Snapshots

Every place I have ever been to, every place I have never been to even, remain within my mind. Snapshots of sounds and smells and particularly in my case pictures.

Hastings (UK), the first place I lived after leaving home brings forth visions of tall Victorian brick buildings, municipal gardens all laid out with bedding plants and walking along the promenade enveloped in mist and the smell of the sea. Edinburgh is a mixture of ancient winding streets and long straight Georgian vistas. The buildings are tall and close like walking in a box and pockets of greenery appear unexpectedly tucked in between. The sound is of never ending traffic and people and a soft Scottish accent.Morocco, even though I have never been there calls forth visions of courtyards and searing white heat, juxtaposed with crowded markets and the smell of smoke and cinnamon.

And now we live near Napier in New Zealand. And what do I see ? Norfolk Pines. Long stately rows of them their primordial silhouette backed against the Pacific visible from miles away.

Such a strong shape demands to be reproduced as some sort of print - so watch this space . . .

Inspiration #3

Many of the houses on Napier hill have decorative fretwork on gable ends and on veranda posts. Some very simple and some very fancy. I find them interesting and have been taking snaps of them for years. I am not sure how, but the back of my mind something is mulling.

I love the the bird motive below, at least that is what I think it is.

Inspiration #2 - Leadlights

The inspiration behind our Napier Rose range of textiles was taken from the above leadlight from the Art Deco Rothman building in Napier. I took this photograph on a visit to the building with friends a few years ago. I have used the outlines of this rose already as a template for a quilting pattern. The plans for the Napier Rose textiles are underway and Peter is working on the blocks.
I really love the daisy leadlight below, it used to be in the Christchurch Arts Centre, I have no idea if it survived the earthquake, I hope it did. But I suspect it didn't. I would like to use it as one of the themes in a range of textiles based on photos I took last time I was in Christchurch. At the moment they are all still mulling around in my head, keep checking back to see them here in the future.

Inspiration #1

Over the next few weeks we are going to post some of the images that have inspired our designs. Starting with the iconic Norfolk Pine.