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Letter from the editor of HTSI: the 2024 Christmas edition


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© Marili André

The hardest part to compile he HTSI gift guide Every year the people who could contribute to it are edited. Of all the stories anyone wants to write, guides are the most popular. Competition is fierce among potential contributors: who has the photo with the most tonally pleasing title? Who has created the most sincere – and surprising – range of options? I long ago came to terms with the fact that my beige page looked quite inferior, so this year’s selection It involves additions of yellow and blue, all colors that match my current artistic obsessions: woven furniture by Orkney furniture maker Kevin Gauld and paintings by St Ives native Peter Lanyon. Now, however, I’m really lusting after the Pentax 17 included in the James Harvey-Kelly edition and a gold bone bracelet by Elsa Peretti for Tiffany & Co.

Elsewhere in this festive issue, I particularly like the story filmed by brothers Tony and Douglas Irvine, which takes us to the misty hills surrounding Gleneagles. the filming was executed in the days around Dior’s women’s show in June, which took place in the grounds of nearby Drummond Castle, and captures the kilts, tartans and woolen garments integral to the Scottish sartorial identity.

Paulina Olowska in the main hall of the Kadenówka House of Artists, Rabka-Zdrój
Paulina Olowska in the main hall of the Kadenówka House of Artists, Rabka-Zdrój © Kacper Kasprzyk

I’m also delighted with our profile of Paulina Olowska, who invites us to her Kadenówka Artist House, an hour south of Krakow, ahead of her exhibition at Pace Geneva this month. Olowska is an extraordinary character: her work evokes a rich folkloric landscape, while she has the personality of a forest witch. He claims that when he first found the house, it was abandoned and “completely haunted.” “The light bulbs were breaking. People were screaming. And it had a lot of mushrooms…” His works are mischievous, strange and charming. I am deeply envious of Victoria Woodcock. who spent time with Olowska in Poland and ride their wiccan energy.

Francesca Hayward, principal dancer of the Royal Ballet, at her London home
Francesca Hayward, principal dancer of the Royal Ballet, at her London home © Charlotte Hadden

What would holidays be without ballet? It is another holiday custom without which many would feel the season is incomplete. Francesca Hayward has performed many of your favorite Christmas songs in her role as principal of the Royal Ballet. Like Clara in The nutcracker and as Romeo’s Juliet, she has performed some of the best-known roles in the repertoire, but has also taken on important pieces by Wayne McGregor that have become part of the contemporary dance canon. As this week’s esthetetalks about the things that inspire her as she prepares to play Cinderella. In real life, however, his glass slippers are swapped for Hoka’s black rubber recovery slides. So precious is this princess that her “bare feet literally never touch the ground.”

@jellison22

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