Monday 4 March 2013

London Fashion Week is over.. . .




London Fashion Week for Autumn Winter 13 has come and gone and left food for thought; at Cholesburys Spring Summer 13 is waking up.  The natural Spring cycle is working; weather changing, days lengthening, flower bulbs pushing up toward the sun.

Over the winter outside the studio the old school gym floor board deck has mudded up. The mud and leaves stop the wood from drying out on windy days.  Years ago Will had saved the oak when he heard that a school gym was being demolished for a  new building. As can be the case he knew the value of the old narrow gauge planks (nice and thick like they used to make them) but didn't have a use for them.  Luckily an empty horse box in a local field provided a dry store until one evening in deep studio design discussion on the phone Will mentioned "what about a verandah outside, you know for drinking cups of tea on sunny days". Nearly a year after that Will was planing the planks to a near even thickness and sorting out the ones that were, shall I say slightly too aged.

When you appreciate the history of something and it comes into your care you feel responsible and can't help thinking about it. I knew I needed to give the wood a really good clean, being interested in materials I know that if the surface of oak is really clean it will just dry out, resist rot and take on a fine silver to dark colour over time, no need for paints or oils. I also knew that if the mud and leaves were left it was just a matter time before the last page in the history of my "verandah" would be that it just rotted away. So in tune with the Spring Summer 13 season I swept the leaves off, hauled out my pressure washer and set to work blasting off the mud and grime of many feet. Half way through the difference was so striking that I took a photo of the clean easy drying new look, ahh I thought the new colours for Cholesburys Spring Summer 13!


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