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SPOTLIGHT ON… Capturing Fleeting Beauty
Florists and pressed-flower specialists Melissa Richardson and Amy Fielding of JamJar Edit are launching an online flower-pressing course at Create Academy. Favourite of the fashion set since they were commissioned to create pressed-flower invitations for Mulberry’s spring/summer 2015 fashion show, they became fascinated by this traditional craft. The JamJar Edit studio now specialises in creating pressed flower artworks, from single-stem framed pieces to ambitious installations, private commissions and exhibitions. “We think a lot of people see pressed flowers as being a bit fusty and Victorian, but we want to show that this ancient craft can actually be a beautifully modern and inexpensive way of decorating contemporary homes,” they say. jamjaredit.co.uk
Eclectic Emporium’s Golden Feat Graham & Green celebrates 50 years
With her baby son Jamie sleeping in a Moses basket under the counter, in 1974 Antonia Graham (pictured far right) opened independent interiors and lifestyle store Graham & Green in an old dairy in Notting Hill. Importing homeware from India, Morocco and Europe to the UK, her mission was to enrich homes with colourful and vibrant handcrafted treasures.
Today, 50 years later, not only is this eclectic home brand still owned and run by the same family and thriving, with four stores plus an outlet and strong online sales, but Jamie is running it with his wife Louise. Antonia says: “Jamie and Louise have gradually made it their own – it’s the same ethos but adapted to make it attractive to a different generation. I’m thrilled with it and very proud of the whole family.”
Antonia’s lightbulb moment came aged 17 while working for cookery doyenne Elizabeth David, who brought French Le Creuset cookware to the UK. “Through Elizabeth, I met all sorts of interesting people,” she says. “It was the Swinging Sixties, the era of Mary Quant, Terence Conran, David Mellor and others who were rethinking what a shop could be.”
The Graham family (Jamie and Louise pictured right with son Max) has particularly strong connections to India, working with many of the same local craftsmen for decades and travelling the country extensively to source and design products. To celebrate the brand’s 50th anniversary, it will launch a limited-edition heritage bone-inlay furniture collection among other exclusive products, and from 6 April until the end of the month, the original Notting Hill store will be transforme
