EMILY WHEELER

Karen Knorr, artist

emilywheeler — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:14:50 +0000

Karen Knorr is a truly international artist, an American photographer born in Germany, raised in Puerto Rico and educated in Paris and London. Her beautiful, and often humorous images, explore the meaning of place, commenting on issues such as gender, class and society. Her body of work ‘Fables’ features places of social and historical importance with animals superimposed onto them so that animals appear to inhabit the very places they are not usually allowed – stately homes, temples and museums. Sensual, beautiful and often quiet funny, I love all of them.

Michael’s East London warehouse space

emilywheeler — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:15:35 +0000

These images are a sneak peek of a top secret creative project I’ve been working on for the last few months. I was really pleased with how these photographs of Creative Producer Michael’s warehouse came out. They totally reflect the East London vibe.

YOU magazine Sunday 8th January 2012

emilywheeler — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:48:14 +0000

Happy New Year

emilywheeler — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:58:48 +0000

Happy New Year everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read my words and look at the images I post here. It’s lovely to get all your feedback and comments. I’ve got a great feeling about 2012 and have plenty of hopes and dreams to realise this year – I’m sure you do too. I put lots of energy into writing and styling last year, which was so much fun after taking time out to be with my new baby, and am pleased to be starting 2012 with a feature this coming weekend in You magazine here in the UK as well as pieces in the January issues of Casa Chic in Italy and Vie a La Campagne in France. I’m busy working on more lovely interiors features for Easy Living magazine, not to mention a very exciting project I’ve been working on behind the scenes for a couple of months now… So, 2012 here we come, let’s make it a good one!

Image via Nordic Bliss.

Merry Christmas!

emilywheeler — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:18:29 +0000

Well, 2011 has been a very busy year and I’ve had a lot of fun. I’ve been lucky enough to meet some truly fascinating people, been welcomed into some wonderful homes, had lovely interior design projects and created lots of beautiful images with Ingrid Rasmussen, my partner in crime. I feel very lucky indeed. Not only that, but my beautiful little boy Alfie grows more amazing every day and my lovely fiancee has been a complete rock through all my work dramas (and there have been a few….). So, here’s to 2012 and a fun-filled, happy year filled with love, laughter and good times for you all. I know I have lots of exciting new things to look forward to in 2012 and I hope you do too. See you next year!

Eskimo kisses

emilywheeler — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:04:08 +0000

The recent icy weather has got me craving cosy throws, cushions, rugs and roaring fires. I’m a big fan of Nordic style and think it works really well with both my other two great interiors passions, French antiques and clean modern design. Yes, I have eclectic taste… The online stores Nordic Bliss and Nordic Elements have the most wonderful homewares to keep you warm and cosy this winter. Here are a few of my favourites….

This handsome Greenlandic man from Nordic Elements would be a welcome addition to any sofa or chair…

As would this amazing Icelandic sheepskin cushion…

And I love these incredible musk oxen…

These luxurious cushions are from Nordic Bliss …

As are these gorgeous things…

I love these images from the Nordic Bliss blog… Feeling warm and cosy?

I interview Gill Christophers at home

emilywheeler — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:33:32 +0000

Yesterday we were lucky enough to meet the lovely Gill Christophers and her adorable pooch Mollie. Gill has headed up the PR teams of such prestigious brands as Harrods, Claridges and Six Senses Spas and was previously Retail Editor at Harper’s Bazaar so she knows a thing or two about how to throw a party. As we got to work shooting her beautiful home, Gill was busy preparing a dinner party for fifteen friends who were all to be treated to her fabulous cooking and warm hospitality. Having worked for most of her career with luxury brands and beauty, Gill also has one of the best stocked bathroom cabinets I have ever seen, overflowing with gorgeous bottles of bath oils and divine scented candles… Stay tuned for more about Gill and her stylish Georgian home.

