03/05/2026
If I could I would change the world, one shop at a time. And I thank my lovely customer from Los Angeles who fed me that line.
If I also could I would break into your homes, gently, and give you each a library of your own mind, to inspire, connect , and ground you, in peace. These shelves are clearly in my shop, they aren’t a library , and there are only three books upon them. Yet they are more than a series of decorative objects. They are a library of my current mind, conceived through attraction, research, current studies and historic ones.
A contemporary library in a home to me needs to become more than an archive of unread books. It needs to give hold your memories and travels, your inspirations and longings. It can be as central to your being as the place where you make good, or perform your ablutions.
I haven’t posted on here for some time.
I have a letter somewhere in my memory box from Fay Weldon , from over thirty years ago , when we had a brief correspondence regarding my writing and my desire to do a masters in playwriting at Birmingham University with Mr Big Brain David Edgar. In the letter she says : we write when we have something to say .
Today, I almost have something to say.
I have of late, and for sometime now, discovered that my joy, and disposition, and, dare I say it, my education and natural curiosity, lends itself to the creation of contemporary libraries. They do not need to be a space which is pretentious or intimidating , or reinforce guilt at not having read the piles and stacks of books in front of you. They can be your own secret history , a quiet resting place of dreams both realised and unrealised. A kind yet poignant acknowledging of all that you are, or had dreamt of being, in beauty . They can be public or hidden. When I create a library I see you , I witness you. When I do it for a public space , I aim at bearing witness to the location, the history , and the beauty of the minds that may visit it. That’s the beginning of what I have to say, and to show.
