Home Proud: Philippa Stanton & Synaesthesia

Another cool Instagram discovery, artist Philippa Stanton caught my eye recently. Philippa is a Synesthetic artist, which means that she can see sound, taste and smell in shape, colour and texture, allowing her to create unique portraits of people's voices, food and drink.

As her website states: 'Synaesthesia is a merging of the sense and errays of textured, colourful shapes accompany every taste, smell and tactile feeling experienced.'

Her art is beautiful, and the textures are wonderful and perfectly placed on the paintings. She also posts interesting images on her Instagram page, 5ftinf, which are mainly still life shots of 'The Table'. 'In these she highlights ordinary objects, small treasures, garden flowers and cups of tea in artistic compositions drawn from everyday feelings, rather than meanings.' She has over 220,000 followers, check her blog out here as well.

Jasmine Scent (Acrylic on canvas), £250

Images from Philippa Stanton's Instagram

Home Proud: Calamity Trading

Whilst browsing on Instagram (yes I am slightly obsessed) I spotted these incredible pieces of art that were being sold in Urban Outfitters in the states.

The company that sells these is based in Colorado (sadly) and the very talented woman that paints them is called Amy. Calamity Pass is a logging road in the Never Summer Mountains near her home, and is where the business's name is from. 

The shop carries everything from skulls to vintage dresses, and is mostly native to Colorado. Amy also designs and makes mountain jewelry from recycled materials, even porcupine quill and bullet casings. This place is definitely on my list if I ever go near Colorado, but for now I can save up for one of these beautiful hand painted skulls and think about where it could go. And don't worry, she gets all her materials from local farmers or finds them herself in the woods, so no animals will ever be harmed in the process!

Beauty: Vaseline's modern art

I was invited to an interesting event last week held at the Hospital Club (great private member's bar!) which sounded so unusual and unique that I had to check it out.

To launch a new range of Vaseline deodorants that protect and care for your underarms, the brand unveiled a collection of art painted on under arms by artist Isamaya Ffrench. All of the  pieces in the series are created using the canvas of women's underarms - the first time that the armpit has been used in this way. Quite unusual, but cool!

Each artwork created was inspired by nature, horticulture and the natural curve of the female body. My favourite piece was the one with the secret garden where the artist used real flowers and butterflies to bring to life the concept of nature.

We even got to watch the artist herself carefully paint the 'Underarm Wave' on a live model at the event. The artwork even featured a tiny 3D boat - so cute!

Here are some photos from the event...

I wore...

Twenty8Twelve jeans

River Island shoes

RI2K London bag (from TKMaxx)

Alexander McQueen scarf

Topshop hat (similar here)

Zara t shirt

A 3D boat! So cute

Desire: Laura Lane vase

I spotted this stunningly eerie but beautiful vase on a user's Instagram, and when I looked it up I found out it was the hand made work of an artist from Cornwall called Laura Lane. It's quite tricky to find her stuff but you can buy this vase on Folksy for £45.

The vases are made of porcelain with historic images splashed with real gold lustre. This specific series is inspired by the value society places on precious materials such as diamonds and gold. It is part of the illegal mining series of vessels that the artist made called Geometric Triangles.

Home Proud: Rough 'n' chic

My favoured decorations and accessories are always antique or shabby chic, and a I think a great way to decorate a cozy house is with some 'rough' things. I think beige couches go well with sanded white frames on the walls, clean white kitchens go well with wired fruit and bread bowls, and beautiful, delicate bedding goes so well with worn out art.

These are only some of the options to decorate a home in a modern but 'French' cottage style, and I've found a few great things on Cox & Cox (amazing shop!), as well as a lovely diffuser from one of my favourite London brands, Boujies.

Set of three shallow wire baskets, £24

Heart twig wreath, £15.50

Cast iron hands, £30

Classic zinc wall hook, £18.50

Birds and flowers wooden wall panels, £120

Iron Brazier, £88

Wooden set of drawers, £65

Delicate standing glass frame, £11.50

Boujies London Chelsea Flower diffuser, £42

I wrote about the wonderful Boujies Black Dahlia diffuser before, and I still have it! They really do last for months and give any room a perfectly balanced scent. What I really like about these is the packaging, it's so pretty and fits in anywhere discreetly even though it is quite a big bottle.

The new Chelsea Flowers diffuser is a fresh and luscious floral fragrance with a blend of gardenia blossom, freesia, peony, tuberose and orange blossom gently blended with a warm base of vetiver and cashmere woods and musks. It's the perfect scent for end of summer, bringing the flowers of the season into my dressing room as Autumn begins.

Images from the Cox and Cox website and Boujis press office