SPACECRAFT TEXTILES: Brave Balance

The team at Spacecraft expertly walk a kind of craft tightrope. Poised on the rim between art, craft and design, Stewart Russell and his team constantly push the boundaries of what they do and how they do it. That’s because, in addition to screen printing their own artwork, and a distinct range of textile products, they also print the work of well known Australian artists and collaborate with interior designers, urban planners and architects. New is their norm, requiring an agile ability to problem solve and develop new skills. Where many would topple with the tension of this space, each member stays alert and adaptable, finding their stability in the unknown.

And Stewart wouldn’t have it any other way. In many respects, such a brave approach is a very sensible place for this wandering Scot. Early art study and a wealth of experience means he finds comfort in growth, and he has gathered a loyal team of trained artists about him who feel exactly the same way. This studio is awake, and strongly connected to it's creative neighbours in the Melbourne suburbs of Collingwood and Fitzroy.

It's here that Stewart and his partner, Donna O'Brien, set up shop more than 15 years ago following a series of print posts in Colombo, Edinburgh and Ireland. Having met at their London art school, the couple promptly downed tools following graduation and hit the road. They found themselves in Sri Lanka during the mid 80s, where colourist and textile designer, Barbara Sansoni, quickly charged the young Russell with setting up a print studio for her, based in the country's capital.

“Barbara had this art community that was based around her and Geoffrey Bawa and a group of incredible photographers, artists, architects and writers … a cultural crowd, in a very small community, so they each did a lot of everything. She asked me, for whatever reason, to set up her screen printing studio,” explained Stewart. “She sent me to North India to meet Faith Singh, who does amazing things, but mostly block printing, and she also showed me a little bit about screen printing. Block printing wasn't an option for Sri Lanka, so I formed a sense of what a screen printing production studio might look like,” he added.

The couple enjoyed two and a half years creating Barbara's studio on a rubber plantation an hour and a half out of Colombo, before working in Edinburgh for a further four. Having learned the ins and outs of setting up and managing a studio, Stewart then developed his ability to commission, create and display new work in a formative six year stint as the Director of London Printworks. Based in the bold community of London's Brixton, Stewart worked with artists and technicians and developed a prominent gallery in the area’s epicentre. He engaged with local creatives and shared with the gutsy community, an approach that is now a hallmark of his maturing textile business.

“We commissioned new work in a different way at London Printworks,” started Stewart. “Where a lot of new work commissions were just about giving artists a small amount of money, we were commissioning new work without a proper budget, so the the artists would come up with an idea and, no matter how ambitious, we would find a way to make it happen,” he continued. “We didn’t commission anyone print makers, we were commissioning people who would discuss issues, so the commissioning of new work, and then the making of the work, was a process of upskilling the people that worked for us – the technicians in particular.”

“When we got people who didn’t know how to print, they would often come with a wish list that wasn’t set by the parameters that we now subconsciously live by, such as the size of screens and the size of the mesh,” Russell added, touching on aspects of the approach that he then decided to replicate when he and Donna crossed the seas to Australia in 2000.

“To continue these competencies in Australia we decided it was important to keep working with artists - even though we had decided to not look for statutory funding. I had been working with some amazing people in London and really enjoyed the processes. Part and parcel of the curatorial position was that we would also produce the work, so we started working with artists in Melbourne, usually friends or visiting artists. And they would say ‘I want to do this’ and it would take us out of our comfort zone. Like Brooke Andrew, coming along with an image that didn’t challenge us too much, and then saying ‘Oh by the way, that has got to be 3½ metres by 2.8'. So then you have got to find somebody who will make a screen that size, or a mesh that width, all the technical aspects, and that expands our range.”

Other seeds that journeyed with the couple from London were also been sown into Spacecraft. Finding it difficult to get the table texture he wanted, Russell settled on layers of felt, covered by high quality canvas. Over time, these backing cloths caught inky remnants of each piece the studio collaborated on, as well as a stable of photographic imagery that is now synonymous with the label, such as large black and white photos of European terrace houses that are printed onto bed linen and a variety of botanical designs, including fennel, copper gum and pepper tree. Over time, these graphic layers form artworks of their own, with Stewart now regarding them as a type of ongoing diary project for the studio.

