Hitomi Hosono, Perrier-Jouët and The St Pancras Renaissance Hotel

Earlier this week I spent a pleasant hour sipping champagne and admiring the work of Hitomi Hosono at the Chambers Club within the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel.
Hosono is the winner of this year's Perrier-Jouët Arts Salon Award. Having seen her intricate work on line I was keen to go an view it in person. Also I love the building and its sympathetic renovation and rebirth (see here) and any excuse to get inside a room I have been in before is a bonus!
Hisono's work is amazing. Her work is inspired by botany and nature with titles such as Chysanthemum Bowl and Wisteria Tower and each piece takes about a month to make as each delicate flower or leaf has to be cut out and applied by hand. Some of them have hidden storage; barely visible horizontal cuts open up to reveal gem-like gold or silver leaf interiors.
I was also impressed how the pieces really suit the club's environment, as I noticed that the ceiling roses echo the same botanic shapes.
If you would like to see these for yourself, please note that the Chambers Club is a members only lounge so you cannot just wander in to have a look when you are passing. Appointments can be made by calling Caroline on 07590 262370, and you'll get a free glass of Perrier-Jouët bubbly when you visit.
Some of Hosono's work can also be found in Fortnum & Mason, the British Museum and the V&A, as well as in the homes of the rich and famous. I really do believe that these are treasures for the futures.

We Make London's Christmas Fair at Chelsea Old Town Hall

The King's Road is so named because it was Charles II's private road between his palaces in London and Kew. Subsequently large expensive houses sprang up either side and the whole area around became a magnet for the wealthy and upper classes.
In the 1960s the road had a revival and was really the place to be seen. Rock stars, models, actors and actresses lived and socialised there. It became a hothouse for new design talent, with one-off boutiques selling all kinds of trendy and avant garde creations – Mary Quant and Dame Vivienne Westwood both opened their first shops there. River Island started out in King's Road as the Chelsea Girl brand.
In addition to this there were plenty of antique dealers, most of them renting space in the wonderful Art Nouveau Grade II Antiquarious building. It was the oldest antiques emporium in London. But two years ago the antique dealers were 'evicted' in favour of an American clothing chain.
So, sadly, these days the King's Road is just like any other homogenous high street or retail park selling over-priced mass-produced fashion. I have written about this kind of thing before. And it saddens me.
But all is not lost. One just has to look harder....
There are still plenty of designer-makers out there creating wonderfully individual and handmade things, and on this Sunday 4th November you will be able to find many of them at the first of We Make London's Christmas Fairs at Chelsea Old Town Hall from 11am until 5pm. £2 entrance fee, but well worth it, if only to be inspired into making something for yourself.
Also available on the day will be Inspired:London, WML's lovely book showcasing 162 London-based designer makers. The book will not be available on general sale until mid-November but pre-launch copies will be available on the day at a reduced price of £10.99. (Be sure to check out page 33!)
Hope to see you there.
Here are some images from in and around the Town Hall and Kings Road:

Great Western Studios open event

Located between Westbourne Park and Royal Oak tube stations is the creative hub of Great Western Studios, and this weekend, 7th + 8th July, they will be opening their door for the Summer Open Event where lots of talented designer-makers (including me!) will be selling a wide variety of unique and unusual products.
I was hoping to put together one of my usual photo mosaics using images from the local area but I only appear to have 3 or 4 and they aren't really suitable. Very odd; especially as I have had reason to visit that area many times over the years. Looking at my wall map of London I can see that there's a whole area that isn't coloured in with pink highlighter pen (yes I am a nerd!), with Westbourne Park tube station right slap bang in the middle of it.
So no pictures this time, but no prizes for guessing where I'm off to next time the sun is shining and I have a day off...
Hope to see you over the weekend.

Santa's reindeer in Holloway this Sunday

The main stretch of Holloway Road's Nags Head shopping area will be closed to traffic this Sunday when Islington's Christmas extravanganza comes to town.

From 11.30am on Sunday 4th December the street will be taken over by sideshows, music, entertainment, a hog roast, mulled wine, and food and craft stalls which will include locally-produced Amelia Parker clay pipe jewellery. Oh, and Santa's reindeer will be there too!

Click here for a video of last year's event.

More craft shopping opportunities at Chapel Market, Angel, on 10th and 17th December.

Christmas markets

There are a lot of Christmas fairs and markets in London this year. Perhaps I am ultra-aware of this having left it too late in the year to apply for a stall at one of these markets to sell my own stuff.... ah well, next year...

Some of this year's bigger markets are listed here and here. But there are lots of smaller events worth checking out here, plus others this weekend in SW17, N16, and next weekend in SE17.

However, the good news is that I have managed to secure a stall at The Museum of Dockland's Festive Fair taking place on the eve of December 9th. There will be 50 stalls selling various kinds of unique arts and crafts, plus a bar, live music and carols, and the museum galleries will be open for the duration... so please do come along and say hello.

Top row: Hampstead, Stoke Newington x2

Middle row: West India Quay, Carey Street, Hyde Park

Bottom row: Crouch End, South Bank, Belgravia Mews