Indian Summer + Boston Bound

  

 

  Cup of the Day #114

"Indian Summer Taxis" view 1

 By Gwyneth Leech

India Ink on Upcycled Paper Coffee Cup

Indian Summer has enveloped New York City, with golden trees brilliant against blue skies. I captured this season on a cup about a year ago, and it was fun to see the imagery reiterated as I walked through the West Village yesterday. Click here to read the original story. As chance would have it, this Indian Summer cup is one of the eight reproduced in a limited edition by Anthropologie, and it will be on sale in the their stores soon. To read about the preview of the cups during the London Design Festival this past September click here and here.

Fall foliage still lights up Cornelia Street and 

7th Avenue, mid-November in the West Village, NYC

Later today I am heading by train to Boston, carrying with me a large duffel containing 365 cup artworks to be installed in the window of Anthropologie's store in Cambridge, at 48 Brattle Street, just off Harvard Square. I will be on site Wednesday through Saturday this week, first hanging the cups and then drawing in public for three days. See the schedule and read the official press release below.

Please join me if you are in the Boston area, or share with friends. And watch this space for updates and photos!

Anthropologie Cambridge to Host Live Art Exhibition

Event Details:

Anthropologie
48 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA

November 21st, 12 – 3 pm
November 22nd, 4 – 7 pm
November 23rd, 12 -3 pm

The window exhibition will be on view 24/7 from November 21st – 30th

Anthropologie is pleased to announce a special live art event and window exhibition to celebrate the work of fine artist Gwyneth Leech. The artist will be on site November 21st, 22nd and 23rd drawing in the window of our Cambridge location. The exhibition, which will remain on view through November 30th, will showcase her passion for public art and her love of drawing and painting on paper coffee cups.

Leech’s expressive artwork will delight and inspire all those passing by. The process behind her hand-drawn cups is highly personal and observational, imparting new meaning and value on what is considered a disposable  object. She explains, "I like my hot coffee or tea in a paper take-out cup, like millions of my fellow New Yorkers. Even better than the contents, I like the used cup as a surface on which to draw and paint. And before I begin, I write on the bottom the date, location, occasion and the beverage consumed so that every cup becomes the record of a social moment.”

Leech began working in this uncommon way while attending meetings over coffee in 2009. Quickly consumed by the practice, she soon created enough cup artworks to display in public art spaces and galleries around New York City. Her largest installation, at the Sprint Flatiron Prow Artspace in New York City in 2012, featured more than 850 of her pieces. Leech’s most recent exhibition, in Anthropologie’s Regent Street location during the London Design Festival in September 2013, garnered public and critical acclaim, including coverage in Selvedge, The Financial Times, The Observer and The Telegraph.

Anthropologie has partnered with Leech to transform her artwork into ceramic versions that can be enjoyed by a larger audience. The eight designs, in limited edition reproductions, are inspired by her life in New York and capture everyday moments, from taking a walk in Central Park to rushing through the city in a rain shower. They will be available just in time for the holidays on Anthropologie’s website and in all store locations.

For a video of the artist at work, click here.
For recent reviews and articles click here.

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The Cups in London: Highlights from the Window

Cup of the Day #127

London Umbrellas by Gwyneth Leech - four views

Mixed media on used paper coffee cup

My regular New York City life has resumed, but recently I have been enjoying again the photos taken while I was drawing in public for the 2013 London Design Festival in September. A riot of umbrellas dominates the scene, as does the parade of red double-decker buses and a constant throng of international visitors engaging me though the plate glass windows of Anthropologie's Regent Street store. It is an additional pleasure to see the faces of friends from other UK cities who came to London and surprised me as I worked! I savor anew the several spectacular afternoon teas I manged to squeeze in, most notably at the Dorcehster and the Charlotte Street Hotel. Many thanks to the friends who braved those multi-tiered cake trays with me!!

  

My line of porcelain cups, produced in collaboration with Anthropologie and previewed at the London Design Festival, is due to come out in the USA in just a few short weeks. Launch date and details of some special events will follow shortly! I the meantime, one more look at London...