“When we were setting up in Australia,” ventured Stewart, “I was actually looking for some continuous rubber sheets to cover the tables in. I couldn’t find what I was looking for, so I built the surface I needed to print on with felt. I started off covering the precious felt with canvas, thinking that I might change to rubber down the track. When the distinctive look of the cloths started to emerge, I really enjoyed the results, and I wouldn’t change now because they are too important for me,” he explained.

Although the incidental nature of these works was new to him, the concept of a backing cloth as an art work was not. “I used it as an artwork in the UK a very long time ago,” said Stewart. “It was for a craft show – The Craft Council were inviting artists not traditionally associated with craft to be in the show. I wasn’t sure what to put in, but in the end I put in a backing cloth sheet, something I had been keeping. I had washed it and reused it, and presented it for the show as a sort of idea showing process, rather than showing a finished work, and that got a really good response,” he said.

As well as acting as a visual journal for the studio, Stewart also regards the backing cloths as a guide, saying, “They constantly teach us about composition, and they also teach us about colour. So we have a little archive of really interesting backing cloth pieces that we keep and we refer to when we want to consider colour. We find accidental colour combinations and think ‘look how well that is working’. That leads us in terms of what we see going into the store, rather than following 'two in harmony, one opposite', or high street colour theories. I think it is a more interesting reference point, or starting point.”

These artworks fetch handsome profits prices, and adorn the walls of private homes, as well as architecture projects the studio has undertaken. Once a cloth becomes too uneven with paint, or an artwork starts to make itself known, the team work together to play with areas that might need a little bit of finish. “Some areas you need to play around with to make it into a decent painting," said Stewart, "the areas that are awkward when you are looking at them. We are also now starting to just wash over some aspects of the cloth and placing a print over the top, so you have still got all of those histories written there, they are just not as up front,” he elaborated.

So, as well as the work of artists like Brook Andrew, Reko Rennie and Andrew Hazewinkel, a variety of birds, buildings, leaves and historical motifs decorate the studio. A keen Ornithologist and lover of nature, Stewart also absorbs himself in the history and cultural landscape of wherever he travels. So, on a trip to Japan, he adopted the country's traditional Hemp pattern. In Scotland, he drew lace from the local windows, and learnt the origins of the stunning pepper tree.

“When I met with my Aunts and Uncles in Edinburgh just before setting off for Australia they told me that Church of Scotland missionaries pepper corn tree to Australia from Peru because it was understood that it emitted a pheromone that dissuaded flying insects. When they came to Australia, they planted two on either side of the early churches – one to hang meat under and one to read under,” Stewart relayed.

Both motifs sit alongside other sources of inspiration he has collected along the way. This strong and interested man is his own type of storyteller. A bit like the birds he is fascinated by, he collected the seeds of one place and shares them in others, and in doing so creates a unique and “slightly edgy” place to be.

All photos by Jodie Cheetham, Threadbound

ANNIE EVERINGHAM: Right where she should be

This lovely success story takes place across two years. Not just any two years – those epic and overflowing years at the start of any creative venture. For Annie Everingham, the journey commenced when she completed a Bachelor of Fashion and Textiles at University of Technology Sydney, November 2013. Sitting on the edge of Hyde Park, in a warmth typical of the start of summer, she openly shared her sketchbook workings. Realms of delicate yet decisive pencil lines formed pretty faces, gentle hair and strong forms to hold her watercolour designs. Annie’s love of florals and abstract shapes were evident, as was a preference for cobalt blue, fuchsia pink and emerald green. And as she contemplated her fork in the road, it was clear Annie had something special.

