Introducing Meander Designs

Wishing you all a lovely festive season - it has been quite a while between posts here in 2015!

In between freelance design projects I have been working towards the launch of a collection of homeware products inspired by Australia's unique flora and fauna, featuring my hand painted watercolour designs.
First to launch in the Meander collection are four tea towel designs, printed locally in Melbourne using non-toxic eco friendly inks.
Printed on 75% linen / 25% cotton tea towels, these designs are an easy-to-post gift to friends and family near and far.
For more info and details, take a look at my new website: www.meanderdesigns.com.au

Eucalyptus Leaves Tea Towel

Indigo Garden Tea Towel

Lucindale Tea Towel

Nardoo Tea Towel

Coming soon - giclee prints and greetings cards.

Colour inspiration from the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show

I have well and truly stocked up on spring bulbs after visiting the very busy Flower & Garden Show, now I just need a few spare moments to get them planted into the garden! 

This pretty palette of colours might be something to consider for next summer / autumn plantings.

 
The Yates Garden stand featured an impressive mix of native and exotic plantings. Another great colour palette to consider too....

A beautiful patch of meadow blooms grown from seed.

The 5000 Poppies project

And yet another stunning palette featuring plantings of deep burgundy, berry red, black and creamy white grasses and flowers.

Coral tones

A leafy textile design painted in a coral palette of Winsor & Newton watercolours - Opera Rose, Scarlet Lake and Quinacridone Red.

Daisy Drift

A drift of daisies collected from my garden and painted in watercolour. My favourites are the brightly coloured paper daisies (grown from seed) from Western Australia - they flower for most of the year.

Red Box Eucalyptus Leaves

A watercolour design featuring the heart shaped leaves of the Eucalyptus polyanthemos, 

commonly known as Red Box, a eucalyptus found throughout central Victoria and NSW.

Spring Garden season

Perhaps my favourite thing about leaving the city and doing a 'tree change' has to be the continual inspiration of having a rambling country garden to plant and nurture (and paint of course...) I'm part of a committee organising an on-going series of Open Gardens in my local district - the first of which is taking place in November in Rushworth, North-Central Victoria. Our weekly meetings generally end up being entertaining discussions about plants and gardening rather than strictly following an agenda!

I took these photos at one of the local gardens that will be featured on the Saturday. I love the colour palette of reds, purples, yellows and whites, and those poppies were stunning in real life. I remember this house from my high school days - back then it was rented by a few young P.E and Maths teachers and featured waist height grass and a couple of scraggly pepper trees! Now the garden is planted with a great mix of drought tolerant native and exotic species, from cottage garden favourites through to native bird attracting grevilleas and wildflowers endemic to the area. I have included a couple of the local wildflowers on my poster design for the event - the yellow everlasting daisy and billy button.

The bush in bloom

Over the next few months the Box-Ironbark forest around Rushworth, Whroo and Gobarup puts on a wonderful and ever-changing display of wildflowers. The jet black, fluted trunks of ironbark, rising like columns from quartzy ground provide an attractive contrast to the many colourfully flowering shrubs such as Grevillea, Acacia and Hibbertia species - and a wealth of terrestrial orchids. Time to get the sketchbook out!

Rosy Heath-myrtle Baeckea ramosissima

Whirrakee Wattle Acacia hakeoides

Small Crowea Crowea Exalata

Cypress Daisy Bush Olearia teretifolia

Spiky Guinea Flower Hibbertia exutiacies

Fairy Wax-flower Eriostemon verrucosus

Dainty Phebalium Phebalium festivum

Pink Beard-heath Styphelia ericoides

Prickly Cryptandra Cryptandra tomentosa

Mint Bush Prostanthera denticulata

Twiggy Bush-pea Pultenaea largiflorens

Fringe-myrtle Calytrix tetragona

Wax-lip orchid Glossodia major

Yam-daisy Microseris scapigera

Cypress Daisy, wattle and box gums