The Baltic centre of Contempoary Art

Last week I was enjoying myself in Yorkshire and the NE of England. The weather was lovely and the countryside looked beautiful!

It's well known that some of the best blindmakers in the country operate from this region, so I was busy showing the bones of our new roller fabric collection (that will come out in August) to Regal, Dixon Fox, Blind Fashion and Walkers, all of which are brilliant top-notch blind makers.

While in the area I also went to the Baltic Center of Contempoary Art in Gateshead :

  
Lunch at the Baltic Kitchen was finished by a visit to Floor G, where an Norwegian artist Ida Ekblad was exhibiting. She'd been working with an English playright to create stage sets with these imposing figures :

It was the second floor where they displayed the NI artist Tony Swain that I probably enjoyed the Baltic the most. He paints on newsprint with acrylic, and there's often a little bit of text you can read that gives you a clue as to what the painting is about. They are all beautifully coloured, and it was a real pleasure to have the lovely art student guard tell me what she thought each painting was saying. :

On the 4th floor there's an unmissable viewing platform where you can see kittywakes and their nests on the small precarious ledges :

The 6th floor gives you a great view of Gateshead and the Sage centre. It's also a great place to have a pot of tea ;

New braids & trims at New House

Our new roller and blind accessory collection keeps getting closer & closer by the day, and interesting  new items keep arriving. These are a few - like this lovely new jute braid that would look great on any window blind  :

Our designers used natural jute for this textured trimming too  :

This pretty hearts trim could be used on anything, from a lampshade to a Roman blind  :

Our popular 30 colour Arco braid range (which is great at bending round tight corners) will be expanded with the addition of metallic glitter colours  :

On an interesting historical note, I shot the arco braid on a garden bench made from the wood from HMS Duke of Wellington after it was scrapped in 1904. Perhaps this old bench is all that's left of the once proud old warship? I found the image of the ship on wikipedia  :

Lots of things were going on around me at New House HQ (How Caple Court) while taking the images of our new braids and trimmings - Mrs Peacock wandered by with her new chics in tow :

 

This week we should have more braid and trimming items arriving, like some vivid bright colours, a zig-zag braid and a new one on a nautical theme. I can't wait!

Roger Oates Floors + Fabrics open day

It's no secret, but I've been a fan of Roger Oates and Faye's beautiful floor coverings for years. Indeed my Herefordshire cottage's wooden floors & stairs are covered by their rugs and runners.

Today and tomorrow (5 & 6th June) Roger Oates Floors + Fabrics have an Open Day, that is a behind the scenes view of what they do in their lovely Eastnor HQ near Ledbury, and it's really worth a visit :

I enjoyed watching their highly skilled staff hand working on their carpets :

The deisgn I most loved was this, and could easily see this rug sitting in my front room :

The Roger Oates design studio is a lovely place to be, and I very much apprecirated being surrounded by all their great colours :

It's that rug again - the one with the subtle herringbone pattern that I know would just look great in my front room once I do the redecorations.....

It

Roger, and one of his clever designers on a sample loom :

Roger & Faye's new luggage range is so lovely it's the best I've seen in years!

If you are in the Ledbury/Malvern area, a visit to Roger Oates is worthwhile!