But special does not always translate into success – and the juncture between inspiration and actualisation can be tricky to navigate. Just like the worlds of fashion and textile design had overlapped during her course, so too did the options for her future. Was her work in textile design, or was it in fashion? Should she be developing her own business and products, or working for others? With options abounding, but no clear frontrunner, one thing was clear – she would take her next steps from the seaside town of Newcastle, standing strong with support of her life partner and business graduate, Chris O’Connor.

And so, in one of those rare steps of fortune, she took the pressure off and “just for a bit of fun” started selling prints on paper of her work at Hunt &Gather, a local design market. Visitors flocked. Buyers were drawn to Annie’s bold use of colour, finding her abstract designs fresh and enlivening. Her social media following grew rapidly, and Annie quickly found herself right where she should be – painting.

“I guess when I met you I was really coming out of my degree. I was really focused on textiles and seeing where I could go with that. I started carrying on from my major project, which was the digital textiles collection that I did at uni,” explained Annie. “But as a side project I started selling the designs that I had come up with for fabric as prints ... So I set up an online store and started going to markets. I was selling them as prints on quality art paper, as artworks, which I found people really responded to. It was kind of like a hobby for me, but the more I got into it, the more the digital aspect sort of started slipping away a little bit,” said Annie.

“I was finding a lot of enjoyment from the actual tactile process of creating the artwork on paper,” she continued. “Then, once I had played around with it, I was scanning the artwork into Photoshop and working it as a digital file, which was the process I had learnt at uni. But more and more, I was enjoying the initial process, rather than the digital side of things, so because I was doing really well with sales, I started painting a lot more, and it has just been going from there. I have really stepped into more of an art space, rather than just textiles,” she added.

So although Annie had finished her studies with promising prospects for a career in fashion and design – she had won both the Design Institute of Australia’s NSW Graduate of the Year for Textiles in 2013 and been a finalist in the Textile Institute’s National Student Design and Technology Award in 2014 – the vocation she has now arrived at sits far more firmly in the realm of an artist. Her journey had travelled full circle, for as a child growing up in the country town of Tamworth she was always creating, and often daydreamed about being an artist. Torn between studying art or design, her path now makes perfect sense.

“Pursuing design seemed to be the practical solution to wanting to create for a living,” Annie elaborated, “but my interest in fashion was actually born from sketching and painting fashion illustrations, rather than a love for sewing or the construction of garments. I guess where I find myself today is sitting quite unconventionally between art and design – I feel uncomfortable labelling myself as an ‘artist’, because I apply my training in design and consider trends and the commercial aspect of my products. But when I’m designing, I’m creating from a pure, creative and intuitive place as any ‘real’ artist would do in their practice. I think in the digital age, there can be room for both to sit alongside each other, and intermesh. I really look up to creatives like Ken Done in this way. I love that my work can move between the worlds of art, fashion, homewares and design, it satisfies the conflict I used to feel in choosing one or the other,” she concluded.

These same tensions were ever present during her time of study. Annie’s colour palette is bold, repetitive and unmistakable. Being connected to the world of fashion, where colours are often martyred by trends, some of her teachers had tried to encourage her to step outside her comfort zone and try something new. But Annie was leading from within – using the colours she was drawn to explore, which have now become her signature. In another little twist of fate, one of those teachers is now one of her firmest supporters.

“When I was at uni, one of my lecturers – probably one of the teachers always steering me away from these colour palettes in the beginning – actually turned out to be one of my biggest supporters by the time I graduated,” explained Annie, “because he always said to me ‘Annie you’re an artist, don’t worry about all of this other stuff,’ because I would be crying about sewing and stuff, and couldn’t do it, but he would say ‘You know you have got such a unique talent,’ I felt as though UTS encouraged us to fit into a really conceptual, high end, niche market of fashion, readying us for the international stage, which just didn’t fit with my work. I knew it was too commercial. So when I just gave it my all and went into this other space, this art space, I was creating hand drawn artworks and printing them digitally onto squares of silk - he was sort of nudging me and saying, ‘I told you so,’ like, this is working for you because it is removed from fashion.”

