29 Nov 2010
avatar Author: Nicky Haslam

I’m currently having a coffered ceiling for a client in Russia painted in cyan blue lacquer - just the inside of the coffers. It’s much chicer than clouds or some Adamesque confection and I do take my ceilings very seriously.

Paper Feathers courtesy of Prettycalm.blogspot.com

When I did the salon for London’s famous couture house Bellville Sassoon (dressmaker to Madonna, Helen Mirren etc.) I created a baroquey confection on the ceiling of torn paper reminiscent of plaster. I was thinking at the time of the success of the ostrich feather pelmets I created in my room at Eton which were a positive sensation! For the salon, I had the inside painted silvery, mauvy, magically moody as you can see in my watercolour.

Bellville Sassoon Salon Watercolour by Nicky Haslam

This Vogue article makes me think that cloud ceilings are not a dead end…and since we are always trying to look from different vantage points I’m not ruling something like this out…a projection ceiling perhaps??

Vogue article

Of course if one goes completely mad and dramatic, like the ceiling of Colette’s dining room below, then I couldn’t argue against clouds in that case either. It’s beautifully Sert-esque, and brave too.

Colette van den Thillart's Dining Room

7 Responses to “Heavens above…”

  1. You are quite the artist Nicky, your watercolour rendering is gorgeous. Would make for a lovely book.

  2. bruce barone says:

    OH! So beautiful!!!

  3. Sublime dining room. I LOVE the ceiling…. Amazing! Who’s the artist ?

  4. John J Tackett says:

    I agree on all points, especially that your renderings are fabulous! But don’t be so quick to rule out painted clouds. As evidenced by the shot of Collette’s dining room, it is all about how it’s done.

  5. avatar colette says:

    Paul…you’re so funny…was it you?? do give us a story if it was. xc

  6. avatar colette says:

    oh! i see, you mean my ceiling!! how flattering coming from you - in fact, the ultimate compliment, its based on a Sert celing in Brazil. xx

  7. avatar p gaye tapp says:

    I do love that Colette ceiling and the vortex quality of it- a ceiling in motion with the stability of wooded forest below. Much better than the blue skies-nothing but blue skies- for me. I prefer the haunted and a bit mad version of Sert. Ceilings are so important- I have one at the moment that needs Me.

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