Looking forward to a New Year!

Some greenish tones to bring in the New Year - my great grandmother Lucinda's painting in the dining room of my grandparent's farmhouse, and my Christmas present to my sister-in-law to be. 

The painting I've been working on for my cousin's New Year's Eve wedding has been added to my failure pile. I managed to spill a large splodge of red paint on it last night just as I was painting the finishing touches. Hopefully a card with a photo of the offending artwork and a gift voucher for framing will have to do for now..... Whoops.

Enjoy your New Year's Eve and a glass of champagne or two. (I will be for sure.)

Happy 2012!

One (or two) for the library

These two titles - A First Book of Nature and Outside Your Window, written by Nicola Davies and illustrated by one of my favourite St Jude's artists - Mark Hearld, will definitely be winging their way to my bookshelf when they are released in February 2012.

A Christmas Bush

 Just in time for Christmas! Here is my textile design featuring the Christmas Bush Ceratopetalum gummiferum. 

 This particular Christmas Bush (quite different from the Victorian Christmas Bush) is generally distributed in the open forests east of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales. The bright red sepals and green foliage of the bush are a lovely native alternative to the Poinsettia as a Christmas table decoration. 

Gouache and Gum Leaves

Today's textile design subject matter was collected in a quick walk around my local park. I had to paint these pretty quickly as the gum leaves dry out and change colour in just a few hours. Luckily there is an ample supply around here (as I eye off my neighbour's lovely flowering gum through my window!).

Christmas colours from the Australian bush

My lounge room resembles a jungle at the moment - I'm in the midst of a series of textile designs with Australian wildflowers as the subject matter and I find it much easier to draw from real life than from photographs. My favourite design so far is of a deep red kangaroo paw, and the bunch I bought from my local fruit shop are still looking good two weeks later. They sure can drink though - I have re-filled the large vase they are sitting in about 3 times!

For a bit of design inspiration I made a visit to the RBG Australian Garden at Cranbourne, where the Kangaroo Paws were putting on quite a show. I think a big bunch of these will make a great table centrepiece for Christmas Day lunch.

 I would love to make a visit to Western Australia to see these beautiful wildflowers in their natural habitat. One day.....

Inky goodness

I haven't tended to use a lot of inks in my previous textile design work as I always found it a little tricky to keep the colours separate for screen engraving. Digital printing has put an end to such considerations, so here are a few favourite inky, blotchy, colour packed fabrics!

The beautiful floral designs from Scottish company Bluebellgray have made a big splash since their launch into the marketplace in 2009. Each design is hand painted by Fi Douglas in the Bluebellgray Studio, and then printed onto cotton and linen fabrics using state of the art technology, ensuring that each brushstroke is accurately defined.

Bluebellgray curtain panel

Fold Unfold is a digitally printed table cloth by designer Margrethe Odgaard. 

Margrethe has highlighted the folds a tablecloth may have after being stored in a cupboard.

A fabulous painterly scarf from the pattern mecca - Anthropologie.

Dawn to Dusk Scarf

And an eye-catching 1920's style painterly floral chair.

Blythe Chair from Anthropologie

This digitally printed floral scarf is from Liberty's Autumn Winter 11/12 collection.

The Silver Carnation Berry Garden scarf features carnations in magical colours on a silver silk ground.

And my favourite design from the Liberty collection - a beautiful botanical print in tones of blue set against a black background.

Blue Winter Floral print silk scarf by Liberty of London.

Kangaroo paws

This weeks project is an exploration of Australian wildflowers for textile products. I spotted these richly coloured beauties in my local fruit shop  - a perfect starting point. The long stems and unusual furry flowers make a strong visual statement (and they last quite a while too). Hopefully the native flowering season isn't over just yet....

Ready made repeats

I must have taken about 40 close-up shots of hydrangeas on the weekend - I think this will make a beautiful water colour textile design! 

The gently faded beauty of Kantha cloths

I have spent the last few hours gazing at these beautiful Kantha cloth images from the Sha D'Lei range now on sale at One King's Lane. The colour combinations are totally unexpected to my Western eye, yet there is something very harmonious about every single piece.

 I love this palette of mint, navy, lilac and coffee brown.

 Perfect for a little girl's bedroom.

Red, pink and jade green - a favourite colour combo!

 A bold stripe reminiscent of 1930's beach umbrellas, lovingly teamed with a vibrant paisley.

Perfect colours for a dreamy bedroom.

A beautiful floral design.

 A bold mix of dark and light patterns and colour.

This exquisite collection of one-of-a-kind hand-stitched Kantha cloths sourced from India and Bangladesh are on sale at One King's Lane until Monday 21st November. Hmmm... would love to visit India again one day......

Friday Flowers

 It's a beautiful day here in Melbourne - I seem to get so much more work done when the sun is shining. Enjoy your weekend!

Lilac Luxe

I love the kooky mix of colours and patterns in Audrey's Parisian bedroom featured in the latest issue of Milk Magazine. I wonder who designed that fabulous wallpaper featuring cherubs, doves and peacocks?

Photographed by Louise Desrosier for Milk Magazine

Spotted in Shop 4 Kids

The latest edition of Shop 4 Kids is jam-packed with stylish summer buys, just in time for Christmas. 

I spotted a few of my Hiccups designs amongst the pages filled with wonderful offerings. It's amazing how much the industry involving children's design has grown over the last ten years - when I finished university there was only a sprinkling of kid's fashion print design jobs, and the kid's bed linen / homewares segment was a tiny one. In the Sheridan Design studio only one or two children's designs were produced each year. Times have changed!

Vintage Belle Quilt cover set

Hiccups yarn dye stripe Apron

 And here is the Hiccups 'Retro Robots' bed linen design spotted in 5 year old Hugh's bedroom.

Shop 4 Kids Issue 14 Summer 2011/12

A pile of painted patterns

It must be alliteration Friday! Here are a few of the hand-painted textile designs I have been working on this week. 

Represented by Advocate Art

Exciting times - I am now represented by the lovely people at Advocate Art Agency in the UK. I can't wait to get stuck into some illustration work  - a new area for me but one that I have always wanted to explore. Here is a link to my folio.

Fairy Bower

Whoops! I have forgotten to post about the last bed linen design I completed for the Hiccups
Summer 11/12 collection - a print and embroidered design named 'Fairy Bower'.

Embroidered fairies decorate a 30cm x 60cm cushion

A festival of pink!