The Palettes of Life

June 2021. Puddle Cottage, Cornwall

An ordinary drive up the A30. But then a pink brown road edged by greenest grass, itself awash with bright white daisies. A beautiful palette can surprise you in unlikely places. Fresh cut spinach in a washing up bowl, a coffee cup on a pile of books, a birthday cake on a paper napkin. I store these palettes away, for use at a later date. Lately, my palette has been mainly blue. Indigo blue of denim, in all its life-worn hues. The process in my work has been driven by ideas around connection and relationship. To place, to people. Patchwork pieces held together with coloured threads, themselves creating little stories and relationships of their own as they cross and weave across the cloth.

Recently I was commissioned to make a bag for a mum-to-be, and the imagined relationships between these colours and threads took on great significance, as I chose colours for Mother, for Father, Baby, Family, Friendship and Nature. Running their way across a patchwork of fabrics with history, with flaws, with hues and beauty, strengthening bonds and creating new ones.

After a year of so much uncertainty, sorrow and struggle for so many, I realised that I for one needed colour. Craved it in fact. I have sourced a new and vibrant palette for this next collection. The materials are all recycled, repurposed, environmentally conscious and sustainable. Very limited amounts of each, just enough for one small capsule collection of unique pieces. Celebrating colour, craft, process and inspired by the joyous palettes of life.