It seems that I have birds on the brain lately. Everywhere I look, there is another sweet little bird in some form or another. One of my favourites so far are the birds by talented UK textile artist, Abigail Brown, who crafts her birds entirely by hand in her London studio. They are made from both new and reused materials, each little bird is totally unique and no two birds are alike!
Growing up, Abigail was surrounded by the fabric scraps, threads and wonderful influence of her seamstress grandmother. 'My grandma had a beautiful patchwork bag she kept all her fabric scraps in, ‘the raggy bag’, and when I was old enough to display my feelings of desire for this magical object full of wondrous bits of colour, pattern and texture, she made me my very own, much littler version.'
Abigail’s work is inspiring, delicate and imbued with a sense of inherited passion for fabrics and texture.
Another favourite feathery inspiration is the work of designer, Louise Body, whose collection of bird wallpaper is both quirky and sweet. Highly regarded as a modern British designer of contemporary wallpaper, fabric, cushions and lampshades, Louise creates wonderful designs which are printed onto high grade paper. All the paper is sourced from managed forests and only water-based inks are used.
I find Louise’s designs so appealing because they hint at a vintage nostalgia from an era long ago, a bit like those gorgeous hand-tinted vintage postcards. I found out that the hand painted quality to her work is because the wallpapers are finished by hand, with the colour on the birds being applied after the printing process.
It’s understandable why Louise’s work is so popular. It’s unique, ecologically sustainable and incredibly beautiful. All box-tickers in my opinion!
Enjoy your Monday and don’t forget to enter the GIVEAWAY for 2 tickets to the Film & Food Festival. Entries close Wednesday 2 November.
