www.facebook.com/The2013DesignerShowhouseOfWestchester
www.nbcnewyork.com/blogs/open-house/206777691.html

Photograohy by Phillip Ennis

 www.sonyawinner.com

Another highlight of our trip to New York was our visit to the British Consulate where we presented a Prism Pastel rug to Danny Lopez the British Consul-General to be permanently displayed in the Consulate residence. We were blown away by how well the palette of Prism Pastel fitted into the space!

We look forward to another successful show in the Big Apple next year!

RIBA produced a video round-up, beautifully capturing the creative energy of Tent. We were honored to be featured first! Here we are making the finishing touches to our stand....

Each year, one artist, voted for by the visitors to the trail, receives the Derek davis Prize.
If you would like to to vote for us you can do so here

The Arundel Gallery Trail is an essential part of the South's art calendar drawing together a wide range of established artists as well as showcasing much unknown local talent. The Trail draws over 10,000 visitors. Be prepared to discover all styles of art and medium including paintings, prints, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, decoupage, stained glass and jewellery. During the 10 day period you can wander from venue to venue. Entry is free and is a great day out for art collectors and enthusiasts alike.

Arundel is a historic city less than one and a half hours from Victoria by train and is 10 minutes drive from the sea so a visit makes a perfect cultural day trip!

Here is Sonya at the launch of the Arundel Festivals' Gallery Trail with textile designer Ann Sutton MBE.
Ann is known, internationally, for her innovative work in woven textiles, and has written nine books on the subject. One of the founders of The Arundel Gallery Trail, she was awarded the MBE for services to textiles. A visiting Professor at the University of the Arts, London, and a Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art. Ann has travelled, lectured and exhibited all over the world, and her work is in many public and private collections, including 24 pieces purchased by the V&A. It was through Anne's intitive that Adam's rugs approached Sonya to exhibit in the artists trail.

A story by Bruno Simões of Casa Vogue Brazil about art inspiration in design:

Translation: 

"The After Matisse rug is inspired by Matisse's cut out called 'the Snail'- produced in the last years of his life when Matisse was working from a wheelchair instructing his assistants where to place torn sheets of paper coloured with gouache paints stuck onto a white paper background. Inspite of being confined to his wheelchair it it was one of Matisse's most prolific and exciting periods of his career celebrating colour and form in an incredibly vibrant joyful way. The strength of human spirit championing over the confines of an ageing body!

Inspired by Matisse's cut outs the 'After Matisse rug' is designed with the intention of bringing vibrancy and light into your homes and a smile into your heart. By juxta positioning carefully selected shades, shapes and tuft heights the opaque fibres of pure New Zealand wool combine to give the effect of transparency, luminosity and light in a unique way."

Less than a day after arriving in the 'Big Apple', the team were hard at work building the stand- and it paid off, ultimately resulting in our vibrant and colourful display below:

We had an extremely positive response from fellow designers, interior designers, the retail trade and the public alike, all expressing an appreciation of the colour and shape of our latest designs.
Our new designs: HOLEY BUBBLES, BUBBLES OUTLINE ( a wall hanging) , PUPPY LOVE and our faux suede 'AFTER MATISSE' PILLOWS to match our 'After Matisse' rug were all very well recieved.

We secured some great new clients, and met an array of interesting and exciting people that we hope to do business with in future.

The quality of work exhibited at the ICFF was outstanding. The other designers in the BEDG represented the innovative and forward thinking of British design, most notably Charlene Mullen Designs, Ella Doran, Boeme Design, Jeremy Cole and Raw Studio. There was also fantastic wood work from Canadian designers Vinde Garde, Diamond Stairs and Mario Sabljak.

We had a wonderful time at the ICFF, and look forward to our return to New York, and to pursuing all the exciting leads born of the show.   

x The team

HOLEY BUBBLES

BUBBLES OUTLINE

 PUPPY LOVE

AFTER MATISSE FAUX SUEDE PILLOWS

I am thrilled to have been nominated for the prestigious:

HOMES & GARDENS DESIGNER AWARDS 2012

To be announced at The British Museum on Wednesday 7th March

There is more information about the awards and the other wonderfully talented nominees here:

http://www.housetohome.co.uk/product-idea/picture/homes-gardens-designer-awards-2012/9

Watch this space!

Below you can see the Deep Sunset's progress as it is being woven.
Each weaver weaves the width of the shoulders - about 1m - so this 6m rug required 6 weavers
to weave side by side - at a 100 knots they weave around 12cm a day.
This is the ancient art of weaving on the loom that has not changed in centuries!

