From Ambrose Heal’s Arts & Crafts furniture to our modern collections, Heal’s has always showcased the beauty of natural timbers. In honour of this heritage, this autumn we’re going back to our roots with a season celebrating the cultivation and craft of wood.
Alongside the launch of Gareth Neal’s Ease Chair, the winner of this year’s Great Heal’s Bodging Race, there’s plenty to see within our flagship store including; sustainable foresters Grown in Britain’s timber exhibition; an innovative modular workspace design from the Maker’s Shed; our new custom furniture service Tree to Table; plus the unveiling of the Kauri table, made from wood that has been preserved for over 50,000 years.
To see all this or to find out more about Heal’s Celebration of Wood, visit our store today. Don't miss our wood carving workshops with Barn the Spoon.
[ INSPIRATION ]
Behind the design
The brains and brawn behind our exclusive industrial lighting collection, Made By The Forge combine modern, industrial style with the traditional craft of blacksmithing.
Curious to learn more, we spoke to blacksmith Richard Fishenden about the ancient crafts and skills that go into each piece.
Where is your workshop based?
Made by the Forge is based in the small Suffolk village of Elmsett. We rent our space from a farmer who decided to turn his former pig farm into workshops and studios, so it certainly has that traditional craft feel.
How did the collaboration with Anthony Dickens come about?
Our relationship sprang from a special collaboration for Made by The Forge between Anthony, William Warren, Chris Eckersley and Gareth Neal, which was exhibited at last year’s Design Junction. We loved his work, so it was a no-brainer to collaborate on a full collection with him.
How long did the collection take to design and craft?
From the initial concept to the finished pieces, the collection for Heal’s took roughly seven months to complete. While the range is based on Anthony’s clever interpretation of the popular cage light, it was Richard Fishenden’s blacksmithing skills that really brought the designs to life.
Where does MBTF’s blacksmithing heritage hail from?
Richard comes from a family of Blacksmiths whose time-honoured skills have been passed down through the generations. Having first trained as a farrier, shoeing horses on an apprenticeship, he now has over 20 years’ experience working with solid iron combining his artisan blacksmith skills with a modern approach to interiors.
Tell us more about your exclusive designs for Heal’s
These designs are all part of The Farrier's Cage Collection, each of which has been traditionally hammered and welded from solid iron to create a modern, industrially inspired series of pendants. It’s hard to choose a favourite with designs including the Multi-Bulb, Long bar and six circle Globe Chandelier, but we have to admit that the Teardrop really does steal the show.
What next for MBTF?
Following the success of the Farrier’s Cage collection, we are once again working with Anthony Dickens on some exciting new modern lighting designs. We are also planning a collaboration with Sebastian Cox and Anthony to design a table that combines both natural wood and our solid metal crafts. They’re set to launch later this year exclusively at Heal's, so watch this space!
Want to see the exclusive collection of Heal’s Farrier’s Cage pendants Made By The Forge? Shop Now
A graduate of the prestigious Royal College of Art, Sunny Todd produces a bright, graphic range of patterned textiles all of which are hand printed within his studio in Herefordshire. Working side-by-side with his wife Emma, the duo are set to launch their first exclusive collection at Heal’s. We caught up with the man himself to learn more about the studio and their unique range of prints.
Where is your studio based?
Our studio is in Ledbury, Herefordshire.
Where did you study?
I studied Textile Design at Birmingham University before doing my Masters in Printed Textiles at The Royal College of Art.
Tell us about the first piece you ever designed?
The first piece I ever sold was a hand painted fabric swatch to Diane Von Furstenberg when I was in my first year at the Royal College.
What is the inspiration behind your work?
I have always loved Matisse’s cut outs and the amazing use of colour by artists such as Patrick Heron, Howard Hodgkin, David Hockney and Patrick Caulfield. Scandinavian design is also a constant source of influence and I am inspired on a daily basis by the confidence, freedom and simplicity of our childrens’ drawings.
How do you approach the design process?
The process is incredibly important to us; we draw and cut each shape and then arrange them into a pattern or repeat. We don’t use computers at this stage, which we find gives the finished print beautiful irregularities.
The quality and sustainability of our fabric and products is paramount. We always strive to use the highest quality materials sourced as locally as possible, printing with environmentally friendly water based inks.
Some of our designs have evolved over a number of years whilst others come about through happy accidents whilst we are drawing or even experimenting with stencils on the print table. The selection of colours is just as important and something of a labour of love.
Do you have a preferred material or method?
Silkscreen printing is our favourite. We use this technique almost every day and never tire of it. I love the ritual of cutting out the stencil artwork, carefully mixing the pigment inks, pulling the squeegee across and then lifting the screen to reveal the print. The process is so simple yet so satisfying.
We hand print our paper prints, bags, wash bags and cushions in our studio while the longer lengths of fabrics that are available by the meter are printed in the UK. Everyone has a personal reaction to colour, are there any you instinctively avoid?
Do you have any studio superstitions / design quirks?
No superstitions but we do have two small children so a lot of printing is done when they are in bed. The first thing we do is make a fresh batch of coffee and put on some loud music to keep us going late into the night!
How did you get involved with Heal’s?
When we set up our business we wrote a dream list of companies that we would love to work with and Heal’s were at the very top! We sent a cushion and note to the home buyers’ team and we were delighted when they contacted us the next day to invite us in to meet them. We then worked with the mood board they gave us to recolour our patterns for their Autumn/Winter 2015 collection.
