Celebrating spring meadows, busy bees and country florals.
1. What was the inspiration behind this collection?
I’ve long had a desire to make a collection featuring bees. I currently live in Greater Manchester – the city whose symbol is the worker bee. Every time I go into the centre, I am surrounded by images of bees – from the street art, to the buses, to the shop signage to even the bins! So I think it was natural that I’d be inspired to make a bee collection sooner or later.
Then, this January, when it was cold and bleak, I found myself longing for spring – for the riot of crocuses, meadow flowers and warmer days. I started painting daffodils and primroses, comforted by the promise of colour they represented. So, the Bees & Wildflowers collection really stemmed from that love for spring and everything it represents.
2. Who did you create this collection for?
I created it for women who love spring florals, who love watching nature blossom around them. I wanted it to be a hopeful, gentle promise of brighter days ahead to those, like me, who struggle with the long winter months.
While I was painting, I was thinking of my mum-in-law, whose favourite season is spring; of my mum and grandma, who love planting flowers in the garden; of my friends from college who keep bees in the back garden and make their own honey. That makes this collection very personal to me.
3. Do you have a favourite from the Bees & Wildflowers Collection?
Oh, this is a hard one! But yes, I think I do have a couple of stand-out pieces I’m particularly proud of. One of them is the Spring Cottage Tea-towel. It’s the perfect novelty tea-towel – usually tea-towels feature patterns (nothing wrong with that!) but it’s super special to have a whole landscape artwork printed on a tea-towel. The dyes are so beautiful on the organic cotton. It’s very special.
Another firm favourite has to be the Blue Meadow cushion and matching mug. The warm navy really sings – it’s a striking piece that really catches the eye. The pattern feels strong and yet soft and pretty at the same time.
4. Why did you choose a feminine, pastel colour palette for this collection?
It all started with the very first design I created – the Spring Wreath Floral Heart. As I painted it, I was imagining the soft purples of crocus banks, the delicate pink of primroses, the snowy whites of snowdrops – the promise of spring. When I finished, I realised I’d created a piece that was very feminine and gentle in its colour scheme. I knew the whole collection needed to follow the inspiration of that piece and compliment it. That’s why, for example, the Spring Cottage scene features pink and lilac so heavily.
5. What five words would you choose to sum up the Bees & Wildflowers Collection?
Delicate, Hopeful, Gentle, Feminine, Springlike.
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