If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives): delirium

Cuckoo, Punk Peacock, Delirium, Flutterlicious and Macbeth are just a few of the fun names Johanna Basford has given to her unique and beautiful wallpapers. The multi-talented Scottish designer has a way with names as well as with flora and fauna. Her hand printed and hand painted wallpapers (both custom and studio collection) are simply fabulous. In addition to those, she makes ceramics, limited edition prints, lampshades and some unusual items all of which incorporate her simultaneously delicate and bold designs.

Talented and super productive, she was the recipient of Elle's Decoration Design Award for the best in bedrooms in 2007. Below are some of her amazing creations, with the descriptions furnished from Johanna.

Bespoke Collection of Wallpaper

Punk Peacock, Bespoke Collection - digitally printed:

Above: Johanna's first exploration into digital printing. A twist on tradition, this interpretation of the classic ‘bird amongst the blossoms" print, features pairs of ornamental peacocks, perched amidst giant, oversized foliage and flowers, in a dramatic black on white, super-wide wallpaper. Not for the fainthearted, this bold, 1.2 meter wide print packs an eye-watering visual punch.

Delirium, Bespoke Collection - hand printed and embellished with Swarovski Crystals:

Above: Richly inked hand printed wallpaper, studded with Swarovski Crystals. This paper features layers of swirling botanics and decorative flourishes, silk screen printed in gloss black, pearly metallics, flashes of crisp silver lacquer and hand embellished with world-famous Swarovski Crystals.

Midnight Butterfly, Bespoke Collection - hand printed:

Above: A truly exquisite wallpaper, perfect for hanging in panels in place of traditional artwork. Delicate, inky layers of black on black floral and butterfly motifs are over printed with gold lacquered detail and further embellished with hand drawing. Paper-cut and gold leaf butterfly silhouettes flutter from the paper at intervals. Each panel is accompanied with 5 gold leaf butterflies, to be sited on install to catch the light or draw attention to a particular feature. Further gold leaf butterflies available on request.

Cuckoo, Bespoke Collection - hand painted:

Above: Delicate gold lacquered cuckoo clock, surrounded by rambling foliage and layered over a glossy black on black silhouette. A unique piece merging ornate decoration with functional design. Battery operated clock mechanism (single AA battery required)

Studio Collection of Wallpapers:

Crazy Botanic, Studio Collection - Hand Printed:

Above: Delicate tangles of imagined botanics, a-flutter with butterflies and lady bugs form densely decorative spheres of foliage, each interlinked with a single entwined vine.
Available in the color options shown above.

Flutterlicious, Studio Collection - Hand Printed:

Above: A truly sumptuous wallpaper; hundreds of delicately hand drawn butterflies, silk screen printed in rich gold lacquer or pearly hot pink. Stunning in single panels or stretched out across a feature wall.

Bella, Studio Collection - Hand Printed:

Above: Simple, yet delicately ornate; topiary-inspired spheres of foliage and blossoms, interlaced with love birds and butterflies, hand printed in pearly hues of aqua green onto spearmint or crisp white. Also available as a print.

Peking, Studio Collection - Hand Printed:

Above: Orient-inspired opulence; circular motifs featuring ornamental peacocks and butterflies encircled with exotic blossoms and foliage, each adjoined with a decorative band of flourishes. Available in the color options shown above.

Macbeth, Studio Collection - Hand Printed:

Above: A deliciously dark, gothic-inspired wallpaper. In a twist to Johanna's usual style of feminine florals, tangles of botanics and serpents twist their way through skeletons, spider's webs and ram's skulls.

Damask, Studio Collection - Limited Edition:

Above: Elegant flora intricately laced together forming a classicly shaped motif. Printed in limited edition print runs in two colour palettes, Western Isle Stone, a crisp, slate blue on white and Shortbread, warm biscuity beige onto a creamy rice-pudding ground.

Insectiana, Studio Collection - Hand Printed:

Above: A wallpaper with hidden depths. On close inspection, this classically styled print reveals a treasure of entomology gems; an inky, Victorian-inspired motif encases intricate drawings of beasties, butterflies and bumble bees. Available in white on black or black on white. Also available as a print.

Parlour, Studio Collection - Hand Printed:

above: Inspired by glamorous 50's show girls, with a hint of art nouveau opulence, this cheeky wallpaper is a must for boudoirs and powder rooms.

Her "glow' wallpaper seems to be a project that I hope becomes a reality:

About Johanna (the following is her bio from her site):

Inspired by her upbringing on a small fish farm in rural Scotland, much of Johanna's work has roots in the flora and fauna that she has grown up with. Her boundless imagination and passion for drawing, took her to Art School in Dundee, where she graduated with a first class honours degree in Printed Textiles in 2005.

Having dabbled with the idea of moving to London to work in a commercial studio, Johanna decided the concrete clad city sapped her creativity. Driven by a passion to create beautiful work of the highest possible calibre, Johanna set up her small Scottish studio creating distinctively different hand drawn motifs in her signature black and white palette.

In addition to creating her own collection of hand printed wallpapers which now adorn the walls of commercial and residential spaces across the globe, Johanna has created work for a variety of clients such as DKNY, Heals and The Crafts Council at the Victoria and Albert Museum.