 The first evening - cups are installed and the rain comes on.

 

View from inside the store - raining cups at dusk.

 

Into the window to draw. This was my temporary studio for five days.

 

As soon as I begin, the crowds gather.

 

 Visitors from all over the world stroll the length 
of Regent Street. Outside, are the daughters of an art collector 
from Kuwait who stepped in to purchase an original cup drawing.

 People are surprised and delighted to see a live artist at work in the window.

I am happy to engage them through the plate glass
and converse with everyone who comes into the store.
Photo credit: Sarah Kerens

 

Cup drawings from London: Red double-decker buses

 People racing through torrents of rain.

And yet more rain!

 My subject matter driving by.

And a portrait of a girl through the window.

 Finally the sun comes out!

 I have tea with Alice Sykes in the window.

Am delighted by a sumptuous afternoon tea at the Dorchester. 

Note the raspberries tipped with gold!

And on another afternoon, take tea with friends at the Charlotte Street Hotel.
Mine is a "Bloomsbury tea", hence the amazing color of the cakes.
And no, I can't finish it all!!

Back at Anthropologie, the reproduction cups were selling briskly.

 

And I meet some of the purchasers. Here is Rosalba visiting from Rome.

On my last afternoon, as a viewer puzzles over the cups, I enjoy the reflection 

of Regent Street curving down towards Picadilly Circus. 

All too soon, the week was over. I was very sorry to vacate my chair and leave the window studio behind. The cup installation stayed up for several more weeks after the end of the Design Festival, but is now safely back in my NYC studio awaiting the next exhibition!


For additional photos and cup videos visit me on instagram and twitter(@gwynethleech) or follow me on  Facebook.

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365 - A Year In Cups: The Movie

Drawing on cups in London, September 2013

Photo Credit Sara Kerens

Well, London was amazing! Now I am back in New York City sorting through photos and I will be posting a wrap-up soon. In the meantime, many thanks to NYC photographer Sara Kerens for her gorgeous photos, and to British film-maker, Chris Floyd, for this delightful short film. It was shot and edited just a few weeks ago while I was actually working in the window of Anthropologie in Regent Street during the London Design Festival. It really captures the moment for me. And the filming was a lot of fun.

Gwyneth Leech 365 - A Year in Cups from Anthropologie Europe on Vimeo.

 Chris Floyd filming at Anthropologie in Regent Street, September 2013

 
Mild mannered sound recordist at work, Video shoot, September 2013

Report from Regent Street: Eve of the London Design Festival

  

Cups of the Day #126 - A Rainy Day in London

Cup Artwork by Gwyneth Leech, mixed media on used paper coffee cups

I am actually here, treading the stones of Regent Street which curves gracefully down from Oxford Circus, its domes and handsome facades washed by light rain this morning and people hurrying by with umbrellas or jumping on red double-decker buses. This is London of the imagination!

September 13th, a rainy Friday

I spent the day yesterday unpacking and hanging the cups, assisted by Anna and Heather, two delightful young women who work at Anthropologie. Before we knew it, 365 cups appeared  to be free floating in the window space and crowds were already gathering outside to take photos. Tomorrow, the Design Festival begins and I will take up residence in the window to draw for five days. See the schedule below.

Anthropologie at 158 Regent Street, London

The cup artwork, as packed for travel

I was relieved to see that the porcelain cups in eight of my designs have arrived in-store. After many months of imagining this, how fascinating to see my drawings so multiplied on rows and stacks of cups! At the moment, the porcelain cups are available exclusively in the Regent Street store. Details of a wider launch will follow.

The Porcelain cups are in-store at Regent Street

Heather directed me to several local coffee bars, just around the corner in Golden Square. I was especially taken with Nordic Cafe, not just the coffee but the cinnamon rolls! An additional treat was watching  the games of municipal ping pong and large-scale chess going forward in the square itself. Definitely enjoying some dolce vita in the calm before the festival gets underway.

Some outdoor entertainment in Golden Square on Thursday evening.

