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

(Ridiculously kitsch) Object of the day: John Hinde tin box

I'd gone out to buy something from the DIY store, but it had just closed.

On my way back to the car I had to pass the farmer's market, which sells all sorts of random stuff, not just food. Serendipitously I thought (always a good approach to impulse buying) I passed a stall I often linger at, full of enticing old bits and pieces. No need to feel sad about the closed DIY store – here, surely, was the real reason I'd left the house. I just didn't know it till I saw it...

My love for John Hinde postcards from the 1960s-1980s era, as several readers will know, is large, especially the Butlin's series, as seen on the sweet tin above, which the lady from the stall sold to me for £8. I was too excited to haggle.

These images and many more were immortalised in Our True Intent is all for Your Delight edited by Martin Parr, an oft-flicked through book round my house. The equally colourful story behind the richly hued photographs is one I wrote about in a piece in the Independent a few years back, in case you're interested.

Meanwhile, since these tins aren't common (a quick trawl of Ebay and Etsy revealed nothing, I'm afraid) I can at least lead fellow Hinde fans to a some alternative resources for a photographic fix.

There's the above-mentioned book (the photos from which look great in frames – as seen in my recent radical loo makeover), and also Surface View, where you can purchase giant prints of various JH postcards, in all sorts of formats. There's also the John Hinde Collection, a site set up by even bigger fans than I, where you can buy original prints, lovingly restored and stripped of their trademark technicolour tints. Well worth a look.

As for me, I just have to decide what to keep in my new tin. Any suggestions?

Post by Kate

Before & After: a dramatic transformation of the downstairs loo

Would anyone ever describe their house or flat as finished? 

Eight years after moving in, I'm finally getting around to painting that bit of bare plaster, tidying up those wonky shelves and changing various unsatisfactory light fittings.

And of course my tastes have changed since I first moved in, so there's a fresh round of updating too. So sometimes it's good to wait a while until you're really really sure – and why not eight years? – before tackling a whole room you just could never quite make up your mind about (or really face grappling with...). Voila, the downstairs loo as it was until recently...

OK, so the green paint went fairly swiftly ("It's like being inside a packet of Opal Fruits," one visitor commented before the hasty whitewash). That rushed paint-job, plus a temporary new loo seat, lasted way longer than they were ever meant to.

But finally there's been a bit of a change. And quite a drastic one. First job was to replace the horrible plastic loo cistern (the rest of the loo was fine – so we kept that). I had also been hankering after a black loo seat, after falling for the look in the bathroom photo in this previous post about Geraldine James's Creative Spaces book.

I also wanted to hide the horrible big pipe running down the wall, so that got boxed in, as did the horizontal pipes adjacent to it. Which left a nice little shelf for the loo rolls to live on.

We decided to keep the old basin. Why send something to landfill that works – it just needed a more forgiving context to shine. There wasn't much that could be done with the basin's pipes, though the existing, pretty dodgy, boxing in on the right got extended a little and tidied up to hide the pipe joint, and the chrome got a good polish.

Then there was the wall colour to choose. I had always wanted something bold for this little room – a downstairs loo is the sort of room where you can go a bit extreme without fear. So I painted the whole room...

...black. What do you think?

I had some paint left over from doing this to the kitchen, and I thought the colour could tie the two spaces together – whereas something bold and random could have meant you felt like you were walking into parallel universe upon opening the loo door. And I didn't want that. Still, it did feel like quite a risk. But I think I like it...

The stuff in frames is all quite boldly coloured, which works especially well on the black background. I love the 1960s Esquire cover, which my boyfriend acquired from a shoot at his old job at the magazine. The photograph is a John Hinde Butlins image, Stanley-knifed out of the Martin Parr curated book, Our True Intent is all for Your Delight: The John Hinde Butlin's Photographs. Check it out, it's a treasure trove.

The teeny portrait on the left is by Israeli artist Tali Yalonetzki, who I wrote about here after falling in love with one of her bigger paintings. I didn't move quick enough to get the original object of my desire, but this quirky little painting was special in a very different way and so I got it a a birthday present for my boyfriend. The print you can just see the top of, on the left, is the text-based map of the British Isles that Pedlars commissioned me to write a while back.

