Image: Design Soda
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One of the things I absolutely love about interiors is discovering new talented makers and small scale brands offering original wares that push the boundaries of expectation. Take for example the humble cushion, we all use them for comfort, to snuggle down on the sofa with, and if you have a passion for design you’ve probably hunted down just the right pattern and colour for your scheme. But how about an heirloom cushion? Heirloom is what I term items that cost a smidgen more than standard high street fare but which you truly love and can see yourself keeping forever. If they are designed and made by hand in a studio on a loom by the same designer then all the better.
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Image: Design Soda
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Rowenna Mason is one such designer, who you may have heard me champion on the blog a few times before as I’m a big fan, she is an insanely talented designer whom I really love. Being able to spotlight artisan designers on here that ignite my passion for design is one of the best things about blogging and I interviewed Rowenna back in Summer 2016 in her studio just before she launched her second collection which gave me (and hopefully you too) a real insight into the process of textile design. Well, this week sees the launch of her fabulous new collection and, as you can see from the pictures throughout, its full of stunningly pretty design.
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Image: Design Soda
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I first came across Mason nearly two years ago when I saw her Southbank cushion and fell in love. One of the things that really excited me about Rowenna’s work is her layering technique. Her work uses a perfect colour base, she has an innate ability to place the just the right hues in tandem so that some pop, others recede, but none ever jar. Full of beautiful geometric patterning, all of her cushions are a lesson in storytelling design, each time you look you will spot another layer that combines to create the surface pattern.
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Image: Design Soda
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Her new collection explores berry tones, sorbet hues and elegant pattern. Sorbet is my favourite design and the one I’ve chosen to style for the piece (alongside previous designs Shadow & Southbank). It takes hints of purple and yellow (both very in this season for interiors by the way) and places them amongst delicate blues for a design that feels both throughly fresh and delicate.
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Image: Design Soda
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Also included in the new collection of 100% pure wool hand loomed designs are Sandpoint, Seaglass and Dewberry (scroll to the end to find out how you could win one of these this week!). The patterning on her new designs has a lightness of touch to them, they are streamlined and clean. As with her previous collections, Rowenna has been inspired by the deconstructed patterns found in the environment and architecture around her. But where her first collection spoke of districts of London and the visual cues they define, her new collection concentrates on the colours of South Coast seaside towns, beach huts and pastel coloured houses.
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Image: Design Soda
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Rowenna’s work is often described as painterly and she admits to treating her work in exactly this way with the loom as her canvas and the yarns her palette. I love the refreshing feel to this new palette which mirrors the simple mathematical geometry of her previous designs with an interplay of colour that is unique and stylish and which I can see working across many different looks. Each one of Rowenna’s collection differs from the last, and following her previous collection in monotones (see picture above) I am so inspired by how adept she is at using so many different palettes so expertly.
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Images: Design Soda
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As someone with a love of both colour and pattern in the home, I keep a keen eye out for Rowenna’s work. There is a fluidity to her designs mirrored not just in the pattern but also in the use, to me she is the perfect designer for both Bohemian maximalist homes that aren’t afraid of pattern and colour, but use them sparingly to create effect and modern homes with a Scandinavian element where her designs can sing amongst the white and natural elements of wood. Do hop over to Rowenna’s new website to view her beautiful new collection in full, there is much inspiration to be found. If you are looking for a cushion or throw that will be a star piece in your interiors scheme you’d have to look far before finding anything so simple, pretty and stylish as these. Below are some official shots of her new collection, which do you most love? If you are as in love with them as I am hop over to my Instagram too for details of how to win one on this weeks #colourmyhome challenge.
Images: Yeshen Venema fior Rowenna Mason
This post is a collaboration with Rowenna Mason who is a talented designer that I have long loved and featured on the blog before. As ever all opinions are honest and my own, thanks for supporting the brands that support me.
