Hawaii in Hackney

For twenty long, cold winters we huddled in a drafty Victorian design studio. Our fingers were numb, our toes were frozen but our heads were always in Hawaii as we mixed the miniature pots of liquid sunshine. Vivid, shining greens; luminous, shrimp pinks; hot reds; acid yellows and sparking turquoises were carefully trickled, drop by drop into the airbrush. A little gentle pressure on the trigger and a soft stream of fluorescent colour would emerge to recreate every exotic flower under the sun (and plenty more that Mother Nature hadn't thought up yet - or dismissed as too vulgar). 
The American swimwear market had an insatiable thirst for tropical designs in the 1980s and most of them were painted in our London studio. We have a laugh going into Dirty Blonde on Church Street and seeing all those prints hanging there, that we created. We wouldn't admit responsibility for most of them but there are a few that have withstood the test of time.

Brian painted this years ago and it was reprinted recently for Celine Paris.


I have always wanted to visit Hawaii, imagining it to be a paradise, overflowing with hibiscus, frangipani and orchids. The exceptionally warm spring this year has seen Hackney erupt into flower like never before. Cascades of kitschy roses spill over fences, our hydrangeas are about to bloom - two months earlier than usual, and today, in the park, I noticed an amazing tree that I usually walk straight past. It must have been there for a century but this is the first time I've seen it blossom.
Here's a picture of it swarming with bees..

The dingly-dangly flowers look like upside down lupins.

When I Googled lupin-tree it showed a few sad looking bushes, saying they grow up to 5ft high. This tree is 45ft high. Any ideas anyone?

Olympic Torch

I read on the BBC website this morning that the Olympic flame has set off on its journey from Athens to London. A fascinating illustration of previous Olympic torches accompanies the article and made me wonder how Hackney's design would look....

Serve With Oven Chips

Street-Cred Street

So, the government have appointed Mary Portas (Queen of Shops) to head a review of the High Street, aimed at halting its decline - she is to present her report to Nick Clegg in the autumn - if he's still there. (You can comment on this at the BBC website.)

Oo, here's Mary with our red sofa (guardian.co.uk)

With so many town centres identical, soulless and boring I'm grateful that Stoke Newington Church Street has always opposed the infiltration of chain stores and can congratulate itself on being pretty close to the prime minister's vision of a 'vibrant and diverse' shopping street. 

I'm sure we'd all give David and Nick a nice big Stokey welcome

if they wanted to come along and meet the vibrant and diverse locals one weekend.

Given N16's resistance to global chains it's funny to think that the WORLD'S LARGEST retailer of natural and organic foods has comfortably established itself in a prime position on Church Street. It's easy to criticise the place; carp on about the prices and dismiss it as only fit for well-off, self-obsessed champagne-socilaist types. 

Well, for a corner shop I think Whole Foods Market is pretty good. I'd like to know where else, locally, I can stroll around listening to cool fusion-soundtracks, sample unusual cheeses, try out a lipstick and buy a tin of dog food and a hang-over remedy from 8 am to 9 pm every day of the week. 

With barrow loads of tomatoes and artichokes....

and buckets full of flowers, it's like a little bit of Provence in Hackney...

...and they even provide whippet shelter.

what am I going to do with this....

Hampstead Heath

Dog walks in Clissold Park can be tricky at weekends, especially sunny weekends when the picnickers set up early. On Saturday, as we had a houseful of photographers, stylists and models shooting a lingerie catalogue we decided to leave them to it and escape to the wide open spaces of  Hampstead Heath. Hoping the comatose teenagers on the top floor wouldn't come wandering downstairs in search of breakfast before we got back, we headed off. 

It was lovely there, blissfully warm and sunny, we laid down on the soft tufty grass looking at the sky and drifted off to sleep..........

Efteling

Hampstead Heath

I was woken by a few drops of rain. Brian said it wasn't rain, it was dog spit.

A Treat

Apologies if you're one of the 21 million people that have already seen this.

Acne Chateau

The Doctors from Embarrassing Bodies TV show were filming here today. They rigged up a drop in style clinic for members of the public to come and discuss their ailments.... Oo-er.

(Nick! I know that was you in all those disguises).