“But I did often get complimented on my use of colour,” she continued. “They knew that I had an eye for colour, and could put things together and they always encouraged that in me, it was just that I always used to pick the exact same colour palette for every collection and by year three or something they were like, ‘you can’t keep using this – it is really commercial – it’s not exciting, you have got to push to try other things,’ which was their job, but I used to get frustrated. I just wanted to create with what felt right.”

It is this friction between colour and comfort zones, art and design that has enabled Annie to so easily garner a following. Although she is very modest when asked to contemplate why people like her work, she is very aware that her paintings, with their bright hues, provide an alternative to the more serious tones often found on gallery walls. They have found a contemporary home, with many of her supporters placing them in clean and modern spaces for the uplifting pops of colour and life they provide.

“I just pick colours that I like – that I am drawn to myself. I think the pastels and the vibrant colour palettes are quite commercial, especially at the moment. I think a lot of these colours are having a moment in the spotlight – but I guess, if you go into a gallery, a lot of natural tones are probably more prominent than brighter colours. I think people are drawn to my paintings because they are something they haven’t seen in a gallery setting – my colours are seen in more of a commercial, interior design space,” suggested Annie.

Lately, these palettes include bursts of candy pink, ocean turquoise and indigo blue, inspired by the colourscape from her recent European summer, which included Greek beaches and the Italian Riviera. Annie works in layers – freely building up washes of the colours she is drawn to, then working into the areas of interest that develop along the way.

“I love working in layers, and I have been paying a bit more attention to my process in the last few months,” Annie elaborated. “But, I would definitely say I do a wash, I pick a basic colour scheme, or just a background colour that I am feeling drawn to, maybe one I have pulled from an image or something. I am a big user of resources like Pinterest and I keep journals and things like that. I just love images, so I soak up a lot of colour and pattern and texture through them. So I’ll sort of build up a rough of the texture for the background and then let that dry and then I will probably start working on another canvas at the same time while that one is drying. Then I will go back and do another layer and just work into the textures and shapes that are emerging from the first layer, and just sort of build on that. Build up shapes, slowly, work into the colours, and just let it play out.”

So her studio walls, as well as being the backdrop for her painting, are often dotted with images and paint chips. “I am sort of still working out what my style is,” said Annie, “so I am sort of just letting it all out and going crazy and moving between styles and mediums at the moment. Ironically, I’m also getting a bit more experimental with my colour choices. I recently chose an orange I wouldn’t usually use because I found some random picture of an old rusty Moroccan style door. It was a really beautiful image and I was really drawn to the washed out texture of it and I just tried to replicate that in that washy piece and it all just sort of flows on from there. I really love old architecture and aging surfaces,” she said.

These colours, textures and inspiration combine to create something that is uniquely hers in a process she joyfully shares on Instagram. “I thrive in the sharing community on social media – Instagram, obviously. I really love following the journey of other artists and seeing what they are coming up with every day, and I enjoy that side of the creative process and sharing my step by step process to achieving an outcome,” said Annie.

So, while following favourites like Miranda Skoczek, a host of florists and an assortment of Turkish carpet makers, Annie has worked to develop a range of limited edition art prints, digital wall prints, cushions, greeting cards and original artworks. She made the jump to working full time on Annie Everingham Design Co. at the start of the year and is currently realising another long held dream – working from her own creative studio in her seaside town.

Since her return from Europe, Annie has been kept busy wholesaling her design range to homewares stores and her ongoing commissions, with plans to host her first solo exhibition at local retailer Willows Home Traders in the pipeline. Still enjoying the creative freedom that her move away from digital tools has provided, she remains a lover of textile design and would love to collaborate with others to see her work on a range of homewares products, or even on the fashion runway.

“I’ve fallen out of interest with my work on the computer – I sort of love spending my time more of the tactile side of things, but I am definitely open to seeing my work on different products and collaborating with other designers and people who can make that happen, because I think there is a really nice marriage there between art and fashion,” said Annie.

