Skull rug by Timothy Liles- Having previously worked for Converse as a footwear designer Timothy has turned his hand to product design. Here he has combined the pop icon with a tradition of technique. This is a thick, double-sided, wool rug  made by the extremely skilled workers at Country Braid House in Tilton NH. They’re more used to making traditional rugs but they’ve applied the same technique to totally different subject matter creating a modern heirloom  countrybraidhouse.com

Edging back toward the macabre Stefan Strumbelhas taken the traditional cuckoo clock of his homeland, the Black Forest in Germany, and applied objects of popular culture soaked in bright and acidic colours.  Strumble has moved from being a graffiti artist into 3 dimensional work.

His work looks at the German concept of Heimat, roughly translated as homeland  “There is no English word for Heimat,” Strumbel explains. “Some people link Heimat to a place, for others it is a feeling.”  Strumble has replaced motifs associated with his homeland with items of popular culture that have no geographical link.

Skulls by Beware the Moon This is a quality wallpaper; each roll is handmade with a “no expense spared” attitude from the makers to keep the print as close to the original art work as possible.  And they’ve chosen a quality gent to high light this.. Insouciant, sartorially superior ,eyebrow quizzical, pondering the taste of his fag – sorry cigarette. Or possibly he’s standing opposite a wall hung with one of the more risqué papers in the range “She” featuring a naked lady. I’d say he’s pondering the latter.  Beware the Moon have a refreshingly witty approach to wallpaper design and production , hopefully some new designs are coming soon

I’ve mentioned Studio Job’s Industry in in earlier post on Marquetry but they’re always worth another look. In the beautiful work seen here they’ve interwoven skeletons and skull/gas masks onto the surface of their wardrobe.

 Industry Series by Studio Job.  Using a mix of contemporary and traditional  iconography they draw on the same themes and images used for the Gospel According to Saint Job displayed in Milan last year. Tanks, grenades ,helicopters, insects and butterflies, chimneys billowing smoke, skeletons all feature in this homage to the marquetry methods of André- Charles Boulle.  Dispensing with bright colours used in the Bavarian series the inlays look like fossils of an industrial age. Laser cut pieces of white birds eye maple have been set in Indian Rosewood in a symmetrical layout. We expect symmetry in marquetry but the effect here is like the inkblot patterns of Rorschach. Its no coincidence that these pieces are a commentary on the collective psyche and our concerns with the mass destruction associated with industrialism.

The work can be seen at the Carpenters Workshop Gallery and are sold as limited edition pieces starting at over $30,000.   

Curiously it is a fashion designer rather than a furniture designer who has probably done more to promote the craft. Stella McCartney has repeatedly used marquetry and commissioned UK companies to produce work in different forms for her new stores. For her London store Aryma were commissioned to produce a contemporary angel that glides across the wall. The use of colour and complexity of the piece is an eye opener to the versatility of marquetry. 

In her Milan store, the ground floor is covered in oak parquet arranged in a multicolored pattern created by the Israeli designer Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay for Established & Sons. The store opened in February 2010 and had the official launch during Salone del Mobile last week.

Toby Winteringham’s work made with Patternity is another example of colourful geometry. Pictured above is his Shift coffee table made of sycamore with coloured veneer. Its an exciting and bold use of marquetry and a wonderful example of how a traditional craft can be spliced with contemporary graphics. Shift was launched along with the Patternity Bureau (pictured below) at Salone Satellite this month.

 Since writing this I’ve found a rather wonderful blog on marquetry http://www.miartstudioblog.com/ Do please click through and amire the work.

Studio Job Bavaria Range Indian Rose wood limited edition of 6 produced for Moss. Inspired by Bavarian furniture of 17th & 18th Centuries, this range of furniture uses marquetry techniques but instead of laborious hand cutting, the inlays have been laser cut.  

Fergana Sofa by Patricia Urquiola for Moroso. Uzbek weaving techniques are combined with industrial manufacturing to produce a pared down version of the complex traditional patterns, more suited to western tastes. Another Uzbek tradition maintained in this piece is the positioning of the furniture. We tend to push our seating up against the wall, whereas in the Uzbek tradition is to sit in the round. The Fergana range are island pieces meant be seen from all angles, it would be a shame to push them to one side.  

Cathrine Kullberg combines fine workmanship traditional material and precision laser cutting to produce her Norwegian Forest lights.  The classic Scandinavian tradition of using thin birch strips was first used for lighting in the 50s & 60s. Cathrine has further updated the tradition with her beautiful forest scenes. Norwegian Forest lights show a deep pine forest with animals in light and shade. When lit, the blonde birch veneer shines with a warm glow, and the delicately cut forest motif lets light to filter out between the trees.  The lights are cut by a company producing model kits and are then hand finished using seams of natural leather lace For more of her work : www.cathrinekullberg.com

Niki Jones is a designer who trained at both the Scottish College of  Textiles and the Royal College of Art. Having worked for various interior companies as a textile designer and style coordinator she has now created her own company.   Seen here is another design inspired by Uzbek textiles.  The range is designed entirely by her creative team mixing traditional and specialist techniques. www.niki-jones.co.uk

 Shown above Paper Collection  by Studio Job for Mooi. Created with a wooden core and cardboard the pieces are then lacquered to make a very durable and practical material. They initially created a chandelier and dining table and this year added a screen and side table to the range. 

Packaging Lamp David Gardner. Cleverly using the packaging as the components for the light, once assembled there’s nothing to throw away.

The use of pulped paper gives a wonderful texture, best seen when the light is on!

www.davidgardener.co.uk                                                                    

Above Papier bags by Saskia Diez Made using paper modeling techniques combined with a bit of gluing and sewing Saskia has been playing with the idea of traditional luxury. The paper used is Tyvek synthetic paper, its waterproof, tear proof and over time will crease and crumple. The shine of the paper has been removed by screen printing to give it back that feel of paper. It seems an elaborate process for a paper bag but then this isn’t a  traditional paper bag and this isn’t traditional luxury. http://www.saskia-diez.de/

Paper Table by Bas Van der Veer shows the strength of paper in combination with mathmatical models.

There have been so many images of the over sized cast iron dinner service and the stained glass windows I thought I’d post some images of the porcelain dinner service also shown here.

The Last Supper is truly a remarkable achievement. The production of this 12 piece dinner service marks technical development in the traditional Delftware technique where only a small amount of colours can be used. The collaboration between Studio Job and Royal Tichelaar Makkum led to the development of numerous new colours allowing a bright re-interpretation of traditional technique of Faience.

This mixing of old and new was continued into decoration of the pieces, mixing religious iconography with images of the modern day.  Each piece is hand painted and edged with 24c gold lustre