Intaglio Takes Flight

 

You may have seen her beautiful prints in our stores since June, but this month Intaglio Prints Takes Flight with a beautiful window exhibition by Esmeralda Brettenny. KIN on Kloof's windows have become small worlds of wonder with soft rolling hills, delicately drawn creatures and glowing clouds.

 

It was so exciting to see Esmeralda's ideas literally taking shape as she and Miranda cut, pinned, glued, nailed an Intaglio-themed landscape together.

Such a hard-working team of perfectionists : Miranda shaped the earth below while Esmeralda formed the clouds above and every detail was cleverly included to compliment the whole.

Moment of truth : Intaglio's gorgeous swirling logo in larger-than-life vinyl.

 

Intaglio Prints are custom framed in glass and beautiful, strong wooden hoops. These intricate illustrations are each printed by Esmeralda herself using the old process of intaglio printing where you scratch or etch an image onto a copper plate, rub ink into the scratches, wipe the ink off and press it onto paper.

Take a stroll down Kloof Street in the evening to see the softly fluorescent clouds glowing over a fascinating world of sparrows, aloes, dragonflies, airships, proteas, foxes and zeppelins.

Intaglio Prints definitely celebrates having a true sense of wonder and adventure. Some of our absolute favourite pieces are the Air Ship series with titles like "But will it fly?"

Sunlight through the clouds...what a magical world to have inside our walls for the month of August!

Live Eco's Remake Challenge

From one serendipitous meeting-of-minds to a good chat over good coffee, we are excited to say that we are teaming up with Live Eco for this year's Remake Design Challenge.

What is it all about?

"The Live Eco Remake Design Challenge is a sustainable design competition that challenges students and emerging designers to create mainstream clothing and objects whilst adhering to sustainable design principles and eliminating waste in their production methods. Each competition cycle takes designers on an educational and design journey lasting a few months. After which the winners are rewarded with what we hope to be career changing prizes to Remake the pattern of fashion and interior design.""

remakechallenge.com

How is KIN getting involved?

Five selected KIN jewellery designers have been paired with the competition's 5 fashion finalists to provide beautiful South-African-designed pieces that compliment each outfit for the studio photoshoot and final fashion show event.

Why is this an excellent idea?

The Remake Challenge is a meeting of high fashion ideals and responsible, sustainable living. We love that while the competition calls for one stunning haute couture showpiece, the rest of the garments are focused on wearable pieces - raising the awareness of how seamlessly sustainable clothing items can replace everyday fashion in our wardrobes. The jewellery from our five designers will enhance each outfit and heighten the sense of high-end style - making the final outfits even more tantalising (although the garments' humble origins may surprise you!).

Behind the scenes look into the 2011 fashion studio shoot. All hair & make-up by The Body Shop.

Captured at the 2011 fashion show held at The Green Expo, CTICC

To find out more...

Visit Live Eco's site - it's full of lots of interesting tidbits and really shows off how chic, sexy & smart sustainable living can be.

Also browse The Remake Challenge site - here you'll find interviews of both Fashion & Object finalists as well as gorgeous, glamorous photography from previous competition runs.

2011 in studio fashion photo shoot

Success! Results from our Earth Day Window

After the sales of the designer birds and MOKO bird houses in April, Soil for Life received R4679.40! We came back from the weekend to find the loveliest email waiting in our inboxes letting us know how the money was used. We feel so special to have been a part of Dagmar of MOKO's vision for this beautiful project!

"Your support helps us to create our own ‘Bird Houses’ in the communities where we work – creating little spaces where life can grow once again."

"Our trainers at Soil for Life are currently in their biggest round of training to date – we hope to train around 1000 people this year, which is double the amount of people trained last year. We estimate that this directly affects the lives of another 6000 people, and so step by step we are seeing the spreader of a greener Cape Town with people helping themselves and caring for the environment. The money that you donated will be used to purchase seeds – we initially help all of the people that we train with seeds, and then teach them how to save their own."

The team at Soil for Life

Pearly Yon's Folklore Illustrations

There is something completely captivating in Pearly Yon's range of gypsy folklore illustrations. Simone Hodgskiss' visual translation of these bitter-sweet tales of love, tragedy and adventure is flawlessly narrative as she links design elements to different pieces of the stories. Yet, even without knowing the intriguing background tales, the works stand alone as pieces of art and sophisticated design. 

All illustrations are sold as limited edited Giclée prints on Hahnemuhle paper and measure 330mm x 420mm.

The Creation of The Violin

The Story:

This is a tragic love story of a young maiden who sold her family to the devil so that in return she would receive a violin. Upon hearing the violin the woodsman would be lured to the young maiden and fall in love. They say that people laugh and cry and dance when they hear the violin because it is such a tragically beautiful sound.