One thing is for sure – this gentle, brave and talented young woman is in a great place. This dreamy lady has her head screwed on right, and offers some wonderful words of advice to other aspiring designers. “The journey I have found myself on, I have allowed myself the space to experiment, with everything that I can – not holding back, and not feeling like I have to get it right the first time. I think there is a lot of beauty in the process in textiles, and a lot of mistakes can happen and they are usually the best part. So push on through the anxieties you have as a creator, when you are creating things and worrying if they are valid, and just having the strength of character and knowing that your intuition is going to take you to a good place.”

Thanks Annie!


All photographs courtesy of Annie Everingham annieeveringham.com

INK & SPINDLE INTERNSHIP: Print People

Caitlin Klooger of Ink and Spindle with a fresh print of Bracken drying overhead. 

The textile realm is rich with people who get things done. They are among the makers of our world: those who use their hands, hearts and bodies to carve creative vocations. Often, instead of planning and plotting, they just do. Sleeves rolled up, they dive into their dreams, learning and growing along the way. In this spirit, three enthusiastic young women created Ink and Spindle just over 8 years ago. Their collective determination poured into everything from stripping floors to a self-made printing table. And in this same spirit, one of Australia’s friendliest textile studios opens its doors to interns, an eclectic mix of textile lovers who eagerly arrive to also learn by doing.

A few months ago, it was me who donned a studio apron. Having long recognized the gap between tertiary textile training, hands on workshops and the realities of running a small business, I was hungry to learn more about the day-to-day workings of a textile label. My first visit to Younghusband Studios in Melbourne’s Kensington, where Ink and Spindle is based, was two years ago. Inspired by the open and honest approach adopted by its creators, I knew the tutelage of Lara Cameron and Caitlin Klooger (who joined the business in 2014) would help me to refine my own dreams.

Each textile studio mirrors the character of its creators. Aspirations, personality and skill influence decisions and direction. Over time, like any small business, day-to-day activities reflect these choices, shaping the look, feel and activity in each workspace. For Ink and Spindle, who elected from the outset to hand screen print its own yardage to order, this means lots of printing.

Printing in tandem on the 10 metre table.

So a 10 metre metal table dominates the studio space, flooded with light by three large industrial arched windows rimmed in their famous ‘Duck Blue’. A working cloth protects the table when idle, peeled back from the slightly padded and adhesive table surface when it is time to print. Being almost two metres wide, Lara and Caitlin work in unison across the table’s width. Together they roll out fresh yards of natural, organic cloth, using the adjustable stops set in the rail along the table’s edge to place the screen in the correct spot each time. After first flooding the silk screen with a colour of their client’s choice, they pass the ink from one to the other three times using a squeegee, the rhythm and intimacy of the process mesmerising to watch.

To prevent the wet print from muddying the underside of the screen and transferring to unwanted spots, the design repeat is printed in an alternating sequence. So panels one, three, five and seven are printed first, followed by a short drying break, before panels two, four, six and eight yield the completion of a one colour design. The fresh print is gently peeled from the table and hung overhead on pieces of dowel attached to two taught lengths of wire that run the table’s length. The cloth dries in soft folds, sometimes while more printing takes place, and get pushed carefully to one end as more space is required.

It is these folds of drying fabric framing the print time chatter and lively tea breaks that give Ink and Spindle its fond feel. Bolts of finished fabric, paint stands, cutting tables and the studio of Abby Seymour Jewellery and Handmaker’s Factory group around the central space, with couriers, customers, neighbours and friends maintaining an almost constant procession of contact and fun. The relaxed and easy greeting extended to each reveals the genuine heart of this business, and goes a long way to explaining why this internship process works so well for both the brand and those who come to learn.

Studio screens and the cleaning trough, where a high pressure hose is used to remove the water soluble ink from the screen before it dries.

“Firstly we just love having new faces around,” explains Lara, “getting to know everyone, their passions & ideas - it can be quite inspiring! Secondly it's definitely invaluable having an extra pair of hands around, especially on the two days a week we spend solidly printing,” she says.