The new splashback has yet to be stuck to the wall, but you get the idea. I found these floor tiles on a trip to an amazing salvage yard not far from where I live (a post on that coming soon). I posted some photos on the Your Home is Lovely Facebook page when I first spotted them, covered in grime. They're still a bit knackered, but I don't think it matters.

I also bought the drawer pictured above from the same place that day. A bit of a random purchase, but I thought it'd make a fantastic shelf, as there's nowhere around the basin to put soap or handwash. You can see it on the wall in the reflection below...

And the idea was partly stolen from this image, below, which I found on the ever inspiring Design Sponge blog.

I like the idea of using the drawer pull as a hook for a hanging light. With that in mind, the original plan had been to find a regular drawer with a long handle, one that I could hang a small hand-towel from. After months of scouring furniture dumped on pavements while walking the dog, such a drawer proved to be elusive. And this one just looked good, even though it might not have been the most practical choice.

And you can see in the photo of the tiles in situ, I found another solution for the hand-towel, which doubles as a handle to shut the door behind you. It's an Ikea kitchen cupboard handle, and as it's designed to be bolted through to the other side of whatever it's attached to, I simply stuck it on with my trusty glue gun. So far, so solid.

Does anyone else have one dramatic room in their home? I'd love to hear about it...

Post by Kate

Surface View collaborates with the John Hinde Collection

I've written about Surface View and their brilliant wall murals before. 

Highlights, for me at least, have included gems by Hemingway Design and George Stubbs' Whistlejacket, from SV's National Gallery collection. I didn't think it could get any better – and then I heard about the new John Hinde collection...

Regular readers may know of my Hinde infatuation. And if not, and the name means nothing to you, a quick synopsis: John Hinde photography was the British company behind the UK's most iconic postcard images of the 1960s and 70s. 

Gloriously retouched, because real life just wasn't colourful enough, and – as I found out when I tracked down one of the company's original photographers to interview for a piece in the Independent Magazine – also routinely staged, the postcards are now nostalgic reminders of holidays from a bygone era.

The postcards also captured tourist spots all over the world and some of these examples, as well as some of the British ones, have been turned into these giant wall murals by Surface View in collaboration with the John Hinde Collection. The John Hinde Collection is not, in fact, anything to do with the original postcard company; it is a small organisation founded in recent years by two Hinde superfans who acquired much of its photographic archive and have since set about lovingly preserving, restoring and painstakingly re-colour-touching hundreds of the original photographs used to create the postcards.

Above are (from top) the Icod de los Vinos Wall Mural, the Florida Waterway and Beach at Dunn's Falls. Along with the other images available in the range, these cost from: £60 per square metre in wall mural format; £145 for a canvas print; £175 for birch ply prints; £60 for a poster; £125 for a textile wall hanging; £85 for window film; £85 for lampshades. You can even get the image printed onto ceramic tiles, though at £515 that might test even the most hardcore Hinde lover's purse.

Any of the options are a bit of an outlay, but when something is so very special, it's worth blowing the budget.

Find out more and buy at Surfaceview.co.uk

Post by Kate

Wish I was here...

Postcard courtesy of The John Hinde Collection

...but I'm at home in London. However, I am away – kind of, as I'm taking a blog holiday for the rest of August. 

Among other things (like getting finishing painting the door-frames I began four years ago, getting some pictures framed that have been waiting about three years, and picking up an eBay wardrobe from Dartford) I shall be working on the blog behind the scenes. It needs some love and attention. And I need some time to put my focus elsewhere, work-wise, for a short while. But I'll be back in September, just in time to get excited about the London Design Festival.

Meanwhile, if you like this 1970s Cornish postcard, you can read all about the story behind it in this earlier post, and on the other website I edit, Below the River. Or check out the John Hinde Collection (link in caption). Or just have a good old rummage around the site via the little "you might also like" preview boxes below this post.

And if you're away – have fun and holiday HARD.

x Kate

John Hinde Collection hits the Photographer's Gallery

I can never go too long without a post mentioning John Hinde's postcards. And it was starting to feel like it was about time to get his gloriously technicoloured 1960s and 70s images out again... 

