I woke up in the middle of the night having remembered I forgot to conclude with the one very important trend for 2008: derivation.

What am I on about? I am talking about the act of acquiring something from a source. This is a topic of constant scrutiny in my industry and everyone ironically feels that everything they have ever created comes from their own head and is original. To be blunt, this is bullshit. Everything – and this cannot be more prevalent than today – is derived from something.

Everyone influences each other, everything comes from something.

When I was at uni, and even going (as far back!) as high school art, we were taught to discuss our influences and inspirations – people and things that moved us and influenced our art, design and writings. Somehow when you get into the workforce and start creating your work you are taught (through bad examples) to pretend you have not looked at anyone else’s current work (how many times have I heard, ‘Oh? No, I have never heard of them’ meaning ‘darling, I am so busy with my own work, do you think I have time to look at someone else’s?’ which might as well be followed with, ‘Do you have any idea who I am?!’) that you have no idea what is going on around you, and that no one but your own self-centred inner self turns your light on. And in my experience this is based on fear – God forbid, it might show that your work is not purely original and has been influenced by your peers and surroundings.

I don’t abide by this bad habit. Because of course I have been influenced by my peers and contemporaries – so was Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec and friends. And of course my work has derived from something else. We are all part of a collective consciousness and we move with it, collectively. It is good practice to recognise your influences and discuss them as equals. Share, give, and be grateful. 2008 has no room for individuals who shout ‘this is mine!’. Be careful what you claim to be your own, because if you do your homework you will see that there is a direct trail left behind you of where you actually got your idea, and that often leads back to the very place you are trying to claim it from.

This idea of derivation will be more accepted in this coming decade as we move toward reworking old designs, renovating and being more resourceful with what we have. We will recognise that all things come from something – that is how we will evolve with what we have. It will be your service, dedication and passion that will distinguish you.

(now on with hunting and gathering!…)

image from Habitat catalogue 2007

What a whoppa of a year this is going to be – can you feel it? This special energy is so ripe and rich, I could cut it with a knife and serve myself a slice for breakfast to keep me going for the day.

Habitat catalogue 2007
the mix of modern objects with found objects – only just the beginning.

But let’s not babble on but get straight to the goods we want to hear about: trends in home design.

We’ve seen a great shift in retail this past couple of years toward the handmade. And folks the good news is that it is only just the beginning – we haven’t even scratched the surface of what is to come.

Most of us are already keen users of ebay and etsy, but it is still a rather new if not undiscovered territory for most. For those of you who are struggling with your sales do not fret! You are pioneers and pioneers need patience, so hang in there and keep creating. And for those who haven’t yet taken the plunge, go for it for as moloko says, the TIME IS NOW

So what’s my word about 2008 trends?

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It’s the weekend, so who feels like coming to the art gallery with me? This one is rather special as you do not have to wander too far from the (blog)house at all. Where am I taking you this time? Down and under to the National Portrait Gallery , and into the secreted rooms of their online exhibition, ‘Animated: Self Portraits Online’…

This is one very inspirational gallery – I have never experienced anything like it. The curators Michael Desmond and Gillian Raymond give a perfect introduction to the work, describing it as a virtual exhibition without being physically present in a gallery.

(Click here to read more…)

What a week! Okay it’s been longer than a week since my first post, but let me tell you what was really going on behind the scenes!

First up I have been so overwhelmed by the support from fellow bloggers, old friends and new friends for my first week of posting. Tears have been shed! I am an artist, what can I say, and artists are a sensitive bunch who need to hear their work is touching someone, therefore I am more than thankful for those of you who like my work to have commented. It has kept me going…

…and going while I lay half conscious in bed for the entire lead up to Christmas, and the eve, and the day until yesterday – ridden with the horrible epidemic that has hit France. I won’t go into the gory details of the sickness (but you can read about this latest plague here), however I was determined to push through and deliver what I set out to for the first week albeit a little inconsistently.

I did not lose my sense of humour though, and during the heaving and head-in-a-steel-vice I would lay half asleep thinking about how I had stated in my very first handy hints post that ‘While everyone else around me is coughing and sneezing I am not.’. The stuff was bloody useless this week.

Another inner titter came in one of my comatoses when I realised I had just lectured a friend who had said she got back from a holiday with her husband to Paris and was horribly ill for the whole trip. I replied very seriously and told her that it is all too common to get sick when you have been working yourself so hard and not keeping a balance, and that the moment you go away your body relaxes and the toxins come out. I left her with something along the lines of ‘make sure you look after yourself’. Meanwhile I was juggling well more than my two hands worth and the balance of nature took hold of me.

So while I lay barely alive realising my ridiculousness, the mind image of my friend Jboo was circling around the mess like a ghost, her arms half cocked in the air with her now quoted line for when things get chaotic on set: “everybody, just caaaaaalm the #%*! down”. (wish i had an image of her for you)

I was over-ambitious for my first week I concur. There were posts I said I would write that I didn’t. But I never back out when I say I will produce something, so it is all coming in good time, and I am thankful for your patience with my little blog learning curves.

In case you missed some of the good stuff, what did we all get up to in the (blog)house this first week?

Plus I have just figured out bullet points.

And the spilt milk? On my travels I decided to take a jar of soymilk, as I love my black tea with soy. And even though I tried to keep it upright it slowly but surely spilt all through my handbag and by Christmas Eve the jar was empty and my handbag had hardened to a crusty milky piece of cardboard fabric. Over-ambitious indeed.

I know it’s a little early, but I have something special for you this Christmas. Get your woollens on and wrap your mittens around a bowl of chocolat chaud. Then close your eyes and open them with the understanding you are about to be whisked away to a magical land. Enter…

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