By Laura Newton

Laura Newton
designandcolour@gmail.com

I went to the Mood exhibition in Brussels earlier this month and thought I might share some of the themes that I saw there. We were looking for inspiration so I will also be visiting Tent, Decorex and Chelsea Harbour this week.

The Print Affair tries to pull from a wide range of surface pattern influences and while I am looking at Home Decoration, my colleagues have been at Premiere Vision in Paris and Texworld and watching what is going on at the New York and London Fashion weeks.

It is marvellous how the themes overlap and how much we enjoy sharing ideas and influences.

Organic Sharp Details

Digital designs are wonderful as they give us such freedom to be riotous with colour as the constraints of the number of screens or cylinders are lifted. Subtleties and delicate lines can be captured whether in realistic textures you want to stroke or the transparent skeletons of leaves. They are growing in their use and creativity, no longer simply photographic images.

Textual Details and Authenticity

Harking back to a Classical Era

There were designs that looked back to an elegant time of scrolls and intricate ironwork with an antique finish.

Likewise tapestries have a worn and genuine look that is inviting and comforting.

Ink, Chalk and Paint

Decorative effects using a variety of mediums are complex and pleasing. These techniques are varied; dramatically smeared hues of oil paint from a palette knife, floating marbling, silk washes, transparent overlapping of colour shards and the soft blends of coloured chalks on heavy grained paper.