Pie Days and Holidays

It's all kicking off in Margate at the moment with the opening of the Turner Contemporary. One of the (quite simply) fantastic projects that has been happening in the buzzy run up to the event is the 'Pie Days and Holidays' - Margate food stories collection. This inventive Taxonomy, the brainchild of artist Sophie Herxheimer and Kate Kneale of Marine Studios, has seen illustrated stories collected around the town from it's residents - all about food. This is a project that Sophie has used before as a means of showcasing the colourful social histories of everyday people in a regular town. In 'Thames Festival Feast on the Bridge' Sophie collected stories about food (good/bad/funny/sad/secret/home/abroad/snacks/meals) and screen printed them, in her own illustrative style, onto tablecloths for a huge community feast. She has this year succeeded in collecting a further 175 food stories from Margate, and created a wonderful exhibition of them, illustrating just how diverse and interesting the funny folk of this town are.

Starting out as a simple attempt to get to know the residents better, the project has grown into an exhibition, a feast (of all of the described foods), a limited edition book, and decoration for the boarded up shopfronts of Margate!

My brother and I were lucky enough to have the opportunity to tell Sophie our food stories - mine being about sausages - and I was completely enchanted by the idea. I even won a 'gingerbread Mermaid' for my enthusiasm about the whole thing, which is a whole new food anecdote in itself! In my opinion, food is everything as it is in the family, the everyday, it is reward & punishment, occasion & solitude, and for that reason everyone has a food story. A lot of an individuals personality is given away by the stories they tell about the things they eat.

If you want to hear some audio on the project, the BBC featured it in their Food Programme, and you can STILL get down to the exhibition as it has been extended until the 28th April, see the website for details. The idea is brilliant, the stories are wonderful, the boards look so colourful, and I am going to buy the book.

Here I am!

Hands up if you hate being behind. Yup. Me too.

It has been far too long since I last posted, and that is mostly due to taking part in too many interesting things and not having enough time to write about them! So here I am, to fill in on the years events, and endeavor to keep news up to date. Meet you back here at least once a week okay? Great. :D

The Margate Drawers make the big screen!

A few months ago I dropped off a load of work at Ealing Studios to be used in the new 'St. Trinians' film - 'The legend of Fritton's gold'. It may never even make it into shot, but the set director told me that my work is being used to style the room of the 'new girl' (Sarah Harding from Girls Aloud) and so I'm thinking there is a good chance it will get a peek on screen! The movie comes out on the 18th december, so fingers crossed and tickets booked......

www.furnish.co.uk- A great little feature!

Nice post from www.furnish.co.uk who saw me at Tent London a couple of weeks ago. That show news to you? I have a LOT of updating to do on here, ha ha. Great mention. :D

New Designers - One Year On

I was one of the lucky few picked for the 'One Year On' part of this years New Designers showcase at the BDC in Islington. It was just brilliant to be back there as last years show where everything started is still pretty fresh in my mind (would you believe).

The area was curated by Thorsten Van Elten and his team and I had a busy but fun week. I had a chance to exhibit with some of the loveliest new designers like Abigail Borg (new shop opened online) and Deb Elsaesser (beautiful recycled wood furniture), the And Then boys as well as James Plant and James Moss (and they design together! - brilliant), and loads more!

Momiji couture contest

Okay...so I have been told off a number of times now for not updating the blog. The truth is I have been doing so many interesting things that I have had no time to write about them! I'm not going to apologise, I'm just going to get on with it! :D

Back before we did New Designers, Matt and I had the great opportunity of teaming up with Momiji again for their 'Couture Doll' contest. - Always great fun.

This is a great competition and as this post is long overdue I must hurry along anyone who wants to enter as the brief is pretty cool and its only on until 30th October! (naughty zoe)

Momiji are inviting entries to design a fabric doll for their brand using an alternative, or even crafty, method. You can stitch one, weave one, applique one, knit one (purl one), embroider one, knot one, crochet one..... you see where I'm going with this. The winner gets their creation seen in the Royal/T gallery in Los Angeles as well as being featured in Selvedge magazine. The judging panel is pretty star studded as well, reason enough to get out the knitting needles.


Matt and I were enrolled to design the flyer and also to decorate the stand for the competition at New Designers Week 1. We had a FAB time printing and painting onto lots of scraps of cardboard, and spent the day on the show build up installing lots of fabric inspired circles!

To enter visit the website for the competition and have a look at the blog running alongside it for more info!

But I thought I was cool??...

I thought I was pretty up to date with the technojabble (making it clear I'm probably not), but realised this week I have neither a flikr account nor a twitter one. Facebook is old hat apparently and so I have decided to raise myself grumpily out of my armchair, take the pipe from between my teeth, and set up some new accounts.

