We were very excited back in 2012 to bring you the fascinating story of Vivian Maier, the reclusive street photographer whose previously unseen work was discovered in a Chicago auctionhouse by John Maloof. The lifetime’s worth of stunning pictures are these days celebrated the world over and now a brilliant new documentary made by Maloof charts Maier’s life and work as well as his own journey of discovery. The film
Maggie’s Farm, a fashion retailer with stores in Dunfermline and Dundee, has been nominated for the Scottish Retailer of the Year as part of the Scottish Fashion Awards. The 2014 event will be hosted in London by Laura Whitmore, Alistair Carmichael, Secretary of State for Scotland and founder Tessa Hartman. Owner Laurissa Drysdale will be in good company; nominees for some of the other awards include Holly Fulton, Christopher Kane
Until now the humble shower curtain seems to have been overlooked by designers but a clever American company called Deny have transformed artists’ illustrations into a wide range of home accessories such as shower curtains, duvet covers, cushions and coasters. The shower curtains aren’t cheap, averaging around $100 each, but it’s not every day your coasters can match your shower curtain.
The always excellent Craft Scotland Summer Show 2014 gets underway in Edinburgh on 1 August. It’s a chance to see top quality work and meet some very skilled craftsmen and women. Products are available to buy at the show as well as online through Culture Label. Items that cost over £100 are available to buy through the Own Art scheme, spreading the cost over a period of ten months. Buying
Back in 2012 we ran a feature about proposals to turns the highland retreat shared by Coco Chanel and Hugh Grosvenor, the 2nd Duke of Westminster into a chic boutique hotel: those plans have now been approved by Highland Council. Empty for more than 60 years, Rosehall Estate near Lairg in Sutherland, will now be fully restored under a project to be managed by Bell Ingram Design. The 20 room Georgian mansion
Before this year’s Wimbledon becomes a dim and distant memory check out the hipsters at 1970s Wimbledon in these photographs for Life magazine.
Highly recommended viewing is From Scotland with Love, a brilliant and inventive film project made by Virginia Heath using only Scottish film archive. The film, which was commissioned to mark the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this summer, features an orginal – and stunningly evocative – soundtrack by Fife’s Kenny Anderson, aka King Creosote. With neither voiceover nor subtitles, the perfectly edited footage covers themes of love, loss, family, work, politics, romance and fun
Probably one of the most inventive uses for the Welsh mines that are no longer mined is Bounce Below. Giant underground trampolines connected by spiral staircases and a 60 foot slide – all illuminated with neon lighting – must make for a fairly atmospheric day out especially when the mining cavern is twice the size of St Paul’s Cathedral. Bounce Below in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Wales opens on the 4th of
Fashion Grandpas, is another welcome variation on the theme that style is not confined to the young – although not sure how happy the subjects would be with the ‘grandpas’ tag. Advanced Style, led the way a number of years ago showcasing the style of older women and has already being featured on Avocado Sweet – you can see the new Advanced Style documentary showing at cinemas in the UK
Get a load of this place! Amangiri is a super luxurious resort nestling in a desert canyon in Southern Utah near the Arizona border. It’s stunningly designed, difficult to get to, hugely expensive… and it’s never going to happen is it?