Category: Photography

Eclectic Inspirations: From Ancient Crafts to Modern Brands

About me, About My Art, Architecture, Beauty influence, Buildings, Home office decor ideas, Home office inspiration, Hospitality Décor,, Interior design, Local inspiration & activities, Photography

Look up from the main hall at Ashridge house and you will marvel at the amazing craftwork and design choices of those with an eye for style and culture hundreds of years ago.

Love the smell of this had to take a photo so I can remembered it has Sweet Pea
Fast forward to November 2024
Really love what the brand formally known as Haekles is doing to assert their values around environment and social responsibility. They have changed their name and got new packaging that is not about creating a dressing table ornament. It is about creating a vessel for their product that is compost-able. It makes me love them even

Overall my visits this week made me notice the extent of my eclectic appreciations, I can be enthralled by ancient design and crafts through to being captivated by 21st century crafting of our cultural practices from brands like Formaly Known as Hackles.

Creating a Unique Light further Inspired by Museum Displays

About My Art, Art Exhibition, Home decor, Home office decor ideas, Museum, Office Warming Gift, Photography, Poured painting, Table lamp, buffet lamp

I recently visited the V&A museum and took these two photos that caught my eye.

Elaborate hanging at reception, seems to be made of glass hand blown no doubt
The members room beautifully appointed where we sat and chatted the entire time. Such a lovely place to be.

These images caught my eye because they reminded me of the structural architectural importance of lighting and ceiling hangings.

I am in the middle of making a light that combines these very elements. `It has its own base and completely integrated. It is as if the above images combined to make a table lamp. See images below.

Where do you go for lighting inspiration.

This one will be available in the shop soon.

For other marbled painted lamps I created and sell, click on this.

Visit table lamps

The Healing Power of Art in Your Workspace

Art at work, Corporate Art, David Wiseman, Home decor, Home office decor ideas, Home office inspiration, Home office styling, Local inspiration & activities, Photography

Visiting my local hospital I found it enjoyable to pause and explore the art.

Charring Cross Hospital uses art well. The images below are what captured my thoughts this week when I visited the hospital for a check up.

Not only was I mesmerised by the colours, the vibrancy of the paintings, I noticed how easy it was for me to feel calmed and be part of a community of gallery viewers enjoying the art at my local hospital. You saw it, it made you contemplate when when you walk through their corridors or approached the lifts.

David Wiseman’s huge artwork on the first floor of Charring Cross hospital
Lovely small artworks on display at Charring Cross hospital in the main entrance
The wide array of artwork at the entrance of the hospital in Fulham

I never noticed the art before, it was a stressful moment for me but the art helped me to feel calmer. But it is a lesson to us all about the role that art could play in our own workspace.

Art is known to uplift, bring joy, elevate, bring hope or help our racing thoughts pause from its meditative transfixing properties.

So don’t forget to include art purchases if you are renovating your own home office and wanting to style your shelves.

Let me know in the comments, how many pieces of art do you have in your home office? How many on your shelves? How much art is on your wall to create an aesthetic virtual meeting backdrop?

If you want to see the art I created small enough to display on shelves, click on this link to browse the art that I sell on Etsy.

Click to browse art

Black and Gold Lighting Design: Submission to the Design Competition

Art at work, Elegant Decor, Home office decor ideas, Home office inspiration, Home office styling, House warming gift, Hybrid working, Interior design, Photography, Small Table Lampshades, Style theme

The WordPress AI generated the featured image above of the gold lighting, after it read my post. I think it’s OK as an illustration of the mood. It seems to understand what my blog post is about home offices and new forms of lighting. But it does not represent what I created, but I’m glad it didn’t use my design. It only used the colours I’m talking about. So that’s what makes it OK.

15cm x 18xm painted skin assembled on table lamp frame.

Last week I wrote about preparing for the design competition, using my inspiration from visits to the design centre in Chelsea and noticing other lighting creators offering their variations of the black and gold lighting theme. This week I can report that i have submitted my work to the competition. Below shows the other images and videos I took of the later part of my process.

Lamps in situ on display on my bookshelf
The black and gold lamps lit up
Finished two just one more to go. Experimenting with legs

See listing in the shop

Exploring Interior Trade Suppliers for Lighting Design Inspiration | DCCH

Home decor, Home office decor ideas, Home office styling, Interior design, Lampshade, Local inspiration & activities, office decor, Photography, Style theme

The featured imaged is AI. The machine computed what my blog was about and created a picture with that massive light with feathers. It made me chuckle 🤣.There is another AI generated image at the end of the blog. However, all of the images in the middle were taken by me.

This week I had some time mid week to wander around my favourite interior trade suppliers in Chelsea Design Centre. Being a West Londoner, hailing from Fulham Lots Road is very familiar to me.

