Lino Origins
While I can confidently navigate digital illustration programs now, it took a good decade before I found the confidence to attempt this feat. At art school I would bounce around photo editing software, scanning fabrics and adding endless layers to construct fun collages of shapes and colour, however I was always limited to a pixelated world. Even then, I loved the power of repetition, it’s hypnotic quality and its endless potential to be applied to architecture, interior decoration and textiles. As a 20 year old I had a collection of fabrics, fibres and beads that only a grandmother could respect. Never did I suspect that my destiny was in designing the textiles themselves. I reflect warmly on memories of my favourite hiding spot as a 5 year old being in the basket of fabric offcuts underneath my grandmothers table and I’m delighted I’ve come full circle.
My passion for biology and botany propelled me to seek more knowledge having worked in different art galleries and children’s art centres and I went on to study horticulture in Brisbane’s subtropical oasis. As a creative blooded botanist every bushwalk and neighbourhood stroll abounded in different forms and colours that I would nestle home to draw and photograph. Having studied different printmaking technologies I was drawn to lino’s durable and graphic qualities and my love for hand-carving monochromatic designs united my love for pattern design and botanical illustration. It would be another 5 years before I would take the leap and learn vector based digital illustration.
As a young artist I was digitally assembling patterned fabrics before I was able to design the textiles myself. This collage was for a light show on William Jolly Bridge, Brisbane 2010.
Hand pressing lino prints was one way I could experiment with repeat designs, ‘Banksia Groundcover’ 2018