Here are some recent articles and blog posts about the cups in London, and Anthropologie's festival activities:
The Telepragh: Gwyneth Leech - the Art of Paper Cups
Vogue Living: Things to Do and See at London Design Week 2013
Mollie Makes: Anthropologie Celebrates the London Design Festival

For the festival program click here:
London Design Festival Program

 

 Rainy Day in Regent Street

The Cups are on view at Anthropologie 158 Regent Street  24 hours a day through October 4th.

During the Festival I will be drawing on site on the following schedule:

Saturday 14th Sep: 12-3pm
Sunday 15th September: 12-3pm
Monday 16th Sep: 11am – 2pm
Tuesday 17th Sep: 4-7pm
Wednesday 18th Sep: 4-7pm

I will also be returning to Edinburgh where I studied art, and will be doing a live drawing event in Anthropologie's George Street store  on Saturday, 21st September from 12-3 pm, with a talk at 2 p.m. 

Anthropologie Presents Molly Hatch and Gwyneth Leech for London Design Festival 2013

 

Gwyneth Leech at work on a cup art installation

Photo Credit: Marianne Barcellona

I am delighted to announce a collaboration with Anthropologie that will launch during the London Design Festival, which begins next week, September 14th, with an exhibition of 365 of my original cup artworks in the window of Anthropologie's store at 158 Regent Street. Below is the text of the official press release:
 
"Anthropologie is delighted to announce that to celebrate London Design Festival 2013, we will be hosting two inspirational exhibitions by the celebrated international artists Molly Hatch and Gwyneth Leech. Art and creativity are at the heart of the Anthropologie ethos, meaning that London Design Festival is always an important and exciting time of year for our customers and staff, and we are proud to be bringing work by Molly and Gwyneth to London to coincide with LDF.

At our King’s Road Gallery, the artist-designer and Massachusetts resident, Molly Hatch, will be presenting a collection of her celebrated ‘plate paintings’. Entitled Render, the work will take inspiration from the vintage textiles and ceramic archives Molly has been unearthing in the collections of the V&A. Molly will discuss her influences and artistic career in an interview with Polly Leonard, of Selvedge magazine, in our King’s Road store on Tuesday, 17th September from 6 – 8 p.m.

Meanwhile, our Regent Street store windows will be handed over to the New York City artist Gwyneth Leech, who will create a spectacular installation comprising of expressively hand-drawn and painted paper coffee cups – her signature artistic medium. Gwyneth’s passion for public art and drawing will be combined as she spends five days working in the store windows, making art on dozens of coffee cups inspired by the street scene set before her.

Both Molly and Gwyneth’s work sells for considerable sums to collectors worldwide, but Anthropologie is proud to announce that as part of our collaboration with these artists we will be carrying a limited edition range of specially created porcelain mugs, plates and vases for sale in our London stores.

 

Plate Paintings by Molly Hatch

Photo Credit: Molly Hatch

MOLLY HATCH - RENDER
In an effort to claim the functional surface as a painting surface, RENDER is a new collection of plate paintings and vases made sourcing the textile and ceramic collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
In the translation and re-working of historic fabric patterns to the ceramic surface of a group of plates, Render becomes an exploration of the relationship between the historic and the contemporary with artworks crossing over categories of decorative art, design and fine art. Through shift in scale, color and context, the compositions of plates both abstract and highlight aspects of the textile patterns, encouraging a new dialogue in pattern.
The pair of vases have also been rendered in a new way—scrambling the expected through the creation of multiple planes and an overall rearranging and collaging of historically sourced surface pattern and decoration. Again, encouraging a new experience of the familiar.
Fascinated by how we live with objects, how and why we acquire objects and what happens to them throughout history, I see this exhibition as a reflection of the life of surface pattern through the decorative art continuum.