This works out pretty well actually because... should anyone want too... they can now see a lot more about what I'm up to through photos and, erm,... musings?.. on my flickr and twitter.

Yaaay! :D

Grand opening of the Pie Factory!!

A day I have been waiting for, for a long long time. Having moved in to the building in February (first one let, check ME out with the keen!) we waited until the end of June to open when the studios had more residents and the space was nearer completion.

The Pie Factory in Margate is a set of five studios/workshops converted from a ...well... pie factory, in the middle of Margate's old town. The project is the work of Janet and Tim Williams who have carefully sought to keep some of the key features of the building intact and will be opening a restaurant and bistro on the ground floor in the coming months.


It has a really great roof terrace (pictured above) which the Mayor of Margate officially opened and which I hope to utilise on every sunny day we have here - slim chance. I am in studio no.1 and three of the other studios have already been let, leaving just one available!


It was a F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C opening day, with very little time to eat or drink finding myself with so many great people to talk to. Thank you so much to everyone who made the trip over to see what on earth we'd been doing in there these past few months. This included my nan, auntie and cousin who travelled all the way up from Bournemouth for the day. Roll out the red carpet!
A few surprise bouquets and the Guardian spread that morning made me look a lot more glam than I was feeling, I had worked hard all week to prepare things for people to see, touch, and take home. But what fun!! How many times can you open one studio I wonder?......

Some lovely mentions.

A great mention in the Metro during recycling week and then in the Guardian on the same day as the opening! Whoop whoop!

Its all about the Fhaaaaaamily...

An addition to the team.

Matt Murphy.

Fresh out of Kingston University and snapped up by his big sis, the world will now have the benefit of two creative heads when they come to our door. This boy is uber talented in both photography and graphic design, and from a wonderful linage - if I do say so myself.

Watch this space for improvements in all that we do thanks to this lovely man...



(okay so the photo is a little old.. but we are sometimes found still doing this...)

Any one see me on the telly box?

This.... is a re-post. A tidy up of the blog is in order.

Just over a week ago I managed to get myself on the television, did anybody hear about that? Half of South East kent did! I was interviewed by BBC South East Today for a short bit about my work and Margate, and half way through a day of filming had to leg it up to a landline to be interviewed on Kent Radio - live and terrified!!

Hoping to post more details about this soon, and to one day find a digital copy of both events. For now I will just say - interview with beach cleaner about my work, a very squinty Zoe in the bright sunshine, and a unplanned glimpse of Matt in a t-shirt reading 'My mustache brings all the girls to the yard'....brilliant!!

Thanks to both the reporter and the radio host, a fab day. Builders have been recognising me ever since - very welcome!

Studio Opening Sat 27th June.

Whitstable drawers @ Frank

Tonight is the opening of my show at 'Frank' in Whitstable and I am very excited. A Whitstable chest of drawers and Formica adorn the windows and walls of this adorable shop which sells contemporary gifts, art, stationary, and crafts... oooh and now a really fab chest of drawers! Any one available please do visit tonight 6-8.30pm or any time in the coming weeks, at 65 Harbour srteet in Whitstable. I am very happy with the pieces on display and can't wait to see what people think.

Ooh, and here's the print that is on the lid, how nice eh! I seriously love this chest, the colours are lovely and muted and the lid print has oysters and beach huts on it. I am not doing this for long though so place orders while you can .... I miss you Margate.... :D

Bank holiday booty.

If I don't mention now I will forget completely, but I had an amazing bank holiday weekend at the bootfairs. We have at least three near us on any given Sunday of the summer, and I most definitely have a favourite. The least professional looking with the hand painted signs and the junkiest stalls is always a winner for me - and for everyone else it seems, as it is always packed! This weekend I decided to visit the same bootfair on both Sunday and Monday morning and absolutely cleaned up! I spent £30 over the whole two days, and bought:

4 pieces of clothing
1 typewriter
1 casserole dish
1 retro tea set
1 floral tray
1 set of pyrex dishes
1 T&G green mixing bowl (favourite brand)
1 teak bureau
1 homemaker side dish
4 books
1 pair of shoes
1 teak mirror
4 embroidery threads
2 pieces of dolls house furniture (too veneer and print on - they are going to be brilliant!)
1 bacon sandwich
1 burger (thomas)
2 mugs of tea
1 festival ice cream

How good?! Get to your bootfairs people!! x

Midcentury Show - Bexhill on sea.