...so how good to hear from Michelle Abadie and Marcus Davies of the John Hinde Collection with some news about our shared photographic hero.

Being able to see the original images that were retouched to create postcards such as this one, of Crooklets Beach in Devon, is fascinating for fans of the John Hinde studio. I've seen the original of this first-hand and the grass was bald and yellowing and if you think the sea and sky look suspect... well, they're not from Devon.

The duo have invested a vast amount of time and love into obtaining and restoring the original Hinde photographs and, fascinatingly, printing them up in their naked states – before the company's distinctive re-touching took place (swapping drizzly Morecambe skies for dazzling Greek ones, or giving drably dressed holidaymakers a primary colour makeover – more of which you can read about here, along with some of the mad tales from the dedicated team of photographers who worked for Hinde, camping out all summer long laboriously setting up elaborate and heavily peopled shots for the next season's picture postcard range...).

And now their images, which you can buy from the John Hinde Collection online, will be held by the Photographer's Gallery in London, so you can go to see them in all their glorious technicolour close-up. Get in touch with the Print Sales department at the gallery to find out more: printsales@tpg.org.uk

Postcards: tacky and otherwise

Postcards are one of the cheapest and quickest way of sprucing up a corner. I've just found some that I really love, more of which below, but first: how to display them?

In my friend's place in Berlin, that I did up for him earlier this year (and which I will do a full post on soon) I bought some teeny-tiny bulldog clips and drew a very straight line on the wall, using a spirit level. I hammered in some little nails, pointing upwards slightly, to make a 'V' shape with the wall (so the bulldog clips don't slip off) and then clipped and hung a set of cards from them. Simple, but I quite liked the effect.

Washi tape, which you can get on Amazon, looks good too (see a creative way to use that on Grace Bonney's ever excellent Design Sponge blog) and string hung vertically from a nail, or looped horizontally like bunting, with cards pegged along its length, is another of many ideas to try.

The cards were from the excellent bumper box set of Penguin postcards, £14.99 for 100, you can get as classics (like these ones) or as Ladybird or Puffin book covers (see below, same price) the children's imprints.

I'm also very partial to a classic old 60s or 70s John Hinde postcard, below, which you can pick up on eBay for a few quid a-piece. 

But generally, I just can't resist a good new card. And this set of 1960s, 70s and 80s Royals postcards from Thorsten Van Elten really appealed. 

 

Yes, you could probably get them from a dusty old kiosk in Piccadilly Circus, at the back of all the William and Kate wedding ones – but here they are, hand-picked for their sheer oddness and packaged as a fivesome. There are 250 originals available in total, and when you buy it works as a lucky dip. £4.95 for the set. Brilliant, aren't they?

August break

I'm taking a break for the rest of August. I hope you have a good rest of the summer, and – bar a couple of already scheduled posts – I will be back in September...

Want to find out more about John Hinde postcards, like this one above? There's plenty to read here

Watch the birdie

Bird prints, bird ceramics, bird fabric, bird lights, even wooden birds on stilts that live in my flowerbeds... I have them all, and more in my house. I have a bit of a thing about birds. 

So I couldn't help be drawn to the bird illustrations of Paul Farrell, above and directly below – named (who knew?) "Flight of Swallows" and "Parcel of Oystercatchers" respectively. (And if you're dying to know the collective nouns to describe other groups of birds... this will tell you.) I heard about Paul via Pedlars, who were at one point selling a lovely garden birds chart by him in their shop. The silkscreen prints – each a limited edition of 30 – measure 320mm wide by 210mm high and cost £55 each, unframed.

While I'm in the bird zone, here are some more feathered friends I've found and loved...

1. Birdpaper print (top), by Paris-based American artist, Matthew Rose at the Keep Calm Gallery, £48 unframed (40cm x 30cm). But what exactly is it? "Rare species of Nepalese birds pause in a forest of antique French wallpaper," explains the artist. He's currently creating a version of the print that can be bought in sections and hung like wallpaper. Find out more at the Keep Calm Gallery. 

2. Hummingbird cushion covers (middle left), by RVA Pillow Works on Etsy, around £16 ($25) for two. These come as a pair for this price, or you can buy them individually for, uh-huh, exactly half. Postage is about eight quid. Check out RVA's other hand-drawn designs too.

