By Louis Nizer, a British-born, U.S. lawyer and a literary genius…
” A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.”
Photograph ‘Parisian Night’ by Mark Ashbee
For Mark’s birthday this year I wanted to give him a memento of some of the great shots he’s taken this year and the lovely people he’s worked with. One of his favourite clients has been Jill Stein, for whom he has shot her private house interiors, the new Steins at Trevone Farm cottages and the guest rooms at the Seafood Restaurant.
Two of his favourite products to shoot have been for Jill too – a wallpaper of black and white waves, designed by Abigail Edwards and used in the Trevone Farm cottages, and a beautiful light fitting made up of individually finished porcelain Mackerel fish at Little Polgarron, created by artists Fran and Dom of Scabetti Studio who have installed beautiful artwork all over the world.
I met them whilst they were installing a feature light for a client I was designing the garden for in Constantine Bay and they were truly lovely and gifted people.
I contacted them about purchasing a small fish and because they loved Mark’s photos of their work so much, they kindly offered to send him one as a surprise gift. They also told me that his images were going in their Milan magazine editorial.
The precious little fish arrived, beautifully boxed in a dark grey cube featuring the silver Scabetti logo – the name was used after their daughter struggled to say Spaghetti.
I also contacted the equally lovely Cathryn Bishop of Cornish Interiors who has worked on various projects with Jill Stein and therefore also with Mark. I asked her about the waves wallpaper and she kindly offered to send me the piece that she had above her work desk! It was the perfect size to fit a white box frame, which the perfect fish could swim in front of, hanging on a little thread for 3d effect!
I wanted to share the story as it is often hard to find the good people of the world nowadays; people who are happy to give their time and effort to make someone feel good about themselves.
Cathryn and Fran, thank you for being so kind, your gifts made his day xx
The Garden Path 