After the weaving was completed the Deep Sunset rug was washed in Himalayan rainwater and
then dried in the sun on the roof tops - you get an idea of the scale of it in this picture below:

Once the rug has been dried the final finishing starts - binding the edges and carving definition
between the colours with very large hand held carving scissors.

We double checked the rug's colours, the finishing and made an general inspection of the rug -
We were very happy!
 
The Deep Sunset was ready to go after a couple of hours of final finishing. It took quite a few
strong men to get it loaded on a palette and into the FedEx van.
It left the Kathmandu Valley on Friday the 5th January and by Monday the 8th January it was with
our client in the USA where it was going on to Mexico. Well done FedEx we are once again
impressed that you can go from Kathmandu to California in one weekend!

Our client (one of the top 100 interior designers in the USA) was delighted:
"The rug will be stunning in the home in Mexico and I can't wait to see it pull everything together.
Thank you so much for everything".
Here is the rug at its final destination - the gorgeous beach house in Mexico!

Finally the pilot decided the time was right - we dropped 3,000 feet very quickly and suddenly the hills surrounding the Kathmandu valley and city itself appeared in all its glory and before we knew it we were finally safely landed... here are the stunning views from the air:

Here is the spread from the article featuring the "After Matisse Rug".

SuperDesign curated by Patrick Brillet now in its 5th year opened with a fantastic party -
the place was buzzing with lots of excitment as this year's offerings were unveiled.

Photo by Barbara Chandler www.lovelondon.uk.com  twitter: @sunnyholt

Thank you everyone who visited us at Tent London.

We were overwhelmed by the positive response and interest we received.

Varanasi is also the rug making capital of India and this is another place where our vibrant contemporary rugs are being made. Here are some of the steps in solved in the Indian hand tufted After Matisse rugs:

Happy 5th Birthday to Design Milk

Congratulations for creating a wonderful and inspirational place to see fresh and fun ideas and….

Thank you for featuring our rugs this week!

The first 100% Silk Tree Trunk has arrived!

Here are some comments from the few people who have already seen it:

“I think the silk tree trunk is one of the best hand made rugs I have every seen. Truly inspirational”

“Simply one word …. Stunning”

“Silk gives the design a completely different character”
Lucy Upward Deputy Editor – COVER (formerly Modern Carpets and Textiles for Interiors)

“The thick pile silk gives the Tree Trunk re-newed texture, depth and interplay of colours”
Editor HALI Publications Ltd.

If you are interested to know more about this piece do get in contact:
info@sonyawinner.com Tel: 0203 283 8776

Themes & Variations is showing the limited edition Tree Trunk during May and June.

The gallery is recognised as a “leading specialist in Post-war and Contemporary Design”.
http://www.themesandvariations.com/

231 Westbourne Grove, London W11 2SE
OPENING HOURS:
Monday – Friday 10am – 1pm & 2 – 6pm
Saturday 10am – 6pm

Check out Amelia Thorpe’s article ‘Neon Brights’ in this months IDFX:

She mentions the ‘After Matisse’ rug below:

Sonya Winner’s vibrant contemporary rugs include After Matisse, inspired by the artist’s work using paper cut-outs. The collage of 26 colours replicates the effect of transparent colours mixed together. The irregular shape and five different tuft heights create a sculptural and striking design, which is made of pure New Zealand wool.

We are very excited to launch our first coffee table book of Vibrant Contemporary Rugs full of inspirational photography to give you loads of ideas for your home.
Please do contact us if you would like to receive a copy:
info@sonyawinner.com

A new rug Deep Sunset has recently been commissioned and sent to its new home in Neve Tzedek Israel – check it out on my website under Collection

Decorex

There are less than 4 weeks to go until the most luxurious design show of the year…DECOREX.
Sonya has been invited by Cover Magazine (The International Magazine for Contemporary Rugs) to be their featured rug designer. Decorex in conjunction with Cover magazine are creating an amazing ‘Into the Woods’ 4 meter Focal Point based around her Tree Trunk from The Limited Edition Collection.

The content of the rest of this huge 4 meter circular Focal Point in currently top secret – but its safe to say its highly original and definitely worth a trip.

Decorex is at The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London SW3 4SR from 26-29th September. Open to the public Wednesday 29th September.

http://www.decorex.com/