Sintra

I recently visited the magical city of Sintra, located on the outskirts of Lisbon in Portugal. I wondered through the gardens of Quinta da Regaleira. The enigmatic owner of the estate helped design a palace and garden inspired by Gothic themes of alchemy and the Knights Templar. This was one of the most beautiful and unusual places I have ever seen. 

Leaves

Some small paintings of foliage.. The Wattle I drew from the beautiful wattle trees in the Kew Garden Palm conservatory, there is an impressive collection of Australian natives there which I love visiting. 

Painted Colours

Working on some paintings for some new prints.

Prints

A small print idea, designing spring prints in winter is confusing..

Winter

Mentally preparing for another winter in London..

Weobley

Visited a very quaint English village last weekend in Herefordshire near the border of Wales called Weobley. Some of the beautiful timber framed houses here date back to the 1400's, it was like stepping back in time.. 

Chelsea Physic Garden

Spent the loveliest afternoon at the Chelsea Physic Garden the other week. It's London's oldest botanic garden, founded in 1673, it houses a diverse collection of plant specimens from all corners of the world,  and is well known for it's rare collection of medicinal plants, I was very charmed by this fascinating garden. 

TEED- Stronger

This is second single cover I embroidered for TEED in colab with Mat Maitland from Big Active. I've loved working on this so much..

English Summer Gardens

I have recently had the pleasure of visiting two lovely Gardens. Here are some snaps of the gardens surrounding the House Great Dixter in Kent, the family home of writer Christoper Lloyd, and also a the magestic Kew Gardens in London.

painted silks

hui hui 
Abraxes Rex

via patternity...

Just made this poster for my friends gig next thursday.. Come along if your in the London area x

No Lights, No Lycra

For those of you in the London locale, many of you would know my other side project here has been the running of  'No Lights, No Lycra.' Started by two of my fav ladies Alice Glenn and Heidi Barret in Melbourne 2009 their dancing in the dark concept has spread the globe. Check this nice little article out about how it all began.


NLNLondon is moving to a new location, this Tuesday the 3rd of April we will be dancing in the crypt of.. 


St Mark's Parish
St Mark's Rise
Dalston E8 2NL 


7.30pm as per usual. 


Come get involved, it will make you happy!

Springtime

I've had a lovely weekend this week. Marisa, Milly and I visited Brighton yesterday, we spent a good 2 hours in the Brighton Pavilion Palace which is such a fascinating place, it was the vision of  the very eccentric King George IV who built it as basically a pleasure palace in which to entertain his friends and dignitaries, decorated a decidedly British interpretation of the Chinoiserie style of the late eighteenth century. I'd highly recommend a visit. x

Partimi

I had the pleasure of viewing the new Partimi A/W 12 collection at an open studio evening the other night in south west London. All the prints were digital taken from photographs of lovely coastal textures, rocks and heath, in a rich yet sombre colour palate. The dress cuts are quite simple, but really compliment the textural imagery in the prints. You can buy lots of Partimi peices at one my fav stores on Broadway market 69b.  

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

I recently had the pleasure of working with Mat Maitland from Big Active on the artwork for Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs new single Tapes and Money.  


I hand stitched the design using a mix of silk and cotton threads, this project sure did test my embroidery craftsmanship. It was amazing to work with on something so cool with such lovely folk that was outside my textile area of expertise. 

Watercolour pattern

Some pattern ideas..

Clissold Park

Today was such a glorious day in London, it was a perfect Sunday. Here are a couple of images I took of Clissold Park at dusk, it's a beautiful park and just around the corner from my new place, I plan to spend much of my summer days right here..

Karla Black

Scottish Sculptor Karla Black.