I love going out for afternoon tea with friends. This is an opportunity to spend quality time with those we love and to share the ups and downs of life over a cuppa. Traditionally the table would be dressed with a functional crisp starched linen table cloth, fine china and delicate sandwiches and cakes and perhaps fine art paintings would hang on the walls. If function is about the purpose or duty of an items and the way in which something works, then at other end of the scale, form is the visible shape or configuration of something. But what would happen if the extremes collided in the middle and an object was practical whilst looking good, was able to insulate and protect, warm to the touch yet functional at the same time.
I constantly think about the purpose of the work I make and how I value traditional crafts within my designs . For, when I make a cloth, it becomes precious, so what do you do with it? I don’t want to put it on the wall, it needs to be functional. The technical challenges of making functional fabrics, made with a purpose in mind yet at the same time tell a story, has occupied my creative thinking and experimentation. In my piece ‘tea for two’ a functional table covering, has been elevated to a conversation piece, three dimensional flowers decorate the surface, yet there is still space for the tea pot and cups. Although the piece is washable, tea stains will enhance it!