The silvery grey-blue of LAGOON linen became leaden, steely skies in the hands of painter Joan Eardley, capturing the furious energy of storm-laden seascapes in thick slabs, swipes and streaks of moody colour. A master in capturing the wild, elemental and unspoilt beauty of the Scottish coastline, Eardley heaved huge canvases into the landscape during…
All posts by Rosie Lesso
Intricately patterned and sumptuously textured, jacquard fabric has a luxurious quality that is hard to beat. In contrast with printed textiles, jacquard patterns are incorporated into the weave with a slight raise, giving them a long-lasting lustre and durability that resists fading or fraying over time. A modern take on the long tradition of brocade,…
Master of understated elegance, Japanese printmaker Ando Hiroshige’s dreamy, wistful landscapes are filled with the sleek and refined grey of GRAPHITE Linen. In his quietly pensive scenes rich, warm grey tones become the solid mass of enduring trees, craggy rocks and distant mountains, iconic emblems that are built to last. Around them shards of red,…
“No colour has been prized so highly or for so long, or been at the centre of such turbulent human encounters.” Catherine E. McKinley Indigo’s deep, intense blue has a long and complex history which spans millennia. Originally derived from the tiny leaves of the Indigofera plant species in tropical regions, the rare colour became…
Colouring flowers, ribbons, veins and pulsing hearts, the iridescent crimson in BIKING RED Linen is the lifeblood of Frida Kahlo’s paintings. Echoing the tinge of red in the Mexican flag, this shade came to represent many forces in Frida Kahlo’s deeply introspective paintings, but a unifying theme was a love for her native Mexico, which…
“Ultramarine blue is a colour illustrious, beautiful, and most perfect, beyond all other colours; one could not say anything about it, or do anything with it, that its quality would not still surpass.” Cennino Cennini Originally mined from the distant mountains of Afghanistan, ultramarine’s vivid, reddish blue has a dazzling, mystical beauty that has fascinated…
EGGPLANT linen’s rich plum tone bled into Marc Chagall’s whimsical scenes, colouring them with stains as tart and ripe as fresh blackberries. Inventive colour was a vital strand in his fantastical scenes, taking his famous floating lovers, animals and musicians further from the realms of reality into a wondrous, escapist dream. He wrote, “Colour is…
The cold darkness of umber is steeped in history, first appearing in prehistoric cave paintings as the brown hides of frantic, fleeing animals. Originally mined from soil rich in manganese and iron oxide, the pigment can be found in locations all around the world and shares similar chemical properties with red and yellow ochre. But…
Dazzling, brilliant blues like that of SAPPHIRE Linen define the paintings of Alexej von Jawlensky, streaking across his canvases with pulsing, living electricity. Modernist, Fauvist and Expressionist, Russian-born Jawlensky was a bold risk-taker, one whose wild, unbound art inspired a whole generation across Europe and beyond. Known as much for his mystical landscapes as his…
“How beautiful yellow is!” Vincent van Gogh One of the oldest pigments in the world, the warm golden tone of yellow ochre has remained a favourite throughout human history. Part of the ochre family along with red ochre, purple ochre, sienna and umber, the yellow variant can be traced back to prehistoric times, appearing in…
MALACHITE Linen’s earthy, rustic green was a favourite with Russian artist Kazimir Malevich, investing his paintings with the lush, juicy vibrancy of fertile nature. A giant of 20th century art, Malevich made his name as the world’s first abstract artist, producing streamlined designs in bold shades of red, green, yellow and black, mimicking the colours…
“In terms of making art, and writing, and anything that we do as artists where we have to step up to the plate, it should be uncomfortable, it should be nerve wracking, and there should be this level of the unknown.” Fearless is a word often used to describe Lorna Simpson: like an intrepid explorer…
The warm, earthy resonance of red ochre is steeped in history, carrying within it the weight of human survival. The first red pigment ever discovered, ochre was derived from iron rich rocks containing hematite hundreds of thousands of years ago, a highly pigmented mineral that easily stained the skin and could be shaped into sticks,…
The cold, silvery hue of MONUMENT Linen flooded across French Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte’s Parisian scenes, capturing the shimmering, majestic grandeur of the newly built city. Fascinated by photography, Caillebotte invested the same dazzling qualities of light into his canvases, letting surfaces glisten and reflect with a mirror-like sheen. Refined, sophisticated grey and silver tones were…
“Colour is a power which directly influences the soul.” Wassily Kandinsky Like light, colour is a potent, living force, one that can invoke moods, emotions and memories. From the clothes we wear to the rooms we inhabit or the objects and artworks we experience, colour has the power to convey any human emotion possible: strength,…
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05 Jun 2020 @ 4:56 am by Mary Berdan
04 Jun 2020 @ 4:24 am by Morgann Mccoy
04 Jun 2020 @ 4:24 am by Jane Peatling
25 Jun 2019 @ 1:00 am by Danielle Hata
02 Jun 2020 @ 7:05 am by Rosie Lesso