Gwyneth Leech Cup Drawings

Photo Credit: Marianne Barcellona

GWYNETH LEECH - 365
I like my hot coffee or tea in a paper take-out cup, like millions of my fellow New Yorkers. Even better than the contents, I like the used cup as a surface on which to draw and paint. And before I begin, I write on the bottom the date, location, occasion and the beverage consumed so that every cup becomes the record of a social moment.
For Anthropologie in London’s Regent Street I am showing 365 of my original cup artworks, each representing a daily caffeine break. The installation makes visible largely unconscious patterns of consumption; this is what one simple take-away purchase looks like over the course of a year, this is what would usually be thrown away. It can be seen as a measure of time gone by, of money spent, of space to be taken up in a landfill.
But as I upcycle each used cup into an artwork, it becomes the measure of other things as well: an artist’s regular habit of generating new ideas, a diary of time spent with friends and colleagues, and the cumulative positive effect of doing something small and manageable every day.

Gwyneth will be painting in the window of Regent Street at the following times:

Saturday 14th Sep: 12-3pm
Sunday 15th September: 12-3pm
Monday 16th Sep: 11am – 2pm
Tuesday 17th Sep: 4-7pm
Wednesday 18th Sep: 4-7pm

Gwyneth will also be returning to Edinburgh on Saturday, 21st September (12 – 3 p.m.) where she studied art, to give a talk in our store at 2 p.m. explaining her artistic life and career and will create a special work of art on the day taking inspiration from the Scottish location."

 

Gwyneth Leech at work in a window installation in NYC

Photo Credit: Gwyneth Leech

www.anthropologie.eu
www.mollyhatch.com
www.gwynethleech.com

Here for Real: The New PS 51 Set to Open on West 44th Street

 Cup of the Day #125 - "Rising Skyline, Midtown"

India Ink on Used Paper Coffee Cup, by Gwyneth Leech

Needed for over 20 years, discussed and planned for 12, under construction for 3 - and now it is here! 

New York City Public School 51, a.k.a. PS 51, a.k.a. the Elias Howe School, a.k.a. "the Pride of the West Side" will open to elementary students on September 9th, 2013 in a brand new building on 44th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues.

This Wednesday morning I had the privilege of an early walk-through with members of the Task Force, a group comprised of the many stake-holders in the new school construction effort: parent, teacher, school administration, community, construction and political representatives. I myself am a PS 51 parent rep. Until now, I had only ever seen the liaison from the School Construction Authority standing in front of an architect's rendering of the new school. And here we were, entering the actual front doors! After so many years of talk, effort and struggle, not to mention the stresses of a two-year relocation to a temporary building on East 91st Street, it was hard to believe it was real. Yet administration and teachers have already taken possession and are busy unpacking and setting up classrooms and offices on every floor, even as teams of workers continue to make their way down the list of finishing items.

Picture if you will the old Elias Howe building - an erstwhile sewing machine factory on 45th Street which housed PS 51 from 1940 until 2011. For gym, auditorium and cafeteria we had one single room, which, by the way was also the local polling station! In the new building there are large, airy and light-filled spaces at every turn: five floors of generously proportioned classrooms with state-of-the-art technology, wide hallways and stairs, a pristine library filled with over 4000 new books, specialized science, art and music rooms, a health clinic, and not one, but two gyms. The second, a gymnatorium houses a fully kitted out theatrical stage. Behind the school is a surprisingly large play-yard filled with light and ringed by sizable trees, and atop the school is a roof playground covered with silver netting. Finally, there is a large separate cafeteria with adequate sound-proofing and a beautiful kitchen for on-site cooking!

What follows are some preview shots of the new spaces, leading off with Principal Nancy Sing-Bock in her office. I am delighted that our family will be returning for fifth grade and we look forward to joining a reinvigorated school community in celebrating our magnificent home. This new school is a  great example of the whole Hell's Kitchen community coming together to make things better for our kids. We extend our warmest congratulations to all who worked so long and so hard and overcame so many hurdles to make it a reality!!

Principal Nancy Sing-Bock in her brand new office on the ground floor.

The only work item on her desk so far: floor plan for the new school!

Christine Keskemeti setting up her 4th grade classroom on the 4th floor.

In awe as we discover the double size gymnasium on the 3rd floor.

A view of the rooftop playground 

from the art room windows on the fifth floor.

 

Silvery netting on the rooftop playground allows full view of the sky.

 

 Play equipment lacking for nothing but the arrival of students on Monday, September 9th.