I interview Jack du Rose at home

emilywheeler — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:20:53 +0000

When the jeweller Jack du Rose received a real human skull by special delivery with a request to find out how to recreate it in platinum and diamonds, he had no idea that the artist he was working for was Damien Hirst and the skull was to become the controversial artwork ‘For the Love of God’, selling for a record £50 million. Then Jack was only 24 years old and living with his parents in Birmingham. Now aged just 30 and living in East London, Jack has launched his own jewellery collection called Danger, which was shown at his first solo exhibition last month at Sam Taylor-Wood’s studio in Clerkenwell.

‘Danger’ features eight one-off pieces of jewellery inspired by deadly animals including a diamond-encrusted lion cuff, an emerald poison frog brooch and diamond and ruby jellyfish rings. Each piece is so exquisitely crafted that they should be considered art as much as jewellery and as such, each piece will be sold with its own bell jar and ebony display case, which locks with a gold and diamond scorpion-shaped key. Prices start at £220,000 and comparisons to Faberge and Lalique spring to mind. His loft style home, which he shares with his fiancee, is a fascinating reflection of his passion for dangerous creatures, antique scientific paraphernalia and vintage curiosities. I visited him this week with Ingrid Rasmussen to interview him and photograph his home and found him to be a true gentleman, a lovely man and an incredibly exciting talent.

Whilst chatting with Jack, I was privileged to be able to try on his Octopus bracelet, aptly named ‘Temptation’. Set with a dazzling array of golden sapphires, opals and diamonds (and worth a staggering £550,000) it was one of the most extraordinary things I have ever seen and testament to his skill as a designer, craftsman and artist. Keep checking back with me for images of Jack at home and the full incredible story of his success.

Beautiful wallpapers from Eskayel

emilywheeler — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:34:16 +0000

I first saw US-based designer Shanan Campanaro’s beautiful wallpapers over at my lovely friend Sara’s blog Colour Lovin’ Mother. I immediately fell in love with the faded watercolours and Shanan’s label Eskayel is awash with dreamy shades of blue, pink and grey used in an appealing abstract style.

The concept was born when Shanan was redecorating her home in the spring of 2008 and decided to experiment with the idea of making wallpaper by digitally manipulating sections of her paintings. After fabulous results she began using the designs in her exhibitions, which quickly led to her first interior wallpaper commissions. She launched Eskayel at the Brooklyn Designs Juried show in May 2009. Since then Eskayel has launched four major collections and a small capsule collection of patterns.

Shanan graduated with a BFA from Central St. Martins of London in 2003 and subsequently moved to New York, where she is based. At nearly $500 a roll for the wallpaper, it doesn’t come cheap, but a beautiful range of cushions, scarves and accessories means that there should be something for most budgets. Here are some of my favourite wallpapers from the collection.

The launch of Making a House Your Home by Clare Nolan

emilywheeler — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:17:05 +0000

Last night I went to the launch of Clare Nolan’s new interiors book Making A House Your Home at The Conran Shop in South Kensington. Clare is the Lifestyle Editor at You Magazine for the Mail on Sunday and has poured her years of experience as a stylist and editor into this brilliant book. What I like about the book is that it is not just a glossy tome filled with unattainable yet beautiful interiors (although there are plenty of gorgeous rooms on every page to pore over) but that Clare has really thought about all of the details that make a home somewhere that makes you happy, supports and nurtures you and those around you. She gives away lots of her professional tips to help you do this with some really great practical advice and some lovely little practical projects you can have a go at doing yourself.

Now I’ve read plenty of interiors books in my time but there is something I really like about this book – so much so that I nearly missed my stop on my way home from the party I was so engrossed! I think it’s because Clare takes an emotional as well as practical approach to decorating and carefully considers the factors that combine to make your house a home, which after all is the reason I love working in this industry. There is nowhere more important to us than home and it needs to be a place that fulfills our needs and makes us happy. I highly recommend it as a Christmas present for anyone who loves home, interiors and style.

Ingrid Rasmussen and I have just finished a piece for You magazine on Mark Rochester and Talya Baldwin’s home, which will be published on January 8th in the New Year, so put that date in your diary!

Making a House Your Home by Clare Nolan costs £25 and is published by Kyle Books.