All Things Considered

Spitalfields Life
Posted by Simon Lewin

We're long time fans of the Spitalfields Life blog, best described by The Gentle Author's pledge...

"Over the coming days, weeks, months and years, I am going to write every single day and tell you about life here in Spitalfields at the heart of London. How can I ever describe the exuberant richness and multiplicity of culture in this place to you? This is both my task and my delight.

Let me disclose to you the hare-brained ambition I am pursuing, which is to write at least ten thousand stories about Spitalfields life. At the rate of one a day, this will take approximately twenty-seven years and four months. Who knows what kind of life we shall be living in 2037 when I write my ten thousandth post?

I do not think there will be any shortage of material, though it may be difficult to choose what to write of because the possibilities are infinite. Truly all of human life is here in Spitalfields."

This new book brings together many of the places and characters covered by the blog - street life, street art, markets, diverse food, immigrant culture, ancient houses and history, pageants and parades, rituals and customs, traditional trades and old family businesses. Spend a night in the bakery at St John with baker Justin Piers Gellatly, ride the rounds with Kevin Read the Spitalfields milkman, drop into the Golden Heart for a pint with landlady Sandra Esqulant, meet Paul Gardner the fourth-generation paper-bag seller, Steve Brooker the mudlark who discovers treasure in the Thames, Bill Crome the window cleaner who sees ghosts and Alan Hughes the master bell-founder whose business started in 1570.

The book is illustrated by Rob Ryan, Lucinda Rogers and Mark Hearld (some of Mark's illustrations are pictured below).

On Friday 2nd March 2012 the book will be launched at Christ Church Spitalfields - between 7-9pm. All are welcome.

All photographs below by Simon Lewin.

All photographs above by Simon Lewin.

Posted by Simon Lewin on March 1st, 2012

At the first fall of snow
Posted by Simon Lewin

We're up on Speyside at the minute and had our first snowfall of the year last night.

Here's a snap of our view of Ben Rinnes, shrouded in cloud.

It seemed appropriate to also post Jonny Hannah and Mark Hearld's collaborative poster for their exhibition with us back in 2007.

Posted by Simon Lewin on December 4th, 2011

St. Jude’s packing tape
Posted by Simon Lewin

We've had a lot of requests about the packing tape that we use here at St. Jude's and have added some sets of rolls to our online store.

There are 3 designs in the sets - one each from Mark Hearld, Angie Lewin and Emily Sutton.

But we also have 20 sets to give away in a prize draw.

In about a week we'll draw 5 people at random from the following...

- Fans of our Facebook page

- Followers on Twitter

- Subscribers to our St. Jude's Fabric newsletter

- Subscribers to our St. Jude's Prints newsletter

Posted by Simon Lewin on November 2nd, 2011

Quentin Blake
Posted by Simon Lewin

Quentin Blake has produced a screenprint, 'The Most Exciting Chapter', to raise funds for our friends at The Nightingale Project.

The Nightingale Project brightens and enlivens the environment for patients and staff of many mental health centres through art and music. The importance of art in hospitals is now increasingly recognised, and many NHS Trusts are taking an interest in the healing environment.

This screenprint, limited to 100 copies only, is now available for sale. Each print is signed and numbered by the artist. 

To find out more and to purchase a copy, visit The Nightingale Project website.

Posted by Simon Lewin on May 4th, 2011

Evening Star
Posted by Simon Lewin

Our friends at Old Town recently published issue no. 4 of their Evening Star newspaper. The hard copies of this and previous issues are no longer available but you can view all four issues online.

Posted by Simon Lewin on March 1st, 2011

A Rob Ryan print for Haiti
Posted by Simon Lewin

A message from Rob Ryan...

"As you know, just over a year ago on 12th January 2010 Haiti was hit by a catastrophic earthquake and 13 months later, the country is still in need of so much help. 

To try and do my bit to raise some money, I’ve designed and printed a brand new limited edition screenprint which will be sold on Etsy and in my shop, Ryantown on Columbia Road. 

The price will be £200 and with Paypal and Etsy fees subtracted, this leaves £186 per print sold going straight to the Haiti cause. If we can sell the whole edition of 200 of these, we could raise a massive £37,200."

The print reads: ‘We are all part of each other and this is my promise, I won’t pass you by and I won’t ignore you and look the other way but I’ll help you build your nest again. This is my promise’

Each print measures 54.3cm wide by 39cm high, printed using water based inks onto Heritage Woodfree 315gsm paper which measures 68.5cm wide by 51cm high.

Purchase your copy online from Rob's Etsy shop.

Posted by Simon Lewin on February 17th, 2011

David Shrigley
Posted by Simon Lewin

Glasgow based artist David Shrigley recently produced this animation for knitwear producer Pringle. Enjoy!

Posted by Simon Lewin on January 21st, 2010

Easy Living
Posted by Simon Lewin

Thanks to Easy Living magazine for including the gallery in their guide to "Britain's 50 Most Stylish, Unusual, One-Off Shops". But don't worry if you can't get to visit us for a while - you could keep an eye on our online print store.

Posted by Simon Lewin on January 12th, 2010

Peter Serafinowicz
Posted by Simon Lewin

Out with friends last night and for some reason this cropped up in conversation - a brilliant bit of telly from Peter Serafinowicz.

Posted by Simon Lewin on December 5th, 2009

Vote for us
Posted by Simon Lewin

You'll see we've added a graphic to the right for the Dorset Cereals Little Blog Awards. We wouldn't normally add such a link but we eat enough of the stuff and the chance to win a hamper load was too good to resist. And you might win a case of cereal too. Forgetting our stomachs for a second, we're hoping a few new readers will find us via their website. So, if you could spare a couple of seconds, please vote for us.

Posted by Simon Lewin on May 20th, 2009