PS 51 is a zoned, neighborhood Pre-K through 5th elementary school with a strong and resourceful principal, a dedicated administration, an energetic and creative teaching staff, and a diverse and genuinely inclusive student body. For more information and to find out how to register, visit http://ps51manhattan.com

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Ode to a Citibike - A Fan Tells All

Cup of the Day #124 - City Bikes

Colored India ink of used paper coffee cup

It has been just a few months since I saw my first Citibike rider and hailed him on 10th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen. He was exhilarated by his outing, a rapid run up from 14th Street on Memorial Day, and he declared himself perfectly satisfied with the sturdy blue three-speed. My husband and I were early adopters. For a $100 annual fee we would be able to use any Citibike for 45 minutes free of charge. As soon as we got our keys in the mail we were out on the streets during the preview week exploring new bike lanes and the quirkiness of the solar-power-operated docking stations that sprang up all over Manhattan below 59th Street and in parts of Brooklyn. Everywhere we rode, people quizzed us about the experience. In no time we became diehard fans.

First sighting - bike share rider on 10th Avenue at 47th Street, on Memorial Day, 2013

Do I have complaints? Well, since you ask - we kind of wish the program wasn't so popular! At peak times - mornings and on beautiful summer evenings - it is hard to find a bike in our neighborhood. It is a sad feeling to arrive, helmet in hand, at a completely empty docking station, or one with two or three bikes remaining. On most occasions those few bikes will show the accursed red light and sport a flat tire or seat swiveled backwards to denote a mechanical problem. But by using the map on the cellphone app we usually find bikes and get underway. Conversely, when it comes to returning after a night out, it is a blow to find every single docking spot taken! Again, a walk ensues to find a less frequented station.

  Empty bike docking station at Spring and Lafayette.  

I confess that this shot was taken before the bikes arrived, 

but it's not an unfamiliar sight around town at certain times of day

But quibbles out of the way, I have to say I love this shared bike thing. The Hudson River Park is a top favorite route to anywhere, even if it means a detour. Nothing beats the long stretches of open pathway with few traffic lights to interrupt a journey. What can be better than whizzing to your destination while leaving rush hour traffic jams behind you, feeling a summer breeze on your face instead of sweltering on the subway or sitting in a cab watching the meter climb?

Minerva of Spring Street Studio stages a "draw-in" 

on the corner of Spring and Lafayette Street last Spring, 

to protest the loss of public art space to a bike station

This weekend I decided to take a Citibike to the Lower East Side on a sunny afternoon following a rehearsal in Midtown East. It was a straight shot down Third Avenue, dodging some bike traffic coming the wrong way (mostly deliveries) and an array of left turning motor vehicles (they were yielding to bikes, but I always were a helmet). The greatest hazard of all was the unpredictable appearance of texting pedestrians (please look both ways before stepping off the sidewalk!!)

Riding an Avenue in the bike lane. Photo Credit: Dimtiri Gudov

Once on the Lower East Side it was a delightful ramble through the shady streets along designated bike-lanes. And on arrival at Suffolk Street, my chosen destination, all I had to do was dock the bike firmly, get the green light and walk away. No need to worry whether it would be stolen within thirty minutes of parking it outside, as happened with the only bike I ever owned in NYC!

Cup of the Day #124 - City Bikes

Verso - Bikes chained to a street sign, the old fashioned way

Colored India ink of used paper coffee cup

My intention was to visit some of the many art galleries that have sprung up on the Lower East Side in the last few years. Some can feel like a longish walk from subways, but the bike share gets you there with ease. So I did a tour, albeit somewhat sweaty and disheveled and carrying a bike helmet, which made for some interesting reactions when I entered galleries. For warm reception, despite how I looked, I have to give a shout-out to Leah Oates, director at Station Independent on Suffolk, John Baber at Lesly Heller Workspace and Valerie McKenzie at McKenzie Fine Art, both on Orchard Street. I have already decided what I am going to do with all the money I am saving by not using the MTA and taxis so much - I am going to buy art! And to start, I have my eye on something by one of the artists in Reticulate at Mackenzie Fine Art. Talk about a transportation revolution!

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