me a line about the work of typographer Robert Harling who worked for Sheffield based type foundry Stephenson Blake & Co., reviving Playbill from their archives in 1938.

"Robert Harling, who has died aged 98, was a key figure in mid-20th
century graphic design. As a typographer and editor, he bridged the gap
between the gentlemanly artist-craftsmen of the prewar printing world
and the new breed of professional postwar graphic designers. A
multi-talented and raffish character who resisted being typecast, he
also wrote successful novels, one of which - The Paper Palace (1951) -
has been become a Fleet Street classic, based on his own days in
journalism. He was an inspirational editor of House & Garden in the
great days of glossy magazines." Read this Guardian obituary in full.

Thanks to Phil for passing this information on.

Posted by Simon Lewin on March 26th, 2009

Our own ‘Grand Design’
Posted by Simon Lewin

If you've followed the subject matter of Angie's prints over the last couple of years you'll be able to tell that we've been spending more time up in Scotland.

We're actually in process of renovating an old farm building (or steading) up in the Highlands. After a couple of years of planning and design, work started a few weeks ago - which perhaps explains why we've been watching the recent series of Grand Designs with added interest (particularly when it comes to budget).

Willie Grant and the team are working closely with Mary Arnold-Forster from Skye-based Dualchas who has designed the project for us. We've been particularly inspired by Mary's own award-winning home, The Shed.

We'll post occasional snaps of the progress here. The top image below shows the steadings in their original state, the lower was taken a couple of weeks ago when the roof was off. Unlike Mary's Shed which was built from scratch, we'll be retaining the main structure and slate roof - but creating a really clean interior using a relatively small palette of materials.

Posted by Simon Lewin on March 25th, 2009

More type
Posted by Simon Lewin

Another recent acquisition - a wonderful 2" Playbill typeface to add to our growing collection of type.

"The playbill typeface was designed in the 19th century as a display type for the semi-literate communities of the American west. Display types were first originated in the 18th century as part of a growing demand for large sized typefaces that could be read, or at least recognised, from a distance.

Typically, these letterforms were used on shop fronts and in letterpress poster design. So, they are entirely associated, in historical terms, with the emergence of organised commercial entertainments. This playbill typeface has a compressed form that, allowing more letters per line, is implicitly associated with the solid western value of thrift." Paul Rennie - The Guardian - October 2008

So, we have even more type, presses, plenty of ideas and a workshop. Now all we need is some more time.

Posted by Simon Lewin on March 24th, 2009

Flatlanders – the best of East Anglia
Posted by Kate Sullivan

In the week we had a visit to our new Itteringham gallery (pictured here) from Sophie Sampson, a designer/blogger with an eye for finding 'interesting design and craft related stories' in East Anglia for her blog - Flatlanders - the best of East Anglia.

As Sophie says...

"...This site is designed to aggregate all the lovely places I find into one site for easy reference. In my day job I’m a designer and copywriter, so the selection is heavily skewed to my personal interests of beautiful things..."

I've just been looking through Sophie's blog and it is a really good read and one I will dip into regularly.

Posted by Kate Sullivan on March 23rd, 2009

Fish
Posted by Simon Lewin

I've turned into what I could best describe as a 'virtual' fisherman. Having moved to Norfolk shortly after I'd take up trout fishing, I'd always assumed that trout fishing opportunities would be limited. But far from it. Over the years I've discovered some cracking little rivers & streams. Patience is required with access to some of these as most of the clubs have lengthy waiting lists - but it's always worth the wait. That said, over the last couple of years my fishing activity has been limited to thinking about it rather than doing it. Hopefully things will be a bit better this year.

When I do fish one of these Norfolk rivers, it's always a bonus to bump into Charles Rangeley-Wilson. You may have seen his series 'The Accidental Angler' on BBC2.

On Monday night, BBC4 will air 'Fish! A Japanese Obsession', part of their Hidden Japan season. The 90-minute film follows Charles on a 6 week trip across the country, sharing his love of fish and fishing with those he meets along the way.

Later in April, Charles is taking part in a fishing competition, 'One Fly', on the River Test. Not the first person I'd expect to take part in competitive fishing, Charles is using the opportunity to raise funds for the invaluable work of The Wild Trout Trust. If you have any interest in fishing - or even if you simply enjoy messing about near or on rivers, please do consider making a donation to support the Trust's work.

Posted by Simon Lewin on March 22nd, 2009

Mark Hearld in Scarborough
Posted by Simon Lewin

UPDATE Mark Hearld will be exhibiting a range of prints and unique collages at our North Norfolk gallery in Spring 2010. For details nearer the time, please sign up for our e-mail newsletter. We will also be launching the second of Mark's textiles designs for our St. Jude's range in Autumn 2010.

Scarborough Museum's "East Coasting" exhibition (which runs until Monday 4th May) brings together a range of work by Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious (see right) including ceramics, book plates, advertising posters and watercolours - including a number of unseen works from private collections.

Knowing of the inspiration that both Bawden and Ravilious have given his imaginitive life, Mark Hearld was commissioned to create 'The Magpie Eye' - a room full of artefacts from his own collection alongside items from the museum archives and works by creative friends who have made objects specifically for the room.

In Mark's words...

"The objects in this room are arranged intuitively and playfully. I hope that this Miscellany will provide a visual feast for the visitor, conjuring a sense on wonder and magic...

...I enjoy the visual delight in the every day - this room celebrates my own creative relationship with things old and new - rare and ephemeral."

Visitors to the exhibition will be able to collect a free copy of this wonderful broadsheet (see below) that Mark has created for the exhibition.

Full details of the exhibition can be found on the Scarborough Museum website.

We've just started working with Mark on an illustrated map for our new gallery. If you'd like to receive details on how to get your free copy as soon as we publish, please sign up for our gallery newsletter.

Posted by Simon Lewin on March 16th, 2009

Robert Tavener
Posted by Simon Lewin

A number of things have conspired against me posting this sooner - but hopefully better late than never.

Our friend Emma Mason has arranged an exhibition of Robert Tavener watercolours and drawings at the Hop Gallery in Lewes which runs until 5pm on 17th March.

Robert Tavener (1920-2004) is well known for his printmaking but throughout his career he also explored watercolour painting and pen and ink drawings. Tavener was always sketching and took time, particularly later in his career, to paint. Tavener produced a relatively small number of paintings and drawings and many of the works in this exhibition are being exhibited for the first time. Most of the work in this exhibition was painted by Tavener in the decade 1980 - 1990.

View the drawings and watercolours online.

Posted by Simon Lewin on March 15th, 2009

Underground Restaurants
Posted by Kate Sullivan

What a brilliant idea - first 'Secret Cinema' and now 'Underground Restaurants.'

I was alerted to the rising new trend of cool eating establishments by Le Cool, the weekly magazine that arrives in your inbox, who, in-turn, sourced it from the Guardian. Read the article here.

In short, various domestic cooks are turning their homes into ever-so-slightly illegal eating establishments. Apparently, this movement is happening all around the world.

MsMarmitelover (author of entertaining food blog 'The English Can Cook') recently turned her spacious London flat into a restaurant. It was a success, so she's now opening her doors every Saturday night. MsMarmitelover serves almost vegetarian food (fish is allowed) and three courses will cost just £15.

Posted by Kate Sullivan on March 14th, 2009