Secret Garden

And one for the girls! My latest bed linen design for Cottonbox Kids is 'Secret Garden'.

Take a step inside the filigree gates into an enchanted garden filled with beauty.

 Proud peacocks show off their stunning plumage beneath a mystical tree bursting with ripe figs and beautiful blossoms. Delicate butterflies flit and flutter around the water colour branches. Girls of all ages will fall in love with this detailed hand painted design in a palette of restful and harmonious spring tones.

The 'Secret Garden' bed linen collection is now available online at www.cottonbox.com.au

'Aviator' bed linen design

Hot off the press (or in this case, printing table) is my design for bed linen,

 'Aviator' by Cottonbox Kids.

Bi-planes, monoplanes, jet fighters, cargo planes and bombers all take to the sky for some aeronautical adventures. These magnificent flying machines from the first few decades of the 20th century have been hand drawn and painted in intricate detail - a perfect bed linen design for boys who admire these wonderful early feats of modern aeronautical engineering. Many of these robust aeroplanes can still be seen performing at Air Shows today.

The 'Aviator' design is printed on a lovely 100% cotton, 225 thread count base cloth, and is available in single and double quilt sizing.

Quilt Cover sets, set of 3 wall canvases and cushions are now available from 

www.cottonbox.com.au

Deco Roses

Art Deco style roses, painted in watery inks.

Inspired by....Dufy

With Baz Lurhmann's adaptation of  The Great Gatsby about to hit our screens, I found myself delving into a favourite reference book - Art Deco Textiles - The French Designers by Alain-Rene Hardy. Dufy's wonderful floral and pictorial designs and skilful repeats always inspire.

The French artist Raoul Dufy (1877 - 1953) was encouraged to design fabrics by the great Art Deco era couturier Paul Poiret. In 1911 Poiret set up a small textile printing studio to produce Dufy's lively and dramatic patterns, which were incorporated to great effect into his clothing designs.

Coat, 1911
Paul Poiret 
Textile design by Raoul Dufy 
Ivory and navy block printed velvet with brown fur trim and gold metallic mesh-covered silk closures.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Such was the success of Dufy's collaboration with Poiret, less than a year later the artist was offered a contract with the Lyons silk firm Bianchini-Ferier. Between 1912 and 1928 Dufy designed over 2000 patterns for dress and furnishing silks, and linen and cotton furnishing textiles.

The Harvester, c.1920

Design for printed linen by Raoul Dufy

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Roses, c.1925

Design attr. to Raoul Dufy

Les Tuilleries, c.1920

Design for woven silk by Raoul Dufy

Fleurs, 1918

Design for block-printed cotton by Raoul Dufy

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Jungle, 1922

Design for woven silk / wool by Raoul Dufy

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Venice, c.1920,21

Design for woven silk by Raoul Dufy

V&A Museum

Forest and sky

A pile of painted artwork on my desk ready to scan and put in repeat. Can you tell which paint colours  are constantly on my art supply shopping list?

A country retreat

I love an old fashioned country garden and this one, Bloomfield in Stanley (just out of Beechworth, Victoria) was packed with inspiring ideas and features that I would love to re-create in my own garden, one day..... 

Even better, the house is just across the road from the famous Stanley Pub. It was very hard to leave after a lovely long weekend!