JACK CRAIG | PVC WATER MAINS HEATED AND PRESSURED ON STONE

CHEN CHEN & KAI WILLIAMS | STONE BANGLE – MAUI ROUND

EGG COLLECTIVE | HENRY DINING TABLE

FORTMAKERS | CANDLESTICK CITY

TOKEN | RECLAIMX2 GLASS COLLAB WITH UHURU

LIBBY LANE | V TOTE

ALYSE RONAYNE | SCULPTURES & PAINTINGS

RO-LU | FOR MONDO CANE

MOCIUN | CUSTOM RING

Brian is unbelievably good at hand painting letters. Really, just good at lettering in general. Me? Not so much. I get nervous and excited all at once so end up dripping paint everywhere. Good thing we both work at FV together so can divide + conquer according to our strengths.

Front of the shop! It’s a big secret for the moment. You wanna see what’s behind that curtain? You gotta come visit this summer.

New patterns! This is “Folded” in ‘Beach Towel’ – and would look so good in a beach house. It’s printed on white paper using turquoise-ish and gold ink. Although you can’t quite see it in this photo, there’s a really lovely texture due to the fact that it’s a half tone image of stripes. There’s tooth and depth to this one and I’m in love with it.

Stickers on Silver Mylar. Super sexy. Super sexy silver sticker commission.

Sticker chat! Watch Brian and I on CBS Sunday Morning on May 19th. Thanks for coming to our studio, CBS! It was an honor to have you.

Julia Bainbridge is one heck of a talented lady. She’s an editor at Bon Appetit with a keen talent for discovering and discussing all things tasty, is notorious for her excellent dinner parties, her sense of humor, and just so happens to be a lovely person as well. Her aesthetic sense is one I admire. She’s unafraid to mix patterns, loves color, and is always put together with polish – exuding a kind of understated yet colorful glamour. In my mind, JVB is always walking down a street at golden hour wearing some red lipstick looking slender and powerful in a well-cut blue patterned caftan, chunky jewelry, and a pair of her grandfather’s old shoes. She’s probably carrying a bag of groceries for the dinner she’s about to cook for 15 people and a fresh copy of BA hot off the press. I’m so honored that Julia let me photograph and interview her to kick off this new blog series of mine: Pattern Powwow. Frequently, I have the pleasure of meeting and getting to know clients who have used our wallpaper. Pattern Powwow will be a collection of those who I connect with and a few of their thoughts. Thank you for being our first, JVB! I’m so happy to be losing my Pattern Powwow virginity to you.

Why did you choose the wallpaper Full Bloom in Silver Sword?

Because it’s wacky.

What room is it used in, and why? What mood does it create?

It’s in my bathroom, which I’ve always believed should be the Crazy Room of the house. I entertain often, and I love the idea of my dinner party guests running to the loo and then returning to the table feeling as though they’ve stepped into another universe. This wallpaper makes it a truly altering space — a trip, if you will. (I also love the idea of men in this room, surrounded by ultra-femme, psychedelic flowers).

What is your profession?

I’m an editor at a food magazine.

Who or what provides inspiration for you?

George Michael. Prince. Paul Simon. The Cocteau Twins. Robert Plant. Charlie Parker. Bjork. Tribe Called Quest. Music, basically. Sends me into these tonal, colorful, weird little magic worlds. Otherwise, people on the streets of New York. We all say it all of the time, but goddamn if it isn’t worth saying it again: The streets of New York are the most inspiring of any streets anywhere.

Describe your personal style.

I like funky old lady stuff. Like, I want to be one of those chic older women who looks like she’s worked as a curator her whole life, who wears flowy monochromatic outfits and has beautiful grey hair cut in a severe bob and wears red lipstick and gobs of silver and turquoise jewelry. Like, rings on every finger, bangles, multiple necklaces….Or, I’m just going to be Iris Apfel. Like, tomorrow. I like pattern, I like fabric, I like big, aggressive jewelry, and I like being a woman.

Name your favorite artist.

