Sunny Days

Tyre Swans by Katy Wallace

When my friend, designer Katy Wallace told me recently that she had been making tyre swans, an image came to mind of the saggy black specimens that I used to see dotted around the Napier gardens of my childhood. I remembered the strange burnt rubber smell they emitted in high summer and the chalky patina that developed over time in the black ridges of the tread. But when Katy sent me through this picture of her elegant white swans drifting across the grass I was completely charmed. Of course, I should have known - Katy has such a wonderful gift for being able to revive and transform things that we might consider kitsch or passe into beautiful new objects that still retain the vestiges of an earlier era. If I ever have a garden I can think of nothing I'd like more than to look out the window and see a family of swans like these floating serenely over my lawn.

More information about Katy's design can be found here and I'll be sure to update this post when Katy lets me know how to go about buying one or more of her lovely swans.