About

This all started when I took a circular photo and thought “this would look great on a coaster”.

Actually, it started earlier than that.

Elders is about sharing indulgence, immersion and joy through carefully selected and designed pieces. The old - vintage glassware - sitting alongside the new - photographic prints and fine bone china - and equally treasured.

It really began with the fringed lampshades of my grandparents’ farmhouse, the coupe glasses my mother would use for prawn cocktails, and the family gatherings at Christmas with glassware reserved for the occasion.

And then it continued when I fell into the wine industry (thanks dad). When I discovered as a sommelier how like an elegant choreography the best of restaurant service can be. How it can, with the right surroundings, provide an immersive experience where we can detach from our current reality for a few hours. Bars, too, from the sticky-floored whiskey dive variety to elegant cocktail bars - the magic of immersion and indulgence relying more upon mood and style than expense.

Years later as a photographer I shifted my focus to the visual aspects of drinking and dining. Between exceptional cocktail glasses and the deft pairings of dishes with beautifully crafted plates I found a certain joy, one of the combination of function with beauty.

So here we are. In the middle of a pandemic which is confining our entertaining more, or exclusively, to our own homes. I was daydreaming about dinner parties that may or may not be able to happen, and all these little things that combine to make them special. The coasters? Yes, I realised that I wanted to make some enduring pieces that inspired a sense of wonder and which would perhaps become part of future generations’ traditions.

There are also wider, more long-term aims, inspired by this year’s reminder that collective action can lead to change. These aims include encouraging slower, more considered purchasing and to invest profits back into the environment. To be actively involved in making changes which will help the health of our natural world so that cocktail bars and dinner parties can hopefully be enjoyed well into the 2200s.

Elders by Justine Trickett
November 2020