exhibition recommendation: andy warhol's textiles in edinburgh!

hello again, long time no see, another month went past so quickly. of course, we were quite busy getting our new lookbook published, but even amidst the busiest periods it’s important to make time to get inspired. i thought that i’d recommend something a bit different this time - we aren’t going to recommend a building (well, yes, sort of) or a book (well, yes, sort of…!), we’re going to an exhibition - to my favourite venue in edinburgh - the dovecot studios!

if you’re in scotland, and are into textiles, it’s an absolute must to visit this tapestry studio (chances are, we might have met there as it’s also my favourite place to exhibit at fairs here!) and this spring they have prepared something quite special for visitors - andy warhol’s textiles!

it’s not the first time i saw some them in scotland - a few years ago a wonderfully curated exhibition of artist’s textiles took place in new lanark, which included his work as well as fabrics from picasso, dali and miro amongst others. i remember it being quite large and certainly beautiful - a rich journey into textile designs by artists we mostly know for their paintings and sculptures. this one is based on a similar concept - we all know andy warhol the pop-artist but how much do we know of the textile designer?

the dovecot curated it into a smaller and more focused exhibition that goes through his commercial textile designs. if you’re familiar with his logos and other commercial work, you’ll instantly recognise the easily reproduceable, wet inky screen printing style that marks all the exhibited textiles. the exhibition details this process a little bit if you’re not familiar with it, as well as shares some of the commercial background of the textile businesses these were produced for.

it really is a joyful ride with conversational patterns - mostly on 1950s and ‘60s fashion pieces. you might have seen the button prints before, but there are brooms, pretzels and gardening tools too… and it’s also quite interesting to look close-up and see the graphical quality of the designs. it is also a journey into how the textile industry used to work just a few decades ago.

i have not taken many photos at the gallery itself as it’s much better to look at it in person. however i did buy the big book (i do not often do it after exhibitions) to remind myself of these patterns from time to time.

go go go and see this - highly recommended! until 18th may.

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links:

andy warhol - the textiles at the dovecot studios

in conversation with ciara mcinnes

happy autumn! we’re back to work, back to school, back to looking ahead and also back to talking to people so i’m really pleased to announce tha after a long hiatus, t the design conversation series is continuing with a new arist! ciara mcinnes is an architect and fine artist based in glasgow. i discovered her fabulous prints on instagram during lockdown when i was craving to see beautiful buildings - some of them are the exact same buildings i’m also fascinated by, such as the netherdale stadium of peter womersley – so i was really keen to know more about the background about these beautiful works.

ZITA: hello ciara! first things first - could you say a few words about yourself, what you do and how you got there?

CIARA: hi there, thank you so much for having me! i'm an architect and fine art printmaker based in the west end of glasgow. i work in the medium of lino print, combining traditional handprinting techniques with contemporary, urban subject matters. inspired by the city, street art and general urban chaos, my work typically documents lost landscapes, urban spaces and historic buildings.

ZITA: i can see your architectural background  - it comes across beautifully on your urban prints. i’m always glad to find other people who also see the beauty too in the things that often get a bad press. could you share a little bit about what inspires you about these landscapes?

CIARA: for me, the built environment is so inspiring, constantly changing and evolving. i love to document the city in my work, taking tiny snapshots of a place in time, knowing that it will never look exactly the same again. the light will be different, the graffiti will change, it will eventually be lost for good and exist only in print.

in architecture, it has always been the case that the styles of the previous generation are undervalued because they are seen as dated but not yet historic. In glasgow, there has been a huge cull of brutalist architecture in recent decades, a style that is only now starting to gain recognition. i'm really drawn to document these buildings in particular because of they represent an important era in history, when architects and designers were tearing up the rule book.

ZITA: that’s fascinating. i do love that era too, and the ideas they represent! do you have a favourite place, a city or a building you go like regularly going back to? Or do you continuously look for something new?

CIARA: i am always on the lookout for somewhere new, i love to travel. at the start of 2020 i visited mexico city which was such a vibrant and energetic city. the architecture is so diverse from pre-hispanic to cutting edge contemporary and everything in between, it's somewhere I'd love to go back to.

ZITA: that must have been beautiful. you mentioned brutalism before, but is there a particular school of architecture or style you’re attracted to more than others?

CIARA: i'm a fan of minimalist, contemporary architecture. there's a few places really leading the field such as scandinavia and japan but it's not something we have really embraced in scotland yet. there's an architectural practice called SANAA who create some truly breathtaking work.

ZITA: thanks for the tip, i will make sure to check it out. so what is the next cityscape or building you’re turning into a print? can you tell anything about any work in progress?

CIARA: i'm currently working on pair of prints that explore the temple gasworks in the north of glasgow. the structures of the old gasholders are still in place and create these skeletal figures in the landscape which you can see for miles around. i'm going to be integrating some more natural imagery in the prints which is a new direction for my work so i’m excited to see the finished pieces.

ZITA: sounds really exciting, i’ll be looking forward to seeing the finished prints. i’m also interested in your technique. your prints are very photographic! how are you working them into your prints? can you explain a little bit about your process as well?

CIARA: i always start a print by creating a master pen drawing which i then trace using carbon paper onto the lino block. i will usually combine elements from several photos or images into a final composition, all with a little artistic license. i often make little tweaks at the carving stage too, with a lot of natural elements freehanded as I go. the prints evolve through the printing process so i never fully know what the print will look like until the very end.

ZITA: that is really interesting! and your colour scheme is very minimalist and together with your ukiyo-e inspired technique, it reminds me a bit Japanese influences. it is very consistent throughout your work and it works to a wonderful effect – could you tell more about this? do you have a process of deciding about the colours in your prints? 