3. Bird print (middle, right), by Bark Design on Etsy,  around £9.50 ($15) or around £22 ($35) for a set of three. Postage is from around £3. I've already featured some beautiful alphabet prints from this environmentally aware company – see what else they do.

4. Festive foil-pressed gift tags, by Lucky Bird at Bouf, £6.95. These gift tags are almost too good to tie onto presents – so make sure you give them to someone who'll keep and appreciate theirs. They'd look sweet on an office pinboard, don't you think? I don't reckon, despite the name, they're uniquely festive either – an all-round set of birds! These come in packs of ten, with five different designs. And do check out Lucky Bird's own website, they do lots of other lovely illustrated stuff too.

Luke Stephenson's Showbirds And for something a bit different. I know I've mentioned Luke Stephenson's colour-drenched photographs of showbirds before, on the Facebook page, but they are too gorgeous not to give more space to. This image (above) is part of Stephenson's Incomplete Dictionary of Showbirds collection, and you can buy a print from £400 plus Vat via the Photographers' Gallery (and do check out the brilliant interest-free loans from Own Art to make payment less painful).

Paul Greenleaf's pigeons Differenter still, this isn't anything you can buy. But I came across this weird and oddly compelling project, part of an exhibition a couple of years back, by the photographer Paul Greenleaf and just had to share. It's called DO NOT FEED THE BIRDS and comprises a series of photographs of pigeons, digitally removed from their habitat and then returned to their natural environment – such as the streets of Shoreditch. Aren't they fantastic and funny?

Greenleaf also has a collection of equally urban-centric technicolour images, called Here Today, very much in the vein of John Hinde, who regular readers will know is another of my obsessions. Might have to get hold of some of those images for a future post.

John Hinde's postcards: the back-story

Regular readers may be aware of my John Hinde postcard obsession. 

The Hinde images, instantly recognisable, highly coloured snapshots of a vanished world (their best cards were produced in the 1960s and 70s), have become collectors' items – with fans including the photographer Martin Parr and designer, Wayne Hemingway, who is hosting an exhibition based around the cards at this year's Vintage Southbank event at the end of this month.

The very nice Edmund Nagele (see his name, above on the right?) told me how easy it was to photograph people in the 1960s and 70s without any trouble. "No one ever wanted any money, and they always said 'yes'," he explained with I interviewed him a few weeks ago. Image via: the John Hinde Collection, copyright John Hinde Ltd.

Aren't the colours extraordinary in this image, part of a big series commissioned by Butlin's in the 60s and early 70s?  If you – like the photographer, Martin Parr – love this picture, do buy the gorgeous book of the series (curated by Parr) , Our True Intent Is All For Your Delight (Chris Boot, around £20 from Amazon). Image via: the John Hinde Collection, copyright John Hinde Ltd.

You can read the interesting backstory of these glorious images in a piece I wrote for today's Independent Magazine, after being lucky enough to be invited to peruse the original prints behind the postcards at the HQ of the brilliant John Hinde Collection in Devon. There, the founders – the lovely Michelle Abadie and Marcus Davies, are painstakingly restoring some of the original transparencies.

The pink of the stone and the pink of the dog-walker's skirt, with the mossy shades of green in the grass just look wonderful together. And it was no accident – John Hinde sought out the best colour house he could find, in Italy. The quality of what they could produce was far superior to anything available in Britain or Ireland at the time and it's what helped the Hinde cards to shift more than 50 million a year at their peak. Image via: the John Hinde Collection, copyright John Hinde Ltd.

I was also very excited to speak to Edmund Nagele, one of the photographers who took some of the now iconic images (such as the one of the Duporth holiday camp, top image, above). He had some marvellous stories to tell – from how he and fellow Hinde photographers cast the "casual" passers by, coloured their clothes more vibrantly during processing, frequently borrowed locals' hydrangea bushes as props and spent five months of the year driving around Great Britain and Ireland in John Hinde's circus caravan to do his job.