I cannot name just one! Here are a handful: Sophie Calle, Marilyn Minter, Joan Miro, Pieter Hugo.

If you were wallpaper, describe what you would look like.

Oh, jeez. Can I be lots of different things? Because sometimes I would want to be colorful, sometimes I want to be dark, sometimes florid lines, sometimes graphic… I guess if I had to pick one, I would be black and navy – a navy so dark it’s almost black – and I’d be like a Rothko. But I’m not going to explain why!

Whoop! Can’t wait to customize mine. Check it out and make your own!

Recently we’ve been interested in extending our patterns and vision to other objects and I’m happy to share with you today that we’ve collaborated with DODOcase  – the San Francisco based premiere maker of book-bound and hand-crafted cases for iPad’s and Tablets – to make three Flat Vernacular patterns available in the Build-A-DODOcase customizer.

DODOcase produces in the United States, and are reviving manufacturing using an old artisanal method of making something contemporary, which is right in line with Flat Vernacular’s focus and method of making.  A partnership between two small companies similarly intent on manufacturing in the USA only strengthens us both, as well as other American producers. They’re a small company like us and their product is well designed.

We wanted to highlight each of our particular pattern styles so we’re offering Beastly Guardians which is one of our more traditional patterns, Eyelets which offers an interesting character, and Full Bloom Remix which is our latest and greatest.

Looking forward to seeing the creative ways people use our patterns to customize their DODOcases! Share what you’ve made on Instagram or Twitter with the hashtags #buildaDODO and #patternisbest. 

In lieu of regular updates, I hope you’ve been enjoying our Instagram stream (click here to follow!) which is constantly being updated.

February was a hectic month: I spent two weeks as an artist in residence at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. My sticker wallpaper was part of an exhibition called “Secret Stash: Accumulation, Hoarding, and the Love of Stuff” curated by Kirsty Robertson. It was an incredible experience to say the least – though after sticking 70,000 individual stickers on the wall, everyone including my sticker loving self was completely exhausted. Besides that, FV has just launched new lampshades, a collaborative wallpaper pattern by Brooklyn based company called Egg Collective, a nail wrap collaboration with Scratch, have a new secret collaboration being released April 24th, and is in full force preparing for our spring party and design release on May 17th.

A portrait of me surrounded by 70,000 individual stickers at the McIntosh Gallery on Western’s campus. This is exactly how my five year old self would have imagined my 26 year old self.

The finished installation, entitled “The Lookout Circle Collection.” Spanning 60′ of wallspace and utilizing over 70,000 individual craft stickers, this particular project is the most expansive sticker wallpaper I’ve made. It’s shown here with Germaine Koh’s “Knitwork”. The other artists participating in the show included Kelly Wood and Allyson Mitchell.

The beautiful new pattern called “Tealia” designed by Egg Collective and pictured above hanging in their booth at the Architectural Digest show. Shown with their Davies mirror.

Beach pattern. Pattern is everywhere.

More inspiration.

More blog posts to come. Have a lovely weekend.

Hallway in a custom colorway of Feather Get Together.

Our ugly linoleum floor may be forever stained with New Years confetti. I love the way it looks.

Old Friend MPNails was in town and treated me to a manicure.

Precipice in a custom grey color.

Precipice in Vinson Massif. 

Brian stitching on silk for a project.

New Year, New You, New York. 

Sticker wallpaper in progress.

We wallpapered our apartment! Here’s Beastly Guardians in “Pigeon” installed in our bedroom.

Eyelashes for a special project.

Sticker wallpapers up close.

Custom wallpaper that we’re calling “Full Bloom Remix” for right now – can’t wait to share the installation pictures.

The original Full Bloom print in new color called “Hydrangea.”

Window display that we did for Chelsea restaurant El Quinto Pino.

Window display we did for La Vara.

Great textural custom wallpaper for a client in Brooklyn. We are beyond excited to see it installed.

Custom holiday cards for my favorite pony enthusiast.

Calligraphy Brian did for our friends at LQQK Studio and Fleur du Mal to celebrate Fleur du Mal at Bergdorf.

Before…

And after.