Walk on the Wild Side

Taking inspiration from beautiful hand-drawn flora, I have created a new collection of four designs depicting plants that give sustenance to bees and butterflies, food for birds, and cover for other creatures. Gardens left to grow wild offer moments of amazement and wonder that Vanessa has tried to capture in her four designs: Sunflower, Fine Foliage, Berries & Leaves and Dotty Check. Vanessa talks through each of the designs:

Sunflower: "These cheerful flowers and the delightful way they nod towards the sun inspired me to create this new print. I also took inspiration from a Victorian ceramic tile depicting sunflowers; cutting the shapes from lino and printing the repeat pattern by hand."

Sunflower Detail: "Resting on a beautiful cream background, this is exactly the same design as the one above, however, each one is multi coloured. The versatility in this design enables you to mix and match with other fabrics within this, and previous collections, to create a very unique scheme. I particularly like the fact you can see the etchings of the block print that helped me create the initial design, giving a slightly more rustic feel to the somewhat geometric shapes running along the fabric."

Fine Foliage: "I collected and pressed these four contrasting leafy sprigs on a walk around Coniston Water in Cumbria. These shapes include ferns, bracken, hornbeam and wild grasses."

Berries and Leaves: "Berries and leaves are abstracted in this multi-directional design with echoes of the shapes seen when simple fruits are cut in half. It’s a celebration of colour on a natural cream linen fabric, making it a light and airy choice for large windows. It is an easy choice for upholstery and continues my obsession with spots and organic shapes!"

Dotty Check: This playful design is taken from artwork by Vanessa's daughter Rose Arbuthnott.

Rose says: “I would paint checks for days on end, exploring the limitless possibilities for colour combinations and then Mum proposed turning one of these checks into a fabric. It’s great to work together, we reminisced about our trip to the Isle of Harris for tweeds and other plaid designs I made in the Summer Isles years ago…”