CATHERINE YASS AT THE DE LA WARR PAVILLION

The orders have been coming thick and fast, like planes stacking up to land at Heathrow. So much so that at one point Air Traffic Control had to resort to a stiff gin . Still as it was shaping up to being another classic British summer- wetter than water and colder than a penguins bottom- we didn't mind being stuck in the workshop.

One of our orders, for Miami based interior designer Ana B.Pila, was for herds of vibrant Tonkin and Kashgar tassels from our Formosa collection, so although it was winter outside, inside resembled a multicoloured sweatshop.

Our Kashgar and Tonkin Tassels would add a ray of sunshine to any home when it's grey and grizzly. These lucky ladies are off to strut their stuff in fabulous Florida and they won't be doing it it in wool stockings and two cardies.

                                              

It came as a welcome respite to take the day off and head out of London to the launch of Catherine Yass's new exhibition at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea.

New work made especially for this exhibition is 'Lighthouse', a  film and series of photographs of the Royal Sovereign Lighthouse, five miles off the Kent Coast. This peculiar and precarious structure with no visible reason for being is perfect subject matter for Catherine's fascination with empty spaces. 
Other recent work exhibited are the films 'Descent'[2002] where the viewer is slowly falling upside down to a ground level above them, and 'Lock'[2006] filmed at a giant lock on the Yangtze River, China; and the photographic works 'Sleep'[2005-8] and 'Decommissioned'[2010], using her signature method of overlaying positive and negative images onto lightboxs. The results are eerie and unsettling.
'Chemin' from the Sleep series, a ghostly landscape, instantly took me back to childhood summer holidays. Suddenly I was wandering the baked mountains of Herault in Southern France, where the sun's white light bleached all colour and the only noise breaking though the heat was the constant rasping rattle of cicadas.

An old sketch I found from one of the last summer holidays I had in Herault when I was 17.

I've wanted to visit the De La Warr, a fantastic example of British modernist architecture since it was restored and re-opened as an arts centre in October 2005.
Opened originally in 1935 as a cutting edge entertainment and culture centre, it was the brainchild of the 9th Earl De La Warr.  'Buck', as he was known to his friends, was the then Mayor of Bexhill, a Labour Party supporter and champion of modernism. 
The building was designed by two eminent architects of the day, Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff. Mendelsohn, a jewish refugee from Hitler's Germany was known for designing the Schocken Department Store [1928]and Potsdam's Einstein Building [1921].

Left Erich and his wife, above right his surreal Einstein Building

Serge Chermayeff, who's family had moved from Russia when he'd been a small boy, was responsible for the interiors of the B.B.C Broadcasting House in Portland Place, London. He was also known as a product designer.

Above left Serge, and right, the Ecko Model EC74 radio he designed in 1933

After the 2nd World War, when it was closed,the pavilion carried on as a arts complex but due to lack of funds it fell into disrepair and neglect until English Heritage rescued it in 1985.

Below three images of The De La Warr.

All that's missing from this striking structure are a row of our deco inspired Albers tassels from the new Bexley collection [see below] that will be launched at TentLondon in September.

Catherine Yass, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-On-Sea,

25 June-4 September 2011.

TentLondon, The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane,

22-25 September 2011.

LONG TASSEL LIGHT FROM CURIOUSA AND CURIOUSA

We here at Jessica Light Trims and Tassels love working with other designers. One such collaboration has been with Esther Patterson of Curiousa and Curiousa fame. The result is a tassel light which has a hand blown glass shade sitting above a hand-woven 1m long dip-dyed tassel. This striking sculptural statement piece would add a touch of decadent drama to any interior.

Available from Curiousa and Curiousa

£395.00.

Jessica met Esther at TentLondon last September where they were both exhibiting and where both companies will be again this year.

Jessica Light Trims and Tassels will be launching two new collections [keep an eye out for sneak previews and updates on this blog], and from the smoke signals coming from Tents HQ it's shaping up to be the biggest and best TentLondon yet. So put these dates,22-25 September 2011,into your diaries and make sure you don't miss THE show of the London Design Festival.

PASSEMENTERIE WORKSHOP AT CREATE BOUTIQUE

Create Boutique offer a number of exciting fashion-centric workshops from jewellery to fascinators. You can either come to one of their locations or if you're having a party and want to provide something a little different they can come to you

Jessica Light has teamed up with Create Boutique to teach a passementerie workshop. So come and learn a new skill in a social,fun and relaxed atmosphere and come away with your own unique bit of tasseledge.

Learn how to make the above pieces

Dates to be announced so keep checking Create Boutique for info

THE ROYAL WEDDING

Jessica Light Trims and Tassels haven't been invited to the Royal Wedding [I know- can't take us anywhere], but we like to feel we'll be there in kind due to the fringe that adorns the Buckingham Palace balcony that was woven by Jessica.

Jessica wove this fringe while working for Wendy Cushing at the factory in Leyton. It's a 21cm wool bullion with tags the size of sausage fingers and was so heavy that a couple of the boys from the ropewalk had to come and help lift it.

The fringe it replaced was 98 years old and we hope that when it needs to be re-woven there will still be someone left in the U.K who knows how to do it.

There was a large trimmings industry in Britain and even when Jessica started there were still 3 factories left in London. There are now none and Jessica is one a few people she knows that if they woke up in Tudor England has the skills to actually go out and get a job. 

It is vital that we keep our traditional industries alive because once they're gone that's it, and we will have lost yet another part of our cultural heritage. So when someone orders a product from us they are getting so much more than just a trim, they are helping to preserve techniques that go back centuries and yes we are using the Royal We.