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Object of the day: Brighton Beach goes technicolour

Please do bear with the recent break in my usually regular posts. Things will be back to normal within a few weeks – but meanwhile, a quick find I'd like to share.

I've seen this print – or, at least, very similar – in numerous interiors shoots, and I have coveted it HARD.

Tonight, while researching for the Independent Christmas Gift Guide that I'm in the middle of compiling, I stumbled across it on Clippings.com. Hurrah!

I was surprised to discover the photograph was of Brighton Beach, rather than somewhere glossier and hotter. Though when you look closer, it all makes sense. The image is by photographer James French, who has "done a John Hinde" on his final print, giving the colours a technicolour buzz just as the old English postcard master once did.

The limited edition prints start at £75 and are available at Clippings.com

Object of the day: Jacqueline Talbot tiles

Unusual tiles are a find. And these, by artist Jacqueline Talbot, are just that.

In 2009, Jacqueline experimented with photographing her paintings, intending to use them to create digitally printed wallpaper. But then discovered she could digitally reproduce her work onto tiles... one kiln later, and a business was born.



I think they're beautiful, and beautifully different. They aren't intended for use on floors, but are safe around fireplaces and as oven splashbacks, or just as a decorative wall feature.

They're reasonable too: prices start at £4.50 per tile for the smallest size, 9.8cm x 9.8cm, and go up to £14 apiece for the largest size, 19.8cm x 19.8cm. Jacqueline also creates bespoke designs on request.

Had I not gone for all-black for the downstairs loo, a totally tiled power room in the style of the above arrangement would have worked a treat. Too startling? Be inspired by this incredible tiled house in Mali. Tiles were also all over London Design Festival this year, including beautiful displays by Bert & May and some cool collaborations, notably the British Tile Collection series with Workhouse and guests (see a couple of teasers from my Instagram feed below).

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More from yesterday's #designjunction plunder: hot tiles from @workhousecoll & Roy Pegram in the #BritishTileCollection collaboration series - also featuring Custhom & Gemma Fabbri #design #tiles #pattern @_designjunction #LDF14 #London #L_D_F_official







One of Jacqueline's original paintings.

I don't think the gallery on Jacqueline's website does her beautiful ceramic artworks justice, but I do like the featured splashback, above.

Check out the extensive range at www.jacquelinetalbot.co.uk

Where's my Pantone Colour of the Year? It's behind you!

A short post today (boy life has been busy, so apologies for gap in the usual, regular service). But brief as I am, I come bearing cheery and Friday-ish news to lift your spirits for the weekend: The Interior Designers' Pantomime is imminent.

Following on from the success of 2010's Snow White and the Seven Designers – below – comes Peter Pan and the Designers of the Caribbean. Har har.

The new show, which is all in aid of the NSPCC and runs from 28 October to 1 November at London's Bloomsbury Theatre, opens in a grey and drab version of the capital. All the interior designers have fled to Never Never Land to escape their clients’ bad taste and endless complaints. But with Captain Hook on the loose, how long before the designers realise they must return colour to London and save the city from Hook's evil clutches? 

Why ever isn't there more interior design based comedy in our lives? It sounds brill, and all the characters are played by a game bunch of interior designers, with Tim Gosling as Donna Kebab, the ship's cook and Dame, Joanna Wood as Tinkerbell, William Yeoward as the naughty Usherette, and Kate Bingham, Fleur Rosedale, Lavinia Dargie as lady pirates. And costumes have been created – ta-da – by fashion giants including Vivienne Westwood, Jasper Conran and Anya Hindmarch. See some of Conran's outfits below, modelled by Tim Gosling, and scroll down for more about the show and ticket info.




Buy tickets for the Interior Designers' Pantomime at the Bloomsbury Theatre.


Etsy UK is having a – real-life – exhibition

I've found some pretty special art over the years on Etsy – these affordable portraits are particularly memorable, as is the work of this Israeli artist (I've since bought two of her mini canvases and love them very much). I've also admired some rather unusual portraits on the site, too.

And now Etsy UK is hosting its very own art exhibition – a real one, not a virtual one. And here's my favourite piece in it.

It's called Path to the Beach and is by Shetland-based painter Kristi Cumming who runs an Etsy shop called Islandla. It's also the painting used in the poster to advertise the show (good to know I'm on the same wavelength as those Etsy bods). And this inaugural event takes place in London (but they're hoping to roll it out nationwide before too long) and you can catch it in Clerkenwell over the weekend, from Friday 17 to Sunday 19 October.

More than 600 Etsy sellers applied to appear, from all over the country, but there was room for just 15 of them – from oil painters to ceramicists – at the show. You can check out the line-up and all the details at the Etsy exhibition page right now.