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.

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.

Autumnal Leaves

A watercolour design of Autumn leaves with a tiny hint of 60's mod style.

Secret Garden

A design of interwoven leaves painted in watery shades of blue.

Robinia Leaves

A watercolour painting inspired by the lush green canopy of the robinia trees growing along the back fence of the garden.

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.

Indigo Leaves print now available at Domino!

I still have a few well-thumbed copies of Domino Magazine stashed away in my studio, saved from the time before the magazine sadly fell victim to the global financial crisis. Newly relaunched and with a strong on-line presence, Domino seems to have hit the right note again with their design savvy readers.
As a fan of the magazine, I leaped at the chance to enter the Minted x Domino art challenge, and am pleased that my artwork 'Indigo Leaves' was one of thirty pieces selected by the Domino editors to be sold at domino.com and featured in the magazine.
You can take a look at this painterly watercolour print here: domino.com

An inside garden

A collection of terrariums painted in watercolours.

Free shipping for a limited time at Society6

Enjoy free worldwide shipping on a range of products in my Society6 shop until Midnight 13 July 2014 PDT! Simply click on this promo link: http://society6.com/natalieryan?promo=e27c29

Morning Tea Print

Afternoon Tea Print

Forestia

A vintage inspired illustration featuring trees from my garden, painted in watercolour.

A little gentian - a lovely new blog with a focus on gardening

Thank you to journalist, photographer and gardener Penny Harrison for featuring my ramshackle country garden on her new blog A Little Gentian. Isn't that a lovely blog name? You can take a look at the post here: http://alittlegentian.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/gardens-textile-designer-illustrator.html

Busy on the farm

There is a lot going on outside my window farm wise - all of the tractors are busy spraying paddocks in readiness for sowing the winter crops. Here are a few photos of my version of farming throughout the seasons for a UK bed linen customer!

                           

Indigo Leaf

A design of leaves picked from my garden and painted in indigo watercolour tones.

Leafy love

The fresh yet timeless combination of blue and white is a favourite of mine, especially for kitchen and tabletop design. I created this leaf pattern with watercolour and coloured pencil.

Summer Reds

Another textile design in progress - this is the New South Wales Christmas Bush
(Ceratopetalum gummiferum) painted in gouache.

Cool blues on a hot day

I seem to go through a tube of Ultramarine Blue water colour each month! This is a snippet of a new series of summer inspired ceramic designs I'm working on at the moment.

Summer blooms

So far we have had a pretty mild start to summer, but there is a heat-wave in Perth right now so I don't think the air conditioner will be idle for much longer.... The garden has provided lots of drawing subject matter over the past month, hopefully I will be able to show some of the floral designs I have been working on in January!

I'm slowly filling up the flower beds along the front pathway with dry tolerant lavenders, salvias, pelargoniums and daisies.

From paper to metal

Earlier in 2013 I was approached by an architectural practice who were looking to create a perforated aluminium screen for a local government office building in Perth. Their client was after an image closely associated with Western Australia, and they came across my Kangaroo Paw design on my website. The finished screen has just been installed, and I'm looking forward to seeing it in person. The building will be completed in early January, so it looks like a trip to Perth will be on the cards next year!

Mushroom Spotting

I found an old Australian encyclopaedia from the 1930's in the sleep-out attached to the house. Lots of great imagery to play around with in the next few weeks!

Orchids

A watercolour pattern inspired by the delicate wildflowers on display in the local bushland.