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hi.
so as i mentioned yesterday, today i have a tribute to the lovely woman who inspired me to put up my first inspiration wire oh-so-long ago: Jane Cumberbatch. ever since i picked up Pure Style Living at a local shop it has been on my 'top five books list' and i always tell people about it. and how can i thank Jane enough for inspiring me to simply put up a wire and hang my many tearsheets from it?! that idea, along with many others, is in Pure Style Living. Jane is really the source of a lot of simple and modest inspiration for me and so i have, excitedly, done a small interview with her here. i hope you enjoy it. you can read more about her, and read her words, on her website and in this accidental interview she did with k.cooper a while back.
thank you so much, Jane!
enjoy... mav
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How did the phrase 'Pure Style Living' come about? What does this mean to you? Has your definition changed at all since the book came out?
When I wrote my first book, Pure Style, it didn't actually have a name until I'd finished all the writing. It was only after I'd synthesised my ideas for simple living in words and pictures that I realised this philosophy of mine really needed an equally simple but strong title. After a lot of brain storming I came up with Pure Style which seemed to fit the bill perfectly. In the following book it became 'Pure Style Living' showing the the reader that to live in the Pure Style way is both attainable and possible.
Pure Style is all about trying to live in a simple, more practical and economical kind of way. I first became interested in design and decoration when I worked on House and Garden magazine. I was also restoring a Georgian wreck in London's Spitalfields at that time, and had very little money to spend on the interior. Coupled with the fact that necessity is the mother of invention and my innate love of simple more natural things, I put the house together using junk furniture that I painted, simple accessories run up on my sewing machine, and paint colours that came from a basic trade range rather than anything expensively mixed to order.
I think that Pure Style is even more relevant today, with its emphasis on cutting down on waste, decorating with fewer elements, and choosing objects that are functional as well as looking good. I certainly find that my ideas are tested to the limit with my teenage daughters who are beginning to realise that maybe cheap stuff that falls apart from Primark isn't the way to go!
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You talk a lot about balance in Pure Style Living. How do you start the day in a way that best keeps that sense of balance? How do you end the day? And what is your best bit of advice for finding balance in the every day?
Ah balance- it's the hardest thing to achieve sometimes, especially when domestic dramas like the boiler breaking down or the cat being ill are muddled in with trying to finish a deadline with the remains of a head cold dulling inspiration!
However, I always try to start the day with a list of tasks that need to be done, and this gives me some semblance of order, even if there's disorder threatening me all around. Somewhere in the day I will take time out to walk the dog- there's nothing better than a brisk trot around the park to clear the mind and get the right brain working with creative thoughts.
At the end of the day- cooking something simple is another form of mental therapy - the act of chopping and concentrating on one particular task is soothing. I love simple salads with maybe grilled fish and some homemade mayonnaise. Nothing that takes more than 20 minutes. Oh, yes, and a cold glass of white wine is absolutely essential.
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What is one item you cannot live without in the kitchen? In the bedroom? And what is one item you splurge on for the kitchen/bedroom and why?
I couldn't live without wooden spoons- so simple, so utilitarian, and good to hold when stirring pots on the stove.
In the bedroom I couldn't live without cotton sheets- I'd rather sleep on the floor than go near polyester, or heaven forbid nylon.
In the kitchen I splurge on Le Creuset cast iron enamelled pots and saucpans- they're brilliant for all cooking tasks and last for years.
In the bedroom I buy really good wool blankets from http://www.melintregwynt.co.uk/ they;re in gorgeous soft colours.
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What is one simple way you bring beauty to your favorite room? And one simple way you pair down on clutter in your favorite room?
A glass jug with old fashioned scented white and pink roses from the garden are what I add to make the sitting room - my favourite retreat look and feel more homely. I keep the clutter down in here by just having a few pieces of furniture - simple sofa, two armchairs, a table for lamps, log baskets by the fire and a woven coir rug.
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What is one way (or a few) you keep yourself creatively stimulated and inspired? What is one of your current daydreams? And nighttime-dreams?
I never stop looking at what's around me. In nature: buds unfurling on the horse chestnuts, the acid green colours of spring grass; architecture: brilliant new buildings like the new Euro Star terminal; a London terrace of Georgian houses, a streamlined sixties flat; street life: great colours worn by a passerby, a market stall of simply arranged fruit and veg..............the list goes on and on.
I dream of the little eco house that I want to build on top of the seaside home that I have restored in the Algarve in Portugal.
At night I sometimes dream about ideas for the house, and they're in full colour . Very useful if I remember them as soon as I wake.
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Will you share some of your current favorite artists? And favorite books you use as a creative reference (as we use your Pure Style Living)?
For colour I'm inspired by Rothko, Hockney, Howard Hodgin. Also Matisse and Gaugin. In February I was at Moma in New York,and fell for Monet's Agapanthus - so evocative and reminded me of the agapanthus I grew when we lived in Andalucia Spain.
These are some of the books I'm using to inspire me at the moment Home is Where the Heart is, Ilse Crawford; Authentic Décor, Peter Thornton; Apples and Olive, Lee Friedlander - beautiful black and white photographs; Garden Design, David Hicks; Summer Cooking, Elizabeth David and all her other books.
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And finally, what projects are you working on now (if you can share)?
Of course! I'm working on a new book, and my little eco house will take shape once I get down to doing some drawings!
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Comment
Gallery: 4/08
Name:: deborah
04/10/2008
so great to read through this today, especially one which was so busy. her aesthetic also feels so restful.
i could not agree more about the bedsheets either!
thank you for this, mav.
i could not agree more about the bedsheets either!
thank you for this, mav.
Name:: Katherine
04/10/2008
Thanks for this lovely interview Mav and Jane, I'll be digging out my copy of Pure Style Living tonight and have a good read, one of my favourite interiors books.
Name:: Lala
04/10/2008
Her site is already inspiring ideas for a identity project I am working on this morning. Thanks for sharing this.
Name:: rebecca
04/10/2008
what a wonderful interview...thank you for sharing mav. (inspiring desk, wall and bookshelf area as well!)
Name:: lisa s
04/10/2008
thank you for this mav....
can't wait to see your new space.
such a good feeling setting up to work, no?
can't wait to see your new space.
such a good feeling setting up to work, no?
Name:: meg
04/11/2008
thanks maria! i really enjoyed getting to know jane a bit better! she is such an inspiration.
Name:: Kelly
04/11/2008
Thanks so much for posting this interview. It's great!
Name:: kristen
URL:: plumtreeportfolio.blogspot.com
04/11/2008
what a treat, mav. thank you. i have been so inspired by jane's books these past few years myself. it was a joy to read your questions and her responses!
I love her Pure Style living book and outdoor one. They are on my book table all the time.
Can not wait to see her new book and ECO HOUSE! That sounds really good.
I am going to look at her book and go to sleep.
Thank you so much for the interview, mav.