I remember reading about Caravaggio in my art books when we looked at the great masters and then seeing his The Taking of Christ in our National Gallery. Although the painting and likeness of the subjects was amazing it was the contrast between the dark and the light that struck me the most.

Helena Duggan has been part of the Willie Duggan team for many years and involved in many big projects from the development of our own catalogue to the building of our premise in Kilkenny city. Helena has been holding this business to account for our brand. She started her career with us as our Graphic Designer and made her way through the ranks to now having her hands firmly on our image.

I’m inspired by the old principles of Chiaroscuro that dates back to the 17th century, the world of lighting and design. Lighting plays such a crucial role throughout art history as it has the ability to change the narrative of a painting, room or building. Whether it be dramatic and mysterious to relaxing and sublime.

Biophilia is defined as the hardwired human inclination to affiliate with nature. The term was first popularized by American psychologist Edwards O Wilson in the 1980’s when he observed the increasing rates of urbanisation and how it was leading us to disconnect to nature. Biophilic design has become a big influencer recently and rightly so. It has become an innovative way of designing spaces where we live, work and learn by incorporating natural materials, natural light, and greenery.

We hit two of the greatest interiors shows in two months, Maison et Objet in Paris and the Northern Light Fair in Stockholm, checking out some of the key trends for 2019 and beyond. One of the biggest take-aways we’ve seen at both fairs is the re-emergence of colours, prints and texture in lighting.

In her book ‘The Secret Lives of Colour’ the author Kasia St Clair expands upon the social roots, cultural understanding and history of a range of colours. Blue, being one of my favourite colours, gets special treatment; first listing the shades of the colour, she then uses a range of evocative descriptors to alert us to the wonder of this colour; Ultramarine, Cobalt, Indigo, Prussian Blue, Egyptian Blue, Woad, Electric Blue, Cerulean.