A new collection of wallpapers has just hit the showroom and it has wowed us all! I am thrilled to introduce this beautiful collaboration between Laura Chautin and Jess Murphy of The Lawns. They are truly a match made in design heaven and we are all psyched to be along for the ride!
x
Kate
Laura (at left) and Jess (at right) holding up their new wallpaper, Tablescape, which is based off of Laura's painted ceramics.
How did you two meet?
Laura Chautin (LC) • Jess reached out to me over Instagram!
Jess Murphy (JM) • I’ve been following Laura’s work for years. I was initially introduced to her through her wife Masami, who owns a great salon downtown and I have been such a fan ever since.
What made you want to collaborate with each other?
LC • I had seen Jess's Prospect Park Mural Wallpaper at Temple Studio (yay!) and fell in love with it. I’ve always wanted to work with wallpaper, as I studied screen printing in college and beyond, and was completely fascinated by the process. When Jess reached out to work together I had no doubts about it, I was so excited.
JM • Oh, right! I think that’s what sparked our initial conversation. Laura’s ceramics have such a signature charm, and they also carry this nostalgia and whimsy, which are themes that run throughout my line. When she expressed interest in wallpaper, it was a no-brainer to suggest a collaboration.
Laura, cutting clay into various shapes which she then forms into her final pieces, like cups or plates.
Laura, tell us more about your work.
LC • I work mainly with porcelain clay and my work is all hand-built. As I’m trained as a painter, I wanted to tie these two elements of ceramic material and paints together and felt that using the clay as a canvas would lead to really exciting findings. I love that a lot of the times when firing underglaze paints into clay, the final painting looks almost like a watercolor, it bleeds in really beautiful ways. For me, my ceramics are functional art pieces.
Jess, pictured above, bringing the designs for Tablescape and Meadow to the digital world.
What was the process like of putting these two mediums together?
LC • I think it felt very natural. As my work is mostly floral landscapes, the idea of creating what could be thought of as one big landscape mural was exciting.
JM • In many ways for me it was the same process that I use for my other designs; scaling, coloring, cleaning, and creating a layout, only this time, I was working with dozens of Laura’s individual paintings.
These incredible vignettes of landscapes and florals lend themselves so perfectly to wallpaper. The true blending of mediums came more from a material perspective, where we purposely chose finishes and substrates that had a tie back to ceramics or Laura’s artistic process, like glosses and gilding or the textured paper she paints on.
Getting up close and personal with Tablescape in Cocoa and Mint. We can't get enough of this mix of glossy and matte finishes all rolled into one!
How did you create the two patterns — Meadow and Tablescape — and then translate them into a wallpaper design?
LC • I love traditional toile fabrics so I sort of started there. I was inspired by elements that I’m usually drawn to like plants, flowers and animals, and imagined everything coming together as a sprawling meadow world. Jess took my individual paintings and pieced them together to make such a beautiful and cohesive design. Tablescape was Jess's idea and I loved it! She wanted to tie back to my ceramics, it's tongue-in-cheek and I'm obsessed with it.
JM • I love a Trompe-l'œil! I think there are like 15 different plates in Tablescape. Just think, you could instantly own 15 of Laura’s gorgeous plates! Haha. It’s truly a striking design made even more special by the spot gloss. This also felt like a really refreshing way to showcase the florals by making them the grounding element of the design; the tablecloth (or wallpaper?!) on which the plates sit.
Jess, the materials that you used in this wallpaper collection are different from what you’ve traditionally used. How did you pick where and when to use the glossy or metallic finishes?
JM • Normally a design is offered in a number of colorways, but will be on the same ground material, or vice versa. For Meadow, I wanted to let the material choose the colorway. The full varnish made the most sense for a blue and white colorway, like traditional high gloss delftware. The gold metal leaf needed something that matched its vibrancy, a more saturated multi-color, and for the non woven, a subdued tonal colorway felt appropriate for that soft fibrous paper. For Tablescape, only glossing the plates adds to the print’s dimension, and was just a really fun final touch.
What is it like working with gold leaf?
JM • It’s such a special ground, no two are alike, and you will sometimes see where the hand laid metal leaf squares have been placed, which really communicates the artisanal nature of the material. Printing on metal leaf is a lot of trial and error, we wanted the shine to be subtle but effective, and so a lot had to go into the production to make sure we achieved that balance.
Mix & Match - bringing the trompe-l'oeil IRL....can you spot the real plates?
What is the perfect room that you imagine for both Meadow and Tablescape wallpapers?
LC • I see Meadow looking wonderful in a foyer or small powder room. It could also look really sweet in a bedroom, especially the softer colorway. Tablescape would look amazing in a restaurant hallway or dining room!
JM • Tablescape in a dining area or powder room would be very cool. Personally, I think the White House’s china room could use a revamp if anyone wants to give them a call?! I’d love to see Meadow Gold Leaf crawling up a winding staircase. It feels so grand!
The glossy version of Meadow in the color Delftware is reminiscent of traditional Delftware glazed pottery.
Do you have a favorite motif, section of a pattern, or a part of the wallpaper (for either pattern)?
LC • I love Delftware, the blue glossy version of Meadow, it’s referencing glazed delftware and I feel like the shine of it makes it incredibly luxurious and easy to get lost in.
JM • Well, the swans in Meadow are just perfection, but I also love the little goldfish swimming in the pond! Both of these prints are such treasure troves.
For our last mural exhibit and In honor of Temple's upcoming move to our new studio, Jess painted a large-scale metallic mural based off of her grasscloth design, Uroboros, which, fittingly, represents rebirth.
Lastly, Jess, can you tell us more about the fabulous mural based on your wallpaper Uroboros that you painted on our front wall? We just love it!
JM • I knew I wanted to utilize metallic paint because I’ve been working with metal leaf for upcoming collections (this one included obviously!) and so I’ve got metal on my mind! Uroboros, the image of a snake devouring its own tail, represents rebirth, new beginnings, and in Hinduism, it is used to describe the Kundalini; a form of divine feminine energy, which all felt so apropos for Temple's farewell to one space and welcoming of the next :)