Below shows more images of things that took my fancy. They show trimmings or lighting features that either conjured up excitement or a sense of cosy familiarity for me…

Continue reading “Exploring Interior Trade Suppliers for Lighting Design Inspiration | DCCH” →

Strategic Shelf Styling for Effective Personal Branding in Virtual Teams

Home office decor ideas, Home office inspiration, Hybrid working, Interior design, office decor, Online meetings, WFH, Photography
Admiring their backdrop

I was watching BBC news while away from home and noticed my eye drawn to what the presenter was saying. It was a psychology Professor in Sheffield interview on BBC.

I noticed how it seemed like he had carefully arranged how his office set up would appear on screen.

Continue reading “Strategic Shelf Styling for Effective Personal Branding in Virtual Teams” →

Cultured Complexities Series Released

About My Art, Home office decor ideas, Painting Skins, Photography, Poured painting

Welcome to this months’s edition of the newsletter. The cultured complexities series is being released and listed on Etsy this week. Artwork is ready to purchase.

The Cultured Complexities series is of about 30 mixed media painting made small enough for shelf display. It is a series that took me one year to complete as I started April 2023. Below are images that show the processes.

Continue reading “Cultured Complexities Series Released” →

Lakeside Photo inspo

About My Art, Local inspiration & activities, Photography, Travel

I’ve always loved those American films that feature a beautiful house by the lake. Films like, On Golden Pond, What about Bob, The Lake House and Cape Fear. I was recently reminded of my fantasy of experiencing a break by the lake and log cabin living last week, because my 9 to 5 took me to the lake region of New Hampshire USA, for a conference.

Drive by image of lake Winnipesaukee New Hampshire

But it wasn’t until I came back that I had an epiphany about my aesthetic values when doing the final tweaks of the photographs.

Continue reading “Lakeside Photo inspo” →

Using art practice to revitalise the work of managers.

About My Art, Art at work, Inspiration, Local inspiration & activities, Photography, Travel

What have you been working on?

I just got back from a week in Chicago. Flew out last Sunday (short unexpected stop over in Philadelphia) and returned to London yesterday on a magnificent two story airbus.

Flying over Ireland on return
Continue reading “Using art practice to revitalise the work of managers.” →

Noticing the artistic contribution in our everyday life.

Artists, Beauty influence, Elegant Decor, Hidden Artist, Home decor, Hospitality Décor,, Inspiration, Local inspiration & activities, Photography, Restaurant Interiors

I visited Covent Garden for a meal and did some shopping. There I also noticed how the artistic contribution features m in our everyday encounters. Sometimes we must look deeper to notice how the hidden artist gets to express their work through mundane things like our retail experiences and our eating out.

A balance of thought used to present this maple tart at Clos Maggiore.
Continue reading “Noticing the artistic contribution in our everyday life.” →

A Dance Interval Epiphany

About My Art, Alvin Ailey Dancers, Fantastical art, Painting-practice, Photography, Theatre

As I write ✍️, it is the first interval at Sadlers Wells on Saturday 16th September. We just finished watching the first act of The Alvin Ailey dance Roy’s Joys.

Photo shows. Interval activities, most get an ice cream, some read a book, I start to write a blog post
Continue reading “A Dance Interval Epiphany” →

Clarifying three stories of the bookish hedonistic professional

Home decor, Home office styling, Ideas, Photography

I’ve been enhancing my photography. The aim is to tell a story in small vignettes. I’ve been learning from iconic professional photographers who specialise in products, lifestyle and jewelry photographs. I’ve learned my photography from various courses online and in classroom settings in London.

Continue reading “Clarifying three stories of the bookish hedonistic professional” →

Art about Black Lives: It Really Does Matter Where Displayed

Art Exhibition, Artists, Local inspiration & activities, Photography, Sonia Boyce

Who would have thought that Margate would be where I would discover a gallery floor full of art about the black lived experience. This blog tells the story of what I discovered and what it meant to my own future art practice, especially when considering how and where I would like my art displayed.

Continue reading “Art about Black Lives: It Really Does Matter Where Displayed” →

Telling their Stories in my product photography

Home decor, Home office styling, Photography

I’ve realised that product photography needs a story and an artist. I found that product photography needs to be approached like a painting; there is creativity and artistry to behold. So this week I was making decisions about the story behind my by-products and the kind of story my buyers would like to see.

The story is for the adventurous and about charting new ventures and horizons while keeping a reflective eye on the past.

My buyers are unique individuals; they subscribe to goth, dark academia, light academia, steampunk and heirloom. I also note they are comfortable with maximalism and the odd bit of quirk here and there.

I found it worth exploring new setups with product photography this week. I was also inspired by those food stylists that deconstruct a blueberry pie and trickle crumbles of pastry and jam on the table because they sign up to the messy, over-the neat minimalist vibe.

Below is a sneak peek of behind-the-scenes setups I was playing with. They are not out yet. I’m curious to know what my product photography teacher thinks of them. As I clicked away, I thought, at least he’ll see I’ve been trying. It’ll give him something to discover about me to help him understand what I need to improve. But I’m inspired by seeing the photo like a painted canvas. I can work with that.

A whole load of new shades are being uploaded this weekend. Wait till late on Sunday to look at the shop or even late Wednesday evening.