No time like the present

October. A month associated with leaves changing colours, searching for kindling and matches, pumpkin paraphernalia  and seemingly, as the high-street would like us to believe, the start of the countdown to Christmas (79 days at time of writing!). We may still have almost a third of the year left till the present giving season, but the pressure finding the right present for the person who (you think) has everything has already begun.

Maybe 2012 is the year which we can crack this, working together with others sharing the same dilemma and choose something a bit different, something original, something gorgeous..?

Here are some helpful suggestions to get you started. Prices range from £125-£350 (for smallest sizes) including delivery. Gift vouchers also available from November.

Top Left to Right

Perfect for: Sister, Sister-in-law, best friend, a lover of colours: Emma Lawrenson’s Camellia Bud III

Perfect for: The bachelor pad, cool older brother, owner of the loft apartment or just bare walls: Luke Woodford’s Rebirth III 

Perfect for: Contemporary Mother, owner of a bright kitchen or conservatory:  Emma Lawrenson’s Yellow Form II

Bottom from Left to Right

Perfect: A modern couple with a contemporary abode, sister or friend who needs calmness in their life: NDI’s Rushing Reeds

Perfect for: A brother or another who loves the blue hues, a print to modernise a bathroom: Emma Lawrenson’s Blue Curve

Perfect for: Updating your sister’s bedroom with an injection of colour,  a bride who had Gerbera’s in her bouquet: NDI’s Pop Art Gerbera 1

www.likelovewant.com.

 

 

 

Teresa Green, usually.

Whilst on my travels today, it suddenly became apparent how green my surroundings were, accentuated with a tinge of seasonal change. This moment took me back to an individual telling me of someone they knew called Teresa Green, and how exciting a name I thought it was. Fact or fiction of the story told is irrelevant, but the concept is still the same.

The colour green dominates our day-to-day lives on differing levels depending on where we are seasonally, and geographically. Emma’s Lawrenson’s Forest series highlights this well, from full dominance to a more muted bark colour as we pass through time.

Emma’s Forest IV, III, II and Forest are available through Like Love Want. Click here to view all Emma’s limited edition prints.

Stunning sculptures & pretty petals

RHS Wisley in Surrey is always worth visiting for its world-class garden but even more so at the moment as it is hosting the Surrey Sculpture Trail. One of the largest exhibitions of sculpture in the country and showcasing a diverse range of pieces from talented amateurs to top professional sculptors, the Surrey Sculpture Trail is at Wisley from 25 August – 30 September.

The sculptures are all subtly positioned within the existing beauty of the Wisley landscape and include modern contemporary and abstract sculptures as well as traditional sculptures, in a broad range of materials and sizes, at affordable prices. Really worth a visit.

After an afternoon of admiring the sculptures as well as the impressive grounds, it only seemed fitting to admire some of the flora-inspired pieces that grace our gallery. 

Camellia Bud III by Emma Lawrenson is a print inspired by the shape of the camellia. The simplicity of the lines adds to its beauty and the colours used encourage calmness.

When shown horizontally in a set of four prints, NDI’s Shamrock Chrysanthemum’s give the impression that there’s life in the petals with subtle and delicate movements.

And finally, Paul Wright’s original oil painting, Flower Collage 2, is proof that a bunch of flowers can be contemporary – Paul always takes his subjects to another level!

P(art)y is in the kitchen

Very much like ourselves, walls usually look best with a little covering up, and the kitchen is no exception. Art speaks volumes about you and your style and as visitors usually gravitate towards the kitchen (even if you don’t want them in there!), make sure you are expressing yourself appropriately in this room too.

With a personal penchant towards the appearance of apples and pears in my kitchen, this Marie Reville oil painting sits nicely in my kitchen, and there is something quite decadent about having original art in this room too.  Paul Wright’s Expanding Pears, viewable in the gallery, would look incredible in a large monochrome kitchen.

The Yellow Jug duo by Marie Reville would also add brightness and symmetry to a kitchen, or how about the gorgeous vibrancy of the limited edition print ‘Blue Curve’ from Emma Lawrenson?

If you’re not sure what would work in your kitchen, give our in-situ tool a try which allows you to view any of our art in your kitchen in minutes. All you need to do is find the piece you like and click on label next to it and press the in-situ tab at the bottom. Follow the easy instructions to load a photo of where that piece would go, and within a minute you’ll see that artwork in your kitchen. Simply position and scale. Keep trying till you find the one which looks the best.

You could have the best dressed kitchen before you know it!

Queen of screen (printers), Emma Lawrenson

Emma’s abstract screen prints are inspired by her immediate surroundings of the Yorkshire Countryside, where she lives and works from her home studio near Holmfirth in West Yorkshire. She gained an MA in Printmaking from the Royal College of Art in 1998, where she won several awards. Emma exhibits in galleries across the UK, often as a part of solo or mixed exhibitions, and sells her work worldwide.

Emma won the 2010 ‘Flourish Award’ for excellence in printmaking and  was  nominated for ‘Printmaker of the Year’ at PRINTFEST in 2012. She is currently exhibiting in a solo show at the Duckett and Jeffreys Gallery in Malton, North Yorkshire and has secured her first international solo exhibition in the USA later in the year.

Emma produces work for three interior design companies in London, New York and California.