The seeds for anart.cuirm were sown in 2020 during lockdown. Like many businesses started during that period, it grew from a desire to create, to be stimulated, to be busy. Both of us work in different creative industries where there is a great deal of cross over and a shared joy of challenging the parameters in regards to what ‘goes together’: we both love unusual and unlikely combinations.
Sarah’s love of pattern and colour is drawn from her years as an interior, textile and colour consultant. Her home embraces what she describes as ‘a broad church’ of textiles and objects, gleaned from anywhere in the world from any period. Her skill to make all this surprisingly sit together (and completely make sense) is her strength. She enjoys making meaningful connections between colour, form and texture not many others can construct but many can appreciate.
Nancy’s decades of working in fashion, principally her long association with Dries van Noten: the master of unusual combinations. This working relationship of 20+ years has honed her sensibility in creative and unorthodox ways. The driving force behind her work is always to challenge the status quo with the mantra that: if its perceived good taste then it’s not new.
In a light bulb moment, the idea of utilising our skills seemed an excellent way to tap into our common loves. Sarah's skill of laying a table of cultivated chaos, which is legendary among our friends, for any occasion: breakfast, lunch, tea or supper!
As you can see, conventional tablescaping isn’t our forte, what definitely does strike a chord with us is a love of what we call an ‘unruly table’. The aim has been to translate our world into a language for anart.cuirm. The anart.cuirm vision also began to incorporate a history of art, more particularly the genre of still life. One of our favourites being Henri Matisse, whose painting "Still Life with Aubergines" from 1911 appears below:
Rooted in the exploration of art, pattern and colour, the collection launched in June 2022 with a triptych of distinctive prints and colour ways. Napkins, placemats and tablecloths are available as individual pieces rather than typical sets — the idea being that the patterns and colour ways can be mixed and matched.
We hope you love it, become inspired by it and we encourage you to indulge in a little cultivated chaos!