'Natural' colour...

Abstract Flamingo - Vergil Kanne

source unknown (please let me know if you know who this lovely image belongs to)

Kelly Wearstler

dejaentndu.tumblr

Paul Juno 

original source unknown (let me know if you know who this belongs to!)

It's so fascinating when people say they like 'natural' colours, and identify colours like "grey, beige, taupe, stone, cream, white" etc. 

Have you ever seen anything so incredible as the COLOUR actually found in nature?

Where do you think 'colours' come from? I guess most people think that someone in a paint manufacturer years and years ago, or someone at pantone 'invented' them somehow. Right?

It's easy to see from these few images that there are no new colours under the sun... they are all pre-existing, for us to draw from, and be inspired by.

I absolutely adore looking at photographs of nature, with these extreme, amazing, fresh, vibrant, bold and unique colours, and combinations. They have nothing (and everything) to do with us, but I am so excited to draw from them when we design.

Here are five images I recently pinned to our 'Palette' board on Pinterest... it's hard to imagine they're real and 'natural', isn't it? Maybe we need to re-evaluate our thoughts on what 'natural' colour means.

How amazing to live in a world with colour like this?! And how amazing we get to bring this colour in to homes for a living.

Abigail x

abigail*ryan Irish Linen Landscape Collection...

We're so excited to have launched this beautiful collection of Irish Linen plains at the weekend... we've been so inspired by the beautiful colour palette in Ireland for years now, and always incorporate amazing colour combinations we see in nature in to our patterned designs... 

So (!) we thought it was time to add some beautiful plains to our range of fabric yardage - many of which are designed to pair beautifully with our prints, and some of which are just awesome stand alone colours, and so inherently 'Irish', we just couldn't remove them from our plans.

At the heart of this collection is it's Heritage. Woven and dyed in Northern Ireland by a family firm who have milled linens for over 150 years, we're incredibly proud of and in love with these cloths. Brights, Neutrals and interesting, workable shades that will look incredible in the home, all with the most stunning texture, flow, slub and weight... this is fabric to live with, that will live with you and just give and give. Irish linen has a remarkable heritage, and, as a young Irish brand, with a studio in an old linen mill (Conway Mill), we're so excited to be full circle and presenting this gorgeous collection to the public and our clients... we've used Irish Linen to back our cushions and make our Heirloom Quilts since we first started abigail*ryan, so we're delighted to be able to extend it's footing in our collection.

We hope you love our presentation for this range as much as we do... we've paired some of our original photos and inspiration for the palette with the fabric swatches so you can be transported to Ireland with us!

... most of our colour names are quite self-explanatory (though we hope deliciously evocative!), but we thought you might like some translation for the three Gaelic words we included...

Anfa (AHN-FAH) - Irish for Tempest or Storm...

Caschoill (CASH-ILL) - Irish for Scrub or Bush...

Farraige (FAH-RI-GUH) - Irish for Sea...

Don't these gorgeous colours and words make you want to visit Ireland right now?! ;)

Come see us!

A&R

COLOUR...

Tear sheets, beautiful colour combinations to inspire.

Happy Monday! :)

xo A

You never know...

...when inspiration will strike!

We've been gradually working through our house, renovating a little at a time, and yesterday was the turn of the kitchen and dining room floor. We love our new floor, and even had a lovely surprise when we lifted the old one- some gorgeously patterned vinyl underneath. It was only the tiniest bit, and too well stuck for us to lift, but a few photos means we can add to our inspiration file. You really never know when something will inspire you! :)

ryan@abigail*ryan

p.s. Hope you like the little sneaky peek of one of our heirloom quilts on top of our new floor- they're coming soon, and we really can't wait to show them off!