Gestural Drawings

William Anastasi : ' Good artists live in the present. We're always changing; our taste is changing, our method and our madness is changing.'

I was included on a photo shoot a few months ago. It was an amazing experience, Mario Testino was the photographer and Camilla Nickerson the stylist. Photos will be out in the USA September issue of VOGUE

                                                     

Suzanne Belperron

 In the pantheon of master jewelers, Suzanne Belperron stands apart as the only woman. Elegant and audacious, she pioneered a new aesthetic in jewelry, yet never sought recognition. Despite her discovery by the cognoscenti of style, her celebration by the fashion press, and her profound influence over the rest of the 20th Century’s jewelry design, her name is little known today. When the Duchess of Windsor’s jewelry was auctioned in 1987, only 5 of 16 Belperron pieces were tentatively identified. Asked once why she never signed her work, Madame Belperron replied: “My style is my signature.”

Born in Eastern France in 1900, she studied drawing and jewelry at the École des Beaux-Arts in Besançon, beginning her career in 1921 as a draftswoman at the celebrated maison Boivin in Paris. Though designing at the avant-garde of Art Deco, she quickly tired of the new vogue and began to experiment with the sensual style that is still so arrestingly modern today. Recognizing this burgeoning talent, Bernard Herz, a Parisian stone dealer, hired away the young Suzanne in 1932 to design exclusively under his company name, B. Herz. With her newfound artistic freedom, she left behind the rigid lines of Art Deco to carve stones into organic shapes, invoking the delicacy of wings, petals, and fruit, and adorned them with gemstones. She drew on motifs from a range of cultures—African, Cambodian, Celtic, Egyptian, Indian, Mayan—and created a daring new look hailed as both “brilliant” and “barbaric.” Photographed for Paris Vogue wearing Belperron’s creations in 1933, Elsa Schiaparelli declared them, “the new theme in jewels.”
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The 1930s were a period of creative and commercial success for Madame Belperron, gaining her a famously influential following—Collette, Diana Vreeland, Daisy Fellowes, and Fred Astaire—but World War II brought hardship and tragedy. In German-occupied Paris, she was arrested with her partner, Monsieur Herz, at their boutique at 59 Rue de Châteaudun for operating a company under a Jewish name. Securing their release with the help of their elite clientele, Belperron re-registered the company under her own name until after Bernard’s son Jean returned from the front to resume the partnership of “Herz-Belperron.” His father did not survive the war. Madame Belperron received at least thirteen offers to escape France during the war years, but chose instead to remain in occupied Paris, eventually earning a Legion of Honor for her efforts on behalf of the Resistance.

Herz-Belperron flourished until Madame Belperron’s retirement in 1974, though her influence as a designer has continued to grow even after her death in 1983. Having long admired her work, Ward Landrigan, former head of Sotheby’s Jewelry and owner of Verdura, purchased her archive of designs in 1999. Today, Nico Landrigan, Ward’s son and President of Verdura, is responsible for the revival of Madame Belperron’s work, beginning with the publication of an official illustrated biography – BELPERRON: My Style is My Signature, currently in

i dream this will be mine one day.....

The Rug Company - Climbing Leopard

Firmdale Hotels

For those of you spending time with me recently you would have noticed my sudden interest with Firmdale Hotels. I have not yet finalized a career path but muse with jewels, pattern making, styling, magazine editing, painting, tapestries, accessories and most recently the interest in Kit Kemps interior design.

"Hotels should be living things not stuffy institutions" which I quote from the website of Tim and Kit Kemp, owners of Firmdale Hotels. There are seven stylish ‘boutique’ hotels in London and one in New York, The Crosby which I went to the day my exams ended back in May for a delicious lunch with my mum…couldn’t have been more perfect.

The husband-and-wife team met while Kit was working in an architects’ office in London. She and Tim, who had been working in the property sector, went on to develop a string of small hotels in west London offering student accommodation.

They co-founded Firmdale Hotel group in 1985, with the opening of Dorset Square hotel. Two of the group’s London hotels – Number 16 in South Kensington and the Knightsbridge hotel – are chic B&Bs, while the remaining properties all have in-house destination restaurants or bars. Three of the properties also include state-of-the-art cinemas.

Tim is chairman and takes on the role of property developer and number cruncher. Kit is the group’s design director and has impeccable taste. The kind I like…not too ‘matchy- matchy’. Her color choice and pattern mix work with vibrancy and electricity

A self-taught designer, she rebuilds and designs the properties from scratch.

The UK portfolio comprises The Soho Hotel, Charlotte Street Hotel, Covent Garden Hotel and Haymarket Hotel, the Knightsbridge Hotel and Number Sixteen - all in central London.

Tim and Kit Kemp

Sophia Rogge

I was recently given a beautiful sarong and was inspired by the colorful quirky pattern perfect for summer.  

Sophia Rogge is an artist and designer currently living in London creating a beachwear brand, which raises awareness to Coral Conservation. All dyes are environmentally safe and materials used are organic her website states ‘an ethically sound business is at the heart of her project’.  http://www.sophiarogge.com

ELLE MAGAZINE - November 2012

“It’s My Life, How I Make It” - SOPHIA ROGGE in her workshop-studio. TANK magazine, Spring 12.

doodles discovered on instagram -  http://instagr-am.appspot.com/sophiarogge/