The Drawer of Things

Rose Wylie’s biggest exhibition to date, The Picture Comes First, is at the Royal Academy until 19th April. It features the artist’s most iconic artworks, alongside brand-new and previously unseen paintings. Known for her colourful and exuberant compositions, Wylie is a cultural icon whose work is inspired by cinema, celebrities, literature, and ancient civilisations. She is also known for her dishevelled studio in deepest Kent, which Inigo had the pleasure of visiting recently.

At the top of our reading pile is The House Rules written by Patrick Williams, founder of Berdoulat design practice. The beautifully clothbound book meanders through Patrick’s early life, spent on an 18th-century farmhouse in France, to the inception of Berdoulat 20 years ago. Filled with exquisite photography of as-yet-unseen interiors as well as frequent references to food (including a favourite recipe), the book is set for release on 5th March.

If you don’t already have an Edward Bulmer Natural Paint colour chart somewhere in your drawer of things, now is your chance to change that. His latest colour collection (launching 3rd March) is a palette of 24 new colours developed in collaboration with the Chatsworth House. The collection features a curation of colours inspired by the historic interiors and natural materials found throughout the majestic estate. The steely blue Queen of Scots references a silk used in the Queen of Scots bedroom, while Burntwood is a warm stone that takes its name from the quarry that gives Chatsworth its inviting honey-gold hue. You can read about how Edward decorated the smallest room in his own home – the downstairs loo – in our Almanac. And stay tuned for a full tour of Edward’s remarkable Queen Anne country house in Herefordshire …

Wearing a knitted beret, rust-coloured workwear and a surprisingly crisp white apron, May Savidge was filmed by the BBC with a trowel in hand, painstakingly rebuilding her home brick by brick in 1975. She was 64 at the time. A retired engineer, May decided to move her home from Hertfordshire to Norfolk when it was earmarked for demolition to make way for a new roundabout. It took seven lorries to transport the bricks and beams and all of May’s remaining years to see it through to a just-about-liveable condition. (May lived in the house until she died in 1993, despite its lack of upstairs walls.) It fell to her niece, Christine, to complete the project. Christine now lives in the house that May built and has written a book about its remarkable history, set to be made into a film.

Photography credits: Rose Wylie, Kill Bill (Film Notes), 2007 Oil on canvas, 180 × 308 cm (overall) Courtesy private collection and JARILAGER Gallery Photograph courtesy Jari Lager. Photo: Soon-Hak Kwon © Rose Wylie / Rose’s studio by Clàudia Padrosa for Inigo / The House Rules by Patrick Williams (Quadrille, RRP £40), photography © Andrew Montgomery / Anna Batchelor for Edward Bulmer Natural Paints /