ACC Art Books – The Bell Bookshop

Moody Blooms

Emma — Mon, 09 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

“It’s an evocative, inspiring mood board of a book.” – Andreina Cordani, Reclaim Magazine

“Decorating with flowers – on everything from walls and windows to sofas and floors – will bring magic and romance to any space.” - Mail on Sunday’s You Magazine
In the designs of Tricia Guild, atmosphere is everything. Patterns, colour, texture, furniture and furnishings interweave to create spaces that have all the depth and meaning of installation art. Yet just as an outfit never feels complete without a spritz of scent, a room without plants is only nearly complete. Only nearly perfect.

At Designers Guild, Tricia Guild uses flowers, leaves and stems to enhance a room’s mood, bringing soul to the spaces we live in. A flower has many spirits over the course of its life, from the promise of those first pristine and innocent buds, to the resplendent joy of full blooms and the wistful glory as they fade. The cycle of nature provides an ever-evolving muse for Tricia Guild. Her latest book explores how blooms can evoke emotion, presenting a plethora of inspirational designs that breathe fresh life into our homes and workspaces.

The Art of Wallpapers

Emma — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This extensively illustrated volume focuses on William Morris (1834-1896), placing his wallpaper designs within the context of the radical changes in taste witnessed during the Victorian era. Against a backdrop of the fanciful, naturalistic patterns that typified fashionable papers in Morris’s youth, the impact of the Reform Movement of the mid-19th century is underscored, particularly the reformers’ crusade against such multi-coloured ornamental decoration. Instead, the insistence on the concepts of honesty and propriety as promoted by A. W. N. Pugin and Owen Jones, are demonstrated as influences on Morris. The role of imported Japanese wallpapers is also explored, giving insight into a seldom-discussed cultural exchange evidenced within the story of Morris & Co, which produced wallpapers from 1864 until 1940 and, after a post-war hiatus, from the 1960s to the present.

Amplifying Morris’s role in the creation of an influential and lasting style, his work is set within a selection by other designers, including Christopher Dresser and C. F. A. Voysey. Also introduced are firms of significance including Jeffrey & Co. and Arthur Sanderson & Sons, both of whom block-printed the Morris wallpapers. In a highly visual presentation, what is revealed are influences across time and within a global context, as pertinent to the creation of wallpaper art in the 19th century as it is today.

Where the Wildness Pleases

Emma — Sat, 01 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The ‘Garden of England’, ‘The High Weald’, these are phrases that describe a 70-year-old Area of Outstanding National Beauty in Southern England. Among these dramatic landscapes and ancient woodlands stand many castles, mansions and cottages, ringed with orchards, meadows, drifting flowers and horticultural exotica. Featured gardens range from grand landscapes to works of glorious eccentricity, Arts and Crafts green rooms to postage stamp-sized plots of ingenuity. Wilderness weaves into floral genius, while native and exotic species stand side-by-side – all within the unique climate of the English garden.

Including chapters on English Parks, Arts and Crafts Gardens and Woodland Gardens, Where the Wildness Pleases – The English Garden Celebrated pays homage to English horticultural excellence and tells the gripping stories behind some of our most breath-taking landscapes. This book also features a handy Who’s Who of designers, gardeners, plant hunters and nurserymen, and a brief guide to English playing greens – cricket, bowling, croquet and tennis.

This is a welcome guide for anyone interested in visiting this astonishingly beautiful part of the country, or those thinking of buying a plot.