Guest blog / Julia Black: Mr. Dixon's emeralds

Julia Black: One of Arren's faves, Mr. Tom Dixon, has gone and done it again. He's wowed the design industry with a new pair of sculptural light fixtures to add to his Pressed Glass Family. Bead and Top, the soon-to-hit-the-marketplace duo, have been creating quite a buzz (word is, they'll be available late July through ABC Home) and, consistent to Mr. Dixon’s industrial style, they reveal the honest imperfections of a manufacturing process originally conceived to make car headlights and glass electrical insulators. The two distinct shapes have a gorgeous heft and smashing green cast to them, and strike me as jewelry for your ceiling. I can totally see them hanging in spectacular clusters and, with that green hue, they make me feel very Dorothy in the Emerald City.

To read more posts from Julia click here, and click here to check out her cool blog.

Patching it up in NYC

I'm in NYC right this second, check-check-checking out the world of design in and around the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. After walking the show (and interviewing folks like Amy Butler, Kelly Hoppen and Matt Carr) I ventured further afield to have a look at all the off-site exhibits. There's been some awful stuff (sorry, but I really don't want wall sconces and table lamps made of real squirrels and mice), and there's been some fantastic stuff, like the chance to see the tribute by artist Tal R for the 50th anniversary of the Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair at ABC Carpet & Home. There are masses of the quilted patchwork covered chairs on show at ABC, and each has a different feeling. I've included a couple of my faves below, one of which feels really quite nutty, while the other has almost a preppy vibe to it. Then, for the crafty types out there, there's a close-up of the fabrics from one of the other chairs. Finally, a shot of the man himself, surrounded by some of the tonal chairs he produced. Yay for patchwork!

Know your ABC's

Madeline Weinrib is a firm fave for her delovely work in flatweaves, hand-knotted carpets and pillows, and now she's branching out. Upcoming for Ms. Weinrib is Allemande, her first foray into wallcoverings produced for her by posh wallpaper firm Studio Printworks (who're also working with artists like Michele Oka Doner and Kiki Smith). Yep, it's a damask pattern, and yep, it's black and white, but take a closer look and you'll see a free-and-easy painterly quality to the pattern that keeps it all nice and fresh and unexpected. Allemande will be on show in NYC at ABC Carpet & Home - the famous store founded by her grandfather, Max Weinrib - in mid-May and will definitely be worth a peek. I'll be popping down to New York soon for the upcoming ICFF so will let ya know how it looks! Take a look below at a couple of snaps of the silkscreened paper, including a close-up shot and, somewhere in the pattern, you might spy a little extra scribble that could be MW's initials... Oh, and if you fancy checking out Madeline Weinrib products in Toronto, check in at Y&Co.(via INK+WIT)