How would you describe your collection for Heal’s?
Our patterns are characterised by bold, clean, graphic shapes that are fun and dynamic. Our signature ‘offset’ provides extra energy that gives the shapes a three-dimensional appearance. Our first fabric collection is made up of 10 of our favourite patterns, each in four different colour combinations that will be available at Heal’s from September 19th.
The limited edition cushion collection consists of two of these designs, Zigzag and Feather, which have been hand screen-printed by myself and Emma in an exclusive range of colours. Sunny Todd’s exclusive collection of prints are available as part of Heal’s Autumn/Winter 2015 collections, all of which will be available through our website or in store.
Part of our Swedish Summer of exhibition and events, Jobs Handtryck’s specially curated selection of fabrics have taken centre stage within our Heal’s showrooms. To learn more about their timeless textiles, we spoke to the printers behind these stylish Scandi designs.
Where is your workshop based?
The workshop is based in a small town called Leksand situated by the beautiful lake Siljan in the centre of Sweden. The region is called Dalarna, or Dalecarlia in English, and is popular with tourists in the summer thanks to a rich culture and heritage that is still very much a part of day to day life.
What’s the heritage behind Jobs Handtryck?
Jobs Handtryck was founded in 1944 by Peer Jobs. Inspired by his mother Elisabet Wisén’s paintings, Peer introduced her sense of colour to his own interest in textile design reproducing many of his sister’s large scale pieces in the process. Since then Jobs Handtryck has continued to collaborate with artists and designers all of which are block or screen printed within the same workshop built by Peer Jobs.
How do you approach the printing process?
All of our fabrics are printed by hand, meaning that we have to work within and around the technical limitations of this process. Other than a radio, we use no machinery as we prefer to produce pieces using these traditional craft methods.
Hand printing does, however, require a great deal of precision, experience and patience. The size and scale of the fabrics we print also requires at least two people to ensure the whole thing runs smoothly. Before we can even begin printing there is a lot of preparation involved as we have to separate the colours of the artist’s original design onto its own stencil, silk screen.
A standard piece is usually between 12 and 16 colours, so you can imagine how labour intensive the whole process is from start to finish.
Tell us about some of the designs you will be showing at our Swedish Summer event?
To give you a taste of what we at Jobs Handtryck do, we’ll be showing a selection of our best-loved metered fabrics. These include the Rabarber, Trollslända, Tistlar and Lupin, to mention a few.
We feel that each of these timeless designs capture the ethos of a Swedish summer, all of which take inspiration from the natural surroundings of our homeland.
To see the collection and get a quote on your own made to order textiles visit Heal’s Swedish Summer exhibition within our Tottenham Court Road store from 27th July to 23rd August 2015 - Now extended to 1st September 2015.
To mark the birthday of the late great British designer Robin Day, we’re looking to the Heal’s archive to rediscover the award winning storage unit that helped launch his name. A man of many talents, Day began his career in the 1940s as a teacher at Beckenham School of Art where he first met fellow fan of modernist furniture Clive Latimer. It wasn’t, however, until 1948 that the pair would produce the piece that would gain them international acclaim.
The 675 Chair
Designed amidst a post war climate of rationing, Day and Latimer’s storage system was built from affordable yet robust plywood and supported by bent, tubular legs made from recycled aluminium. The result was a contemporary piece of furniture very much in keeping with the bright new mid-century style that was beginning to emerge from the doldrums of wartime austerity.
Originally designed for Heal’s, the multifunctional storage unit was entered into the ‘International Low-Cost Furniture Competition’ at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York taking first place in the storage section.
An international platform on which to showcase Day’s potential, the event acted as a springboard for the designer’s career. Yet few could have predicted the impact he would have, producing some of the most ubiquitous and iconic pieces of the 20th Century.
It’s hard to believe that, were he still alive today, visionary designer Marcel Breuer would be celebrating his 123rd Birthday. Born in Hungary in 1902, he went on to become a professor at the infamous Bahaus school of design in Germany and throughout this period produced a number of iconic designs such as his infamous tubular steel ‘Wassily’ and ‘Model B32’ Chairs.
Not only did such pieces have a major influence on Heal’s own collections, most notably the ‘Economy with a Difference’ range launched in 1933, but were also stocked within the showrooms of Tottenham Court Road.
Working for modern British furniture makers Isokon, whose creative director just happened to be former head of the Bauhaus Walter Gropius, in 1935 Breuer produced his stunning ‘Long Chair’ with Heal’s one of the first stores in the world to stock this classic design.
The Cesca Side Chair
As well as his instinctive aptitude for furniture, at the peak of 20th century Modernism following the Second World War Breuer was one of the worlds most influential and in-demand architects. Designing up until his passing in 1981, buildings include the Unesco Headquarters in Paris (1958) and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (1966), both now considered masterpieces of the modern era.
So the next time you sit back in a contemporary styled tubular chair, take a moment to raise your glass to Mr. Breuer, a true pioneer of the modern home.
HEAL'S DISCOVERS
HEAL'S DISCOVERS
Ed Heritage
As part of this season’s Heal’s Discovers initiative, we’re delighted to introduce Ed Heritage, an award-winning UK-based designer whose signature style of clean geometry and playful details is reflected in the beautiful lamp he created.
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