My next show is one week away in a seaside resort on the coast of Sussex. All info is listed below:

The Midcentury Show curated by Modern Shows
In association with Elle Decoration
Sunday 10th May 2009
De la Warr Pavilion, Seafront, Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex, TN40 1DP
£5, children free, disabled access
www.modernshows.com
www.dlwp.com to book advance tickets
Mark the beginning of Summer and quell your addiction for design classics by escaping to the Seaside for our much loved South Coast show. Enjoy top furniture, ceramics, glass and lighting while taking in sea views, great food, a free art exhibition from one of the UKs leading artists Susan Collins and creative Lift the Lid workshop for kids. Headlining our show is exciting new designer Zoe Murphy www.zoemurphy.com who will be unveiling her first Bexhill piece of customized vintage furniture following her Margate series. Murphy was recently shortlisted for the BBC’s New Designer of the Year Award and we love her work. 30 top European dealers specialising in furniture, lighting, ceramics, glass, art, sculpture and fabrics will be on hand to sell and chat about their twentieth century design classics. The De la Warr pavilion, a modernist masterpiece in its own right, is the place to be with funky design junkies flocking from all over the country and especially from Brighton, Hove, Hastings, St Leonards and Rye for their vintage fix and snort of sea salt.
http://www.modernshows.com/docs/shows/midcentury/index.html.

Liberty online and Elle decoration.

The Margate coffee table is now online with Liberty! I thought I'd put a link to this little rite of passage as I am very chuffed.

I'm currently working on some very special pieces for the store, some of which I want to keep for myself - and they are only on paper at the moment! ...hmm. More will be posted when they are made in time for the early summer.

Aside from that, I have managed to squeeze my way into this months Elle Decoration, jammy I know. I'm involved with a competition that Liberty and Elle Dec have teamed up to do, and the little guy below is being given away as one of the five prizes! My second ever chest, awwww. Bye bye sweetie.

''So this is what Eastbourne looks like!''

After a very welcome invite to have some of the Margate drawers in a photo shoot we found ourselves on a trip to Eastbourne last Monday. It was for a great lifestyle magazine, but having no idea if press would appreciate such a reveal I will let you know the name when it is published. I have a lovely dutch girl with me at the moment named Danielle who is on a two month work placement, and so we drove the chest down to Eastbourne pier together and had the oppertunity to have a look around. Danielle took some great photos on her camera and we used the chance to play on the penny slot machines while the shoot was going on, I'm trying to introduce her to all of the important aspects of british culture.... :D

Look out for the feature on my press pages in Sept time.

Saying cheese and fried food.

We have been having GLORIOUS weather in what truly is 'sunny Margate' at the moment. Being the grafter I am I have been stuck indoors working away on pieces for all sorts of projects and commissions, but then there were the promotional photos that were due to be shot this week.....

This allowed me a brilliant afternoon 'off' on Friday when we got to take a trip to the local greasy spoon (one of about 72 - fantastic) and order up a big fried breakfast and mug of tea. I think it makes for a much better photo if I'm shown in some of the places I actually go to, and the cafe we shot the 'don't mug yourself' style pictures in (The Streets fans will know what I mean there) is called the Dalby Cafe. This place is tucked away in the back streets of Cliftonville and is famed for its doorstop slices of toast and its 'Monster Breakfast' board of fame. You can get a decent fry up for under five pounds and take a seat on flip down chairs that were salvaged from the old local tram cars, easily my favourite place to get a breakfast.

We took plenty both in the cafe and on the beach, all in all - my kind of Margate.

Sunday Times Style magazine

Now how about that. A fantastic and unexpected mention in the Style magazine from the Sunday Times. They popped in a little picture of my Margate coffee table in a feature about boutique buys.

There has been lots of press in the last couple of months in fact, all of which will be updated on the site soon, but I thought I would make a quick mention today!

NEC Springfair and climbing the walls

Another fun thing I've done since Christmas (they just keep on a-comin don't they!) was to pay a visit to the NEC Springfair to draw illustrations onto the walls of the Momiji stand. It was freeezing cold, hence the beanie hat clamped to my head, and I spent a fun day running up and down a ladder doodling onto the walls. The look this year was that of a sort of urban loft with mock concrete walls and retro furniture - I loved it! The pictures aren't too clear but it was a nice and creative day and you can see more about the event on their blog.

Au Revoir Margate... for a week anyway.

Just before Christmas I received some wonderful news from a representative of Maison & Objets in Paris. I was invited to exhibit at 'Meuble Paris', the furniture show part of the 'Maison' Fairs. So at the end of January I found myself in the French capital with a 3mx5m stand to fill at the most enormous show I have ever been to, and all for free! It was by far the most awe inspiring thing I have taken part in yet, and I was the only English ... and female.. one out of the five 'Tremplins' asked to exhibit. What a week! I was also lucky enough to get called over to Paris before Christmas for a photo shoot and had a picture of my work make it into the main catalog - a big big honour, and welcome press. It was a great week and I had the chance to show people from all over the world pictures and prints about Margate, ha ha. So fun.

Special thanks has to go to Amy Thackeray, an adorable friend of mine who worked hard with me for the whole week. Bless you girl!