During these days, interns are involved in preparing and washing screens, packing orders, mixing ink and a range of incidental learning based on whatever is happening in the business at the time that, lucky for me, included a photo shoot and meetings with collaborative partners. Lara believes in these practical learnings, explaining that “there are so many practical aspects involved in what we do that you could never really learn without seeing a fully functioning business in operation. It's one thing to learn an ‘art practice’ during a course, but another thing entirely to transform that practice into something that's efficient enough to be sustainable in a business sense (and environmentally too, preferably)!”

“For example,” she continues, “we tend to limit the number of screens used in a design, sometimes using the same screen offset or rotated for the second colour, mainly because it's more cost efficient. We also demonstrate simple things like resting your spatula on the lid of your ink tub instead of inside it, so that ink doesn't get onto the handle - and then on your hands - from the rim of the tub. Sounds petty but it prevents a lot of mess!”

A small break between printing panels to prevent the ink moving to unwanted spots.

It is precisely these practical tips that filled my cup during my two weeks at Younghusband. It is almost impossible to convey the weighty benefit of such advice in a how-to publication, formal design training or short course. These are the types of skills best learnt on the job, and repeated daily, that ultimately make an enormous difference in the efficiency and ultimate profitability of each making business.

“Efficiency, streamlined processes and correct pricing are hugely important with any creative practice,” adds Lara, “to prevent burnout and pursuing ideas or products that aren't going to be viable to produce in the long run. We see far too many tea-towels, garments, cushions, zip pouches etc that are massively underpriced, and often you see those labels disappear within a year.”

Drawn to vocations like this for creative reasons, the truth is that any successful maker must also be a creative entrepreneur. Juggling marketing, accounting, websites, orders, materials, new ideas and the management of a space requires a lion share of time, energy and resources. Often, it is these skills, mixed with a dash of that something special, that will allow a business to thrive. Watching the rise of the craft movement, and the momentum that continues to regrow around traditional crafts, there seems to be so much space for the invigoration of apprenticeships and programs like these in the workspace. As someone who has sometimes struggled with how to set up my own handmade enterprise, the experience has been enormously beneficial and shrunk a few of the elephants I had sitting in the room (particularly ink mixing - thank you Lara!).

When talking about how internships can fit into other craft businesses, Lara says, “I think running an internship program doesn't suit all businesses, and it certainly wasn't something we felt ready for until we were well established and felt we had enough tasks and advice to impart to make the internship worthwhile. We tend not to take anyone on for too long, partly because we have a lot of demand for the position and partly because we don't want to be taking advantage of anyone's labour once we've imparted as much knowledge as we practically can. If in doubt, it can work well to have someone in just one or two days a week over a longer period, so you can make those days interesting.”

Her answer reflects the genuine heart that beats through this business. Knowing that I was visiting other textile businesses could have potentially rattled Caitlin and Lara. Theirs is after all, a competitive business, closely related to cut throat world of fashion. But it didn’t – their good will, openness and genuine desire to see Australian textile makers thrive allowed them to offer me the same experience as the community of friends and creatives they have created. Bending and flexing with the changing needs of the market, and their own life cycles, this business is as much about people as it is all of that printing. People and printing – that’s not bad!

A two colour print of Kangaroo Paw dries in the studio.

Ink and Spindle puts out a call for interns twice a year. Be sure to keep an eye on their social media, or check the relevant section of their website, if this is of interest to you. You can also read another article I wrote about them here.

Jodie x

UMBRELLA PRINTS: When Creativity Multiplies

A selection of Umbrella Prints Trimmings. Photo: Threadbound

Across the world, regular chats with neighbours on the front steps bring people together. Lives loved and lost merge with gossip of the mundane and extraordinary. Ideas are shared, and time ticks on. Creatives Amy Prior and Carly Schwerdt met on the threshold of their respective businesses many moons ago, in their own industrious corner of Stepney, South Australia. United by childhoods full of imagination and wonder, their respective training in visual arts and graphic design was also complimentary, so they talked. And talked, and talked and talked. And in this way their thoughts on textile design and creative living expanded until the front step would hold them no longer.