The Princess & The Forrester's Son

The Story:

This story begins when a mother runs away from her abusive husband and takes her two sons with her. While camping in the forest the eldest son stumbles upon a troop of thieves who plan to break into the castle and rob the King of all his wealth and his only daughter. The eldest son befriends the thieves pretending he will help them. They send the young man over the fence of the castle first to test his loyalty and to scope out the grounds and bring back anything of worth. While he is in the castle he sees the princess asleep and falls in love with her. He cannot help himself and tears the golden bed sheet that protects the princess and her virtue. When the son gets to the fence he tells the theives to crawl through a crack in the fence one at a time, and one by one he beheads them. Months later the princess is pregnant but does not know who is the father of her child. She offers free food and drink to all the men who come to eat at her table in an attempt to find the father of her child. When she looks into the eyes of the forester's eldest son she knows it is him she is looking for.

The Three Golden Hairs and The Sun God

The Story:

This is the story of a stubborn King who would not let a humble, honest Woodsman marry his daughter. The King made a condition with the young man, that he needed to bring him three golden hairs from the Sun God before he could become the Prince. The young man accepted the challenge and on his journey he found the Fountain of Youth, the Tree of Eternal Life and the Sun God. He returned to the King successful, with three golden hairs from the Sun God and was granted the Princess's hand in marriage. When the King heard of the sights the Woodsman had seen on his journey the King ran to go and seek these places for himself. When it came to crossing the river, the King asked the boat keeper to take him to the other side and the Boat Keeper gave him the oar. That is where the King remained for the rest of his life. Unlike the Woodsman, he did not know that when the Boat Keeper gives you the oar, it is a curse for life.

A little bit about Pearly Yon :

The adventures of Pearly Yon began in 2010 as a creative release for Simone Hodgskiss who had spent many years grinding away in the ad industry and decided to take the brave leap into free-lancing. She now works on an array of different projects – varying from wine labels to logos to editorial illustrations - but her highlights are the self-initiated creative ventures such as her beautiful forklore illustrations or the Tea Cup Cushion Range she designed in collaboration with Mingo Lamberti. The name Pearly Yon came from Simone's grandmother who always said “whatever you do make sure you do it properly” which is a motto Simone practises with each project Pearly Yon undertakes - each work has a distinct sense of narrative and thoughtful integrity.

Studio Sneak Peek - Simple Intrigue

A Sneak Peek? What's this? Chatting over tea at HQ one day, we were marvelling at how lucky we are to work with such an array of wonderful designers, and in doing so get to know them, their spaces, people and pets. Suddenly we thought, "We should share them!" and voila! we now have a spot on the blog for Studio Sneak Peeks!

Treasure hunter, hoarder, maker of stuff, collector, browser, day dreamer, walker, traveller and owner of a vivid imagination. A lover of all things old and new, colour, silence, design, paper, forgotten items and spaces, the Karoo, buildings and structural lines. Keri Muller is a maker of stuff – a lot of different stuff.

She folds, glues and cuts paper and old books into artworks, traditional origami shapes and more abstract pieces. Collecting and hoarding abandoned objects and books and giving them another life as artworks forms the basis of much of her work. Her range of drawings, thought cards and pop-up cards are light-hearted, encouraging and whimsical.

The rapidity of Keri's thoughts can clearly been seen in her beautiful studio in Muizenberg. Her workspace feels as though it's ready for the next project, the next inspired thought - it has the materials at hand, the space ready. What a treat to visit such a place!

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Snuggle Up for Winter

1. Heart Cups by Eleven Hundred Ceramics, Raindrop Cushion by Henri Kuikens
2. Share the Warmth Illustration by Arnelle Woker
3. I Am Light Necklaces by Bountiful Jewelry
4. Crochet Apple Cosie by Jelly Bean Milk, "Delicious" Cushion Cover by Nelle
5. Daddy Bear Brooch by Papertales
6. Tea Scrabble Coaster by Mocholoco
7. Porcelain Lovebird Necklace by Sarah Walters, Framed Papercut Artwork by Artymiss
8. Brass Signet Rings by Long Jean Silver
9. Felt Hot-water Bottle Covers by Grumpy Bear
10. Grumpy Bear by Kooky
11. Cork Toast Coaster Set by Papertales, Ceramic Mug by My China
12. Tea & Rusk Card by Papertales
13. Leather Scalloped Necklaces by White Rabbit Days
14. Small Raw Oak Boards by Moko
15. "Warm" Mini Print Set by JA!
16. Hand-painted Ceramic Studs by My China
17. Brass Studs by Schwarzie