Nature Inspired

june 2026

I thought I would share a little of what I have been up to lately.

Over the past few weeks, I have been working on some new wall hanging designs inspired by the nature around my studio. It is my favourite time of year, when wildflowers are everywhere. All the roses in our garden are in bloom, and a surprise poppy in our courtyard finally shows it’s beautiful flowers.

When I start designing a new wall hanging, I often leaf through my sketchbook for ideas. But more often than not, inspiration comes from flowers unexpectedly. Sometimes I do not even know exactly why. It is a very organic process, and I feel it suits the way I make my textile pieces and how I choose colours.
 

Like the cactus that grows just outside my studio on the garden wall. I walk past it many times, but then somehow I suddenly find it inspiring because of it’s soft, powdery shades of green. When I return to the studio, I carry those colours with me and try to translate them through natural dyeing.

With this small collection, I imagined the embroidered insect details from the beginning. Normally I only add these details once the piece has been painted and dyed, but this time I wanted to see if I could incorporate the insects into the design itself. The caterpillar and butterflies came from previous pieces inspired by 17th-century paintings, and I wanted to explore that idea a little further.
 

Choosing the right colours for these embroidered insects is always a bit of a challenge. I am constantly wondering whether the embroidery should complement the dyed colours or stand out on their own. I spend a long time looking at different embroidery threads, thinking about which colours work well together and how they fit with the illustrated wall hanging itself. It can be frustrating at times, but to me that only means I am on the right track as this is all part of the creative process.
 

What I love about these embroidered details is how they draw your eye from the whole piece to a small corner where a butterfly lives. It reminds me of sitting outside and watching butterflies and bees come and go among the lavender bushes.
 

Not far from our home there is a field in the middle of the forest full of wildflowers. There are so many different colours and shapes. It is one of my favourite places to visit at this time of year.

I take my sketchbook there and spend some time drawing. Sometimes I make sketches of flowers and leaves. Sometimes I bring home a flower or leaf to use as inspiration for future projects.

Nature is always inspiring me. There is always something new to discover, whether it is a flower blooming in the garden or a field full of wildflowers in the forest.