Their first project was a charming flip doll, complete with 12 of their own textile designs. They printed fabric pieces and made sewing kits. These promptly sold, so within no time their collaborative effort grew, and Umbrella Prints began.

Originally conceived as a creative shelter for their individual work, the collective energy that had begun outside quickly grew within their lively walls. Both devoted to a life of making, their individual artistic aspirations dissolved into what has flourished as a truly collaborative effort for the past ten years.

Umbrella Prints Trimmings. Photo:Threadbound

Their work quickly expanded into a small range of base cloths, hand printed onto organic linen and hemp. Many of these designs continue to stand proud in their current collection, with the duo often experimenting with colour and scale to keep things fresh, and to explore the full potential of each design.

By continuing Carly’s original business, Nest Studio, which invites children into the space for regular art classes and workshops, the girl’s figurative ‘umbrella’ now firmly represents a space for open sharing. What these two passionate and capable women have come to know is that when creativity is shared, it knows no bounds.

“We love the idea of sharing creativity; it grows in ways you would never expect and exponentially,” explains Amy. “When we first began, umbrella was a word we used to describe a protected place of sanctuary where we could work as individuals. But we soon realized that it worked way better when we dropped the ego. We had to trust, and respect one another with each other’s ideas and work,” she says.

“We had been printing our own names on each selvedge; we dropped them. It seemed so irrelevant because all of the decisions were together and it wasn’t important who drew the motif or who chose the scale or colour. It gave us freedom.”

Brushstrokes, from the Umbrella Prints Flowers Collection. Photo: Threadbound

This freedom lies at the core of the designers’ business. Constantly grounded by the intuitive and joyful way the children create, free of judgement and restriction, the two have chosen to run their label (and lives) by putting creativity first. As mothers of five girls between their respective families, they work hard and always cut themselves the required slack to lead happy, healthy and joyful lives.

“We both have a drive to create; sometimes it feels like the business grew out of a need to justify the time we were spending in a world where money is the measure,” says Amy. “We love our work so much; there is an overwhelming feeling that we haven’t even begun yet. It’s been a logistical juggle with five children between us… we are beyond excited at the prospect of continuing on with our body of work and to taking it to its prime potential,” she continued. “As artists we are always grappling with the divide between art and the commercial.  We have both had to learn how to be business women, but then produce work without considering a market in order for it to be honest.”

So their process is a largely intuitive one, often beginning with the regular and uncontrived creative moments they allow themselves, like a quick doodle or part of a painting. Both devoted to flowers, plants and time spent in nature, they invite all three into their studio in vases and pots that sit comfortably among inspiration boards, children’s art works, fabric swatches and picture books. When they first began, Carly, university trained in both graphic design and primary school teaching, loved to look at Amy’s print works and paintings and pull motifs from them. Her design training and bold approach to patterns allowed her to simplify the texture and detail of Amy’s creations into the monochromatic style best suited to screenprinting.

Umbrella Prints textiles are widely used for quilting and craft. Photo: Threadbound

Quoted as describing this complimentary way of working as their ‘yin and yang’, Amy explains their design process by saying, “What we start with is not what we end with. It grows and changes, sometimes purely because of technical issues. We start with bringing together sketches and a collection of imagery we are in love with, almost like a show-and-tell. Other times it is like a pitch, you know, ‘I’ve had this idea, what if you put this with this? I know that funny colour would go kind of great with that; it’s missing something’ etc.  There is no formula; our choices for colours are purely intuitive.”

Thus their designs really are a reflection of the creative lives they have made for themselves. Key to this work is the spirit in which they embrace and admire the work of others, giving Umbrella Prints a wonderfully close connection to the creative and craft communities. Amy and Carly regularly share the work they are inspired by, drawn from blogs, books, exhibitions, stores and conversations in the little store they created on site to share the work of others. In turn, the making community regularly supports them, with a multitude of articles, photos and mentions shared online.

