I may have mentioned this umbrella before but it suits this bad mood day perfectly
It was designed by Joonsoo Kim, and is carried around in a stick form through which the cloud part is inflated when the rain starts to fall. Perhaps this is what Crowded House were singing about when they said you were always taking the weather with you.
That suits my mood, but the really angry rainwear enthusiast has got to go for this baby…
A couple of unusual sites for the umbrella enthusiast…
This site, subtitled “An Appreciation of the Mundane: Discarded Umbrellas Left to Die Lonely Umbrella Deaths” does exactly what it says on the tin.
I suppose it’s appropriate to follow that with Ai Ai Gasa who make jackets, shirts and dresses out of discarded umbrellas. While the one above is a little Bill&Ted future for my tastes (but not for many people I know – the word is being spread) the skirts they do are lovely and ruffly and, of course, waterproof. Which makes them the perfect items to go with and under the umbrellas that will one day become them. If you see what I mean.
This blog is amazing. It charts the progress of an art show for which every artist designs an umbrella of their choice. Here are two of my favourite pictures.
Big lovely things happening in the world of umbrellas of late. First of all there is this innovation from local (well, studying over the Simpsons-like three-eyed fish waters of the Tamar in Plymouth) designer Becky Barber which generates electricity by using a recently developed material called Nanosolar when opened. This then powers a nifty little light.
Then there’s this baby to which Chris sent me a link. Yep, it’s a samurai style umbrella. That’s pretty much all the explanation you need.
and in my own little umbrella fantasy world I am pleased to say that materials are being gathered for my Nifty range of individually decorated umbrellas. Ribbons, check. Buttons, check. Waterproof fabric paints… not there yet. Any recommendations?
A wonderful blog entry at Toxel has drawn my attention to some more beautiful umbrella installations such as these…
It’s worth clicking on the links too… the working files for that last picture alone are demanding to be adored.
Just a quick post to let y’all know that www.um-brellas.co.uk has launched and is selling top quality umbrellas featuring my designs as of today! Go on – treat yourself. x
Apologies for the lack of umbrella related research recently featured on these here pages. I am of course busy making umbrellas of my own, all of which you will be able to see from these links in the near future. In the meantime, here are those final designs as voted for by none of you, the viewing public…
I am scared, excited and broke. How are you? Been saying too many consecutive words beginning with R lately?
Many thanks to RM for emailing me this link to an interview with the maker of these gorgeous shell parasols and umbrellas. His is an inspirational journey of design, inspired by shells and plants and developed through hard work and ingenuity.
I used to live at a train station that was at the end of the line. And some of these end-of-the-line stations have boxes of forgotten umbrellas. Most JR stations, for example, have a lost and found. But my station just had this box. So I’d grab weird umbrellas, broken ones, and take them home. I’d strip the parts, recycle parts… and this went on for several months. I had every size, all kinds of shafts. And I got some pliers from the ¥100 shop, and every night after work I’d come home and work on them. I used fishing wire and spandex to reassemble them. From recycling old and broken umbrellas I knew which parts I needed.
Some of them look utterly bonkers, whereas others look so classical it’s odd to think of it as a new design.
Pylones in the US make fantastic little figurines whose clothes open into bold coloured umbrellas. I’m particularly fond of this holy-looking orange number.
Need to keep an unruly brolly confined to safe, sensible dimensions? Need to protect your lovely thin trousers from the threat of soggy marks? Kenn Hwang has taken a picture of this contraption which dispenses and attaches plastic sheaths for your umbrella. No matter how only-vaguely-useful it is, I want one now. You slip the brolly in the hole, something happens and it emerges contained and pristine. Marvellous.