The John Hinde Collection showed me the original transparency of this colourful image: without the lush green grass (in reality is was pale and rather patchy); without the stunning skies (they were lifted and pasted from images taken in the Mediterranean); and the chalets and sun lounger weren't quite so vibrant. Image via: the John Hinde Collection, copyright John Hinde Ltd.Buy prints of some of the images from the John Hinde Collection, or go see them en masse at Vintage. Meanwhile, do enjoy some more of this gorgeous and evocative images...

Images via: the John Hinde Collection, copyright John Hinde Ltd.

Michael Hess photographs: Bingo & Social Club

If you like this photo as much as I do (it reminds me lots of the John Hinde Butlins pictures I bought for my bathroom, that I'm always banging on about) check out the exhibition next month.

The show is called Bingo & Social Club and the marvellous photographer is Michael Hess. 

Catch it from  4-30 March at the Book Club
 in east London. Copies of the accompanying book, written with Maxine Gallagher, will also be on sale.

"Around 1pm, every day of the week, nearly 600 bingo halls across the UK open their doors to thousands of loyal customers. But, although they can be found on almost every British high street, surprisingly few people ever see what goes on inside.

In Bingo & Social Club, photographer Michael Hess opens up this world to a new audience. Behind the often crumbling exteriors, he finds vibrant places full of strong characters, quirky details and more than a hint of nostalgia. In his own words: “I want people to feel that they’ve spent a night at the bingo – to sense what it feels like to be there.”

See more at Michael Hess's website

(This has been updated since originally posted.)

John Hinde Butlin's photos one step closer to being hung

I've already touched on my mild obsession with the John Hinde Butlin's series of photos. Now I've framed them, see above (I love these simple white frames from Ikea). 

Eventually my water-themed collection will even make it to the bathroom wall (they're going on tiles, so I want to buy some special extra strong velcro for the job).

Watch this space, or rather - watch the space in front of the loo...By the way - if you want to have a proper look at a hearty array of the Butlin's images, Wessell and O'Connor Fine Art and Photography have them displayed on their site. I am considering filling one entire bare wall in my sitting room with the best bar and dancehall tableaux. Could stare at all those faces, expressions and intriguing interactions for days.

Posh prints, swish wall stickers and affordable art: part 2

Maybe you can afford some serious one-off pieces of art for your walls. Maybe you can afford one or two. Maybe you're broke and your walls are bare. 


Either way - why not brighten up that blank space you're staring at with one of these tasty bits of design. The second in a series of three... (here's the first). Look out for the final part next Monday...

This sweet retro Swedish print would look cute in a child's bedroom. It costs £20 unframed (70x50cm) and comes from the Pussy Home Boutique. And if you're wondering what kårlek means... like the magic little lozenge this dinky chap is about to swallow, it's something that makes you feel all warm inside.

I've featured Blackpool Beauties before (orignally published in Picture Post in 1955), because I long lusted after them for my bathroom - but then settled on a quartet of water-themed vintage Butlin's photos by John Hinde. Love the lack of faces. This one may yet find itself into another room in the house. It costs £75, print only (10x8 inches) from 55 Max

Love the cool simplicity of this David Hockney 'A Bigger Splash' swimming pool print/exhibition poster. One of the paintings in this 1966-67 California based series, Beverly Hills Housewife, sold for £5.2 million. But this can be yours for just £45 unframed, or £160 framed, from 55 Max.

As far as I can tell, this is the last in a fantastic series of limited edition lyrics-based graphic prints from Art Republic - so if you like it, get hold of it quick... It's from the clever It's Pop It's Art series, and I'm very fond of my 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' one, which I got from Airside. There was a Marvin Gaye one too, but am also tempted by this: "I'm free you're free/I want you to touch me/Come together/As one". Classic. Buy it unframed (70x100cm, inc border) for £150.

The Days Gone By shop has a fantastic selection of vintage comic book covers and pages - including graphics from the Beano, the Dandy and Hotspur magazine (perfect for the big boy in your life). But my favourite is this 1971 Bunty cut-out wardrobe print, I'd love it for my dressing room (ha ha, when I have one that is). Get it as a ready-to-hang canvas print from £95 (for the smaller, 710mm x 508mm size).

 (love the bunty one with cut-out clothes!)