This sharing spirit helps to keep the Umbrella strong. And like the idea of creativity growing when it is shared, this spirit multiplies their business, with the girls’ work being used by a dream list of
designers, stylists, sites and makers, including Anthropologie, Enoki, Anna Spiro, Such Great Heights, Polli and Meet Me at Mikes.

Umbrella Prints Trimmings and vintage buckles. Photo: Threadbound

Riding that initial great wave of craft blogging in the late nineties, the work of Umbrella Prints has always been photographed and written about, with a respectable portion of words and images jumping off the internet and onto the page of various craft publications. Not one to sit still, Carly even wrote her own book, Little Handmade Things, shortly after the birth of her second child in 2011. Yessiree, this textile place is all about making.

The same can be said for their buyers. The designs from Umbrella Prints quickly became the darlings of a small niche of modern crafters who were passionately part of the craft resurgence. The synchronistic timing of this label’s creation meant Amy and Carly’s work found its way into the hands of a new type of quilter, crafter or maker, who was desperately seeking an alternative to the usual stable of fabrics available. The kitsch-free designs, printed on GOTS certified 100% organic base-cloths, were just what the new breed of crafter were looking for.

The fabric’s natural colours and muted tones (with the occasional very perfect pop of colour) provided the perfect anecdote to ranges of quilting cloths that had seemed to stay the same for the best part of decades. These women found their niche, and in doing so have built a business based on a very genuine connection with the people who purchase their fabric.

Photo: Threadbound

Describing their typical buyer as “a woman who is intelligent and creative, with a sense of who she is - someone who enjoys interpreting our fabrics into her life, rather than being prescribed to,” it makes sense that Amy and Carly’s market also appreciate the duo’s no-waste approach. Unable to part with any of the tiny fabric scraps that came from the in-house production of their products, in 2009 Amy and Carly introduced the Umbrella Prints Trimmings Challenge, an annual challenge, now in its 8th year, to create something with a small parcel of Umbrella Prints fabric Trimmings.

“We had always designed our patterns to give generous imagery to all customers, even those working with small pieces, so that no matter where you cut the design it would always look good,” explained Amy. “So we had these cute packets we called Trimmings and they just kept selling and selling and we began to really wonder why and ask ourselves ‘What were people doing with these packets?’”

“We thought we would find out by holding a competition. We have invited some amazing crafters, designers and artists to help pick a winner. Last year we added a Quilter’s category. It has been awesome fun. Had we approached our work from a business perspective, in terms of viability we would never have given anything like this a go. It is a labour of love. It is nice to see it become a ‘thing’ that people chat about and get excited about,” Amy said.

Photo: Threadbound

Participants are invited to post photos of their work on each Umbrella Prints Trimmings Pinterest board, where visitors place comments and share a conversation about their favourites. Over the years, judges have included Luisa Brimble (Alphabet Journal), Jenni Draper (Green Magazine), Irene Hoofs (Bloesem) and Jodi Levine (Martha Stewart), with the 2015 winner recently being decided by the inimitable Maura Grace Ambrose, of Folk Fibers. This wonderful list of women read very similarly to the characters Amy and Carly most admire, describing the most inspiring people they have met on their journey as “passionate thinkers who want to understand and make things better and who do what they believe in and have the courage to be themselves.”

It would seem these two keep giving out what they get in abundance. And while their venture is not without its challenges, requiring every bit of the tenacity and determination these girls invest, the end result really does seem to be joy. Amy explains that “the market for fabric in Australia is tiny and the cost to post it overseas is expensive. One thing we can do is engage with our audience like a big brand can’t. Plus it makes it fun and interesting. Producing fabric is like a collaboration, the cloth has another life beyond our studio - in people’s homes, or being worn as clothing, or dressing someone’s precious child. It is intimate; we love to share that.”

Photo: Threadbound