PALE AND INTERESTING

I have a friend who likes to wear white when she has a hangover. It makes her feel clean and fools her mind into thinking her body isn’t processing unhealthy volumes of vodka. In much the same way, I find I can improve my approach to an activity I’d rather not tackle by wearing exciting trousers or a ludicrous necklace. Fashion is not, as many who are uninterested in it believe, a mere window dressing of the body. It can make you feel less sick, alter your mood, or comfort you. Interior design is just as clever. While I am always a big advocate of a pure white paint job on every wall, I appreciate that some people prefer some variation. I will allow wiggle room for grey, blue and even occasionally green tones to adorn the walls*, but there is no more efficient way to lift the light, air and ceiling of a room than to cover it in the whitest of white emulsion. I accept that this strategy is not edgy, progressive or even interesting. But in the home, I want a blank canvas, for this is what all the best edgy, progressive and interesting artists begin with. And when I drink so much that I myself become a bit of a blank canvas, I need some clean white walls to look at while I process the vodka.

*that is all four walls by the way – what is this ‘feature wall’ concept? Dreamt up by someone selling paint, that’s what.

Clothes horse: antique, Tea towel: Ikea, Curtains: Jan Barrett

NATURE MORTE

At University, we were told in no uncertain terms not to read Gombrich’s Story of Art. It represented a very particular canon of western, male-dominated, white art history whose mythology is perpetuated by reading such narrow texts. I support the attitude of destabilising the norm, and crushing mythology, but there comes a time when a girl needs to know a few hard facts. Recently I started to read Gombrich’s A Little History of the World, somewhat guiltily, given the Gombrich-ban. Written for children, it is pitched perfectly for my level; with my inexplicable imperviousness for dates, place names or wars. I am learning a lot. I have learned that Mesopotamia was really quite crucial, and that the Egyptians were supremely talented. I also learned that depicting still life scenes emerged way before the westerners started in in the 16th century, when it was considered low brow and inferior to history paintings. If I understand it, positioning fruit, flowers, plates and inanimate objects in a scene and depicting them, sometimes with allegorical symbolism, was invented in the pyramids by the ancient Egyptians and then taken up in the west much later, before being derided because it didn’t tell the story of history. Maybe the Flemish should have thought about this properly and done some big history paintings of Greeks and Romans arranging pomegranates and ribbons on cake stands. Something to think about while you sit and admire your contemporary take on a historical still life in your living room.*

*don’t consider this too much – I never read The Story of Art

Decanter: Sagaform, Pomegranates: Ocado, Wine: Sainsbury’s, Paint: Little Greene, Grey glass: Tiger

 

 

 

LET’S MAKE UP

There are many ways to arrange a room, and no way is best. This is the joy in attempting aesthetic perfection. If you want to do it, it is an unceasing quest with no conclusion, and no climax. There are, however, certain rules I follow, not consciously, when toying with objects in the home. Carla Bruni (pre-Sarkozy) once told Vogue that you can’t just put a red lip on a blank face – you need eye make up too*. I disagree to an extent with Ms Bruni’s considered ideology. A face, like a cake, a painting, or the corner of a room, can work very well with just one stand-out feature. Of course there needs to be a balance, and many splendid hours can be spent creating a careful melange of harmonising pieces. If that’s not your thing, just remember a quick rule; get the right foundation and lighting, and the rest should work.

*I have reason to believe that Carla may have altered her opinion since becoming French, as I’ve definitely seen her in quite minimal maquillage at recent state events

White stool: Arthur Anderson Antiques, Silver plate: Nuthall jumble sale, Brass pineapple: Mary Magdalene Foundation