Patterns of Italy

During a recent trip to Italy, we couldn't help but capture the striking patterns that adorn the churches and streets of Florence and Siena. Have a look at a few favs as well as a notecard design inspired by our travels...

Summer is here!

With the first days of summer officially upon us, get ready to spend more time in gardens, parks and just about anywhere with a sliver of outdoor space. Put together the summer soundtrack, pack up the picnic basket and get the Pimm's ready for what's shaping up to be a great start to the summer. Spread the word of your summer bash with a few of our recent invites...

Happy Father's Day

Wishing a very Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers out there, with special love for my father of course! This year marks the 25th anniversary of 'Boys Weekend' in which my Dad and many of his friends have celebrated Father's Day in their own way every year. They leave the kids and wives at home to celebrate fatherhood the best way they know how...drink beer, play golf and spend some time in the countryside. The image below is the first (and last time!) the kids were invited along. Enjoy the weekend, Dads!

Concrete Jungle

It's a jungle out there as the Elephant Parade of London began a few weeks ago. You may have noticed some new companions lining our sidewalks and parks recently. It's all in effort to raise awareness on the imminent extinction of the Asian elephant. Many of art and design's largest names have joined the cause and created elephants to dot the streets of London. Seems elephant mania is taking over the capital! Have a look at a few of our favs along with a specially designed Elly notecard in support of these beauties...

During our trek through Elephant Safari, we were lucky enough to meet Soraia Almeida, an up-and-coming artist who's work is based on experimentation and escapism and is always in constant transformation and development. With unusual and innovative techniques, it seems like creating 'Patchwork' the Elephant was a perfect match (pictured below right). Sitting down with Soraia and Patchwork, we asked a few questions....

What was your favourite part about the project?

The best part for me was to be able to use my skill to raise awareness on such an important issue as that of conservation. It is also a great opportunity for me to create work that truly interacts with people, as a canvas based artist it’s rare when I have the opportunity to create public art and in doing so create work that is enjoyed by such a varied audience, especially those that perhaps would not go or enjoy the gallery settings where my work is normally displayed.

What was the inspiration and symbolism behind Patchwork?

In essence Patchwork is symbolic to that same exploration of identity recognized in my work it is based on this idea that we are all made as a result of all the different pieces, ideals, dreams and nightmares, backgrounds and circumstances of ourselves, where the small pieces put together create ‘patchwork’, so the whole is nothing but all those pieces ‘sewed’ together. It is reflective of our multifaceted complex nature as human beings and I wanted my Elephant to be like that, to be made up of a series of pieces of patchwork as a beacon to its magic, its complexity and majestic nature. I used highly detailed squares superimposed upon each other painted in very bright colours and metals like gold, silver and copper as highlights, although a poignant issue of conservation, I wanted my Elephant to be above all a celebration of the Asian Elephant.

Check out more of her work here...www.almeidagallery.com

The Elephant Parade, is an innovative fundraising and public awareness campaign for the endangered Asian elephant. There are currently 258 elephants being exhibited in London all painted by a different artist or celebrity until the 23rd June.

To learn more about how you can support the Elephant cause, check out www.elephantparadelondon.org

Website launching soon

Sorry we've been a bit absent from the blog lately, but we've got a good excuse! Have a sneak peak at the website preparation...

In the press!

The sun is shining in London and R+J is featured on the oh-so-wonderful Vogue Beauty Blog today...we couldn't imagine a more perfect day! Have a look...

http://www.vogue.co.uk/blogs/the-vogue-beauty-blog/default.aspx