Christmas work

In the run up to Christmas I found myself making a lot of chests and a few other interesting projects as well! I won't post them all on here, I will save it for the site update (soon soon soon) and for now will simply upload a few not-so-great shots of pieces I have made for some lovely people in London, Brighton, and beyond. So this is a very brief second installment regarding my busy winter, and a note to say keep your eyes peeled on the site....

Ingoldsby gallery - a return to Margate.

Hooray! I love this gallery. Two ladies who have supported me a great deal and have always been hugely positive about the pieces. The Ingoldsby Gallery in Margate is a brand new venue in that had its first show in November and opened with, among other great things, a showcase of my work. I produced a collection of recycled pieces that included an arm chair, a chest, cushions, a new footstool, side table, wall pieces, and more. They sold plenty over Christmas and I now have a fresh lot of pieces available from this cute little place in the old town. I have been working hard to show my work to people all over the world, but it is still very important to me that it can be seen in the area that started it all. Appropriate. Below are some quick snaps of the November pieces in the gallery - note the gorgeous wooden floors... lovely!

A busy first christmas...

WHAT a winter! And so begins the long overdue update/s on where on earth I have been for the last two months. Apologies and thanks to everyone who has been following the site and blog, when starting out I never imagined how quickly things would develop and I have been up to some really exciting things over Christmas and the new year. Working hard, learning a LOT, traveling a little, and meeting some fantastic people. So stay tuned as I make a solemn promise to use the next five or so days to fill in on any developments - they're pretty fun....

A new print....

With a lot of orders coming in I am busy completing what feels like a hundered projects at the moment. As they are all half way through I realised today that I have no images of new work yet. Well not anymore! Here is an example of the new print I am applying to small recycled side tables. Menu numbers - a favourite of mine!

The drawers have been at a new venue since Tent London as I was picked for a competition entitled 'Young Guns' at the Heard Gallery. After a few weeks of exhibiting I won a place in the final 11 and so have been paying lots of visits to Clapham where the gallery is located.

The other locations of some of my pieces at the moment are Bury St. Edmunds Art Gallery as part of their 'Seasonal Splendour' exhibition, and also in a graduate showcase in 12 Degrees of Edinburgh. Next will be a new gallery in Margate which will have a whole load of work from me, more on that soon.......

A guide to Margate - 1956

You know I was saying about coincidences? Well my dear friend Sarah Home was reaching for a 'Girls Own' annual in a Cambridge junk shop the other day when she found this gem of a book underneath it! The 1956 Margate tourist board guide to my hometown. Full of saturated and modestly posed loveliness, I can't think of anything more appropriate. And a TOURIST GUIDE as well! It is just perfect!! This will definately get me through Christmas when the Margate summer inspiration has dried up.

I live for moments like this.
Thankyou so much Sarah.

I have posted some pictures below but there is just too much of it to fit in. It came with a train timetable, a map and a brochure of events for the summer of 1956.

Hello cereal!

How nice is this!! It would HAVE to be a good day when your breakfast says good morning to you. I love it!

The nicest thing

Touch wood, a lot of happy coincidences have been happening to me recently. The studio move in has been delayed (not one of the aforementioned happy things) but outside of that, things seem to be slotting into place quite a lot. Still very busy from the shows, I have now got lots of 'Margate drawers' on the make and have had lots of wonderful interest from the press. A surprising amount of attention has come from blogs which I am really pleased about, its a great way to get feedback about the work etc (so thank you bloggers!).

It was only today I realised that I have only written one other time during the whole of September, a very poor effort on my behalf but hey - I am busy! At the moment I am working on 2 dressing tables, a cabinet, lots of drawers, two lampshades, four dining chairs and an arm chair. Now the arm chair is what I have come on to post about. This item in itself came to me through a lovely local guy who printed my business cards (a lesson in itself - always see what a guy up the road can do for you before you try anywhere else - you might be surprised with the results). This arm chair had floral cushions covering every inch of its frame, and these masked an original fake leather covering that had disintegrated in its 50 years of life on earth. Some others might have given up there, being in my possesion meant some others already had, but I (as usual) proceeded to strip the entire thing down to its wooden base and see what I could do with it.

I may be dragging this out quite a bit, but those who see the results on my site next week will agree that this is turning into a really gorgeous piece of furniture. I have tightened all of the original webbing on the base and only replaced what was needed. Now the seat of the chair has a brand new upholstery that I have made from patchworking tiny pieces of brown leather, a very lengthy process. In taking apart the base a little piece of paper fluttered out . . it was a G Plan label! Suddenly I was more in love with the armchair. Later a very dusty shilling rolled out too, dating back to 1956. It was all just TOO cute! A fifties G Plan wooden armchair that is getting the royal Margate treatment . . . I wonder if I'm going to be able to give this up . .