CIARA: japanese printmaking is certainly an inspiration, particularly the dedication to craftsmanship and technique. my colour palette is typically very tonal which allows me to focus on the form of the print, then I create focal points by picking out details in metallic. i typically mix my inks with extender to create a more translucent effect, i love how this gives the prints an almost watercolour like finish. 

ZITA: it does! the results are really beautiful. and now the questions i ask from everyone - can you recommend a book or an artist or a maker whose work is worth looking into? something that keeps you going?

CIARA: i recently discovered an artist called claas gutsche who's based in berlin, a fellow lino cutter, his work is so precise and his technique is definitely something to aspire to. in a totally different direction i’ve always loved the work of a painter called maurice utrillo who was a contemporary of the impressionists but worked in quite a different style. he has a really fascinating story, using painting as a form of therapy. he painted the world around him, focusing on the built environment and often unloved corners of paris.  i only recently found out that the kelvingrove museum holds one of his pieces but it's currently in remote storage. 

ZITA: sounds like someone you would have loved to met! i will be definitely checking them out. and lastly but most importantly, where can we see your work next?

CIARA: well, i do have a few exhibitions on the horizon but sadly i’m sworn to silence until the official announcements! all i can say for now is that i have an upcoming show in a glasgow gallery this autumn, which will feature some specially created pieces. i'll also be popping up at a few art and design fairs across glasgow later this year, so keep your eyes peeled!

ZITA: very mysterious! i will keep an eye on your social media! thanks a lot for your time.

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links:

ciara mcinnes website

ciara mcinnes instagram

SANAA

claas gutsche

maurice utrillo (on artnet)

in conversation with alison carrie of jist jute

happy after-easter celebrations everyone, we’ve made it. this is april, and we have just survived 25%, the first quarter of 2021. i have a real gem to celebrate that with. i’m bringing you another inspiring design conversation, this time with alison carrie, the pair of hands behind jist jute and the brains behind “if these wa’s cuid talk” - a brand new book about the last of dundee’s jute mills still standing, their history and their current relationship with the city. i find it such a great experience to meet other people who are also obsessed with jute and feel a special connection to this material and in (and around) dundee this has an extra significance. we had a virtual cuppa to discuss why we love the cloth - and why it matters working with it in the city of dundee. let’s dive into this discovery! (no pun intended)

ZITA: hi alison! so first of all, tell me a little bit about yourself, what you do and how you got there?

ALISON: hello! well… my name is alison carrie, and i am a self-taught textile worker, a local history buff, an accidental author and dundee’s first self-proclaimed “jute baroness” who runs “jist jute” - but mostly i just claim to be “a wee wifey that does stuff”. i make all sorts of things from this wonderful natural plant fibre, including bags, jewellery, eco-scrubbies. my mum is retired now, and she enjoys botanically dying jute twine with foraged scottish ingredients including raspberries, onions, blueberries and oak galls. she also creates our crocheted exfoliating mitts and our surprisingly realistic faux cacti!

i also enjoy exploring and celebrating the local history and connections with jute. a few years back i started a small project, for my own curiosity really, which snowballed and eventually resulted in a full-blown book! not what i had in mind when i set-out… “jist jute” spawned from this project, as a fund-raiser to help get the money together to print a number of copies to share with anyone who might be interested.

ZITA: yeah i want to ask about that first. obviously the big project is your book right now – can you tell me a little a bit about its journey? what made you write it?

ALISON: as i touched on earlier, it really just came about by accident! i’d been through a pretty traumatic few years, and as a result was what some folk might describe as “chronically unemployed”. that is to say, i am that person who never gets the job, never gets the interview, is constantly at the job-centre trying their best but never getting anywhere. i was so angry at the system and depressed at being made to feel less than useless. i started walking to try and calm, and to get exercise. i always took my best buddy (ziggy the border collie) with me, and some days we’d cover 12-15 miles, just trekking round the city. i’d always noticed these big buildings in dundee, and had no idea what they were. at first i recognised a pattern in their style; large windows, certain roof-styles, geographic locations… and i wanted to know more. despite being brought-up 15 miles away from dundee, i had never heard about the jute industry, or even what jute was. how crazy is that? why are we not being taught about our local history? why are we taught about kings and queens and ancient battles which, to be honest, means nothing to many of us.

so i wanted to know more, and of course i visited verdant works jute museum, but still i was unable to find out quite what i wanted to know about, which was the buildings themselves. everything else seemed to have been documented; the people, the process, the machinery, the plant and harvesting, the uses… but not the huge industrial buildings - monuments, almost? - that still remain. why are they still here, when we don’t even work jute any more? if only they could tell me their history themselves. and, once you learn how to “read” a building, they do begin to give-up their own stories… hence “if these wa’s cuid talk” was to become the title of my ‘accidental’ book.

ZITA: did you find it difficult to access the city’s history or the bits that interested you? i can imagine it must have been a huge but interesting research work.

ALISON: yes and no. at first, i just used the usual sources, the libraries, internet, city archives etc. later i started to access social media, and joined several dundee history groups to gain information and memories from local people who used to eat, sleep and breathe jute. this gave me direct access to people who worked in all sectors of the jute industry; from the various apprentices, to spinners, weavers, carders… even dockers and the folk who would work in the offices. everyone’s memories are/were important, and helped me to piece together a picture of how things operated within living memory. once i built up this core of info, i resorted back to just being a bit nosey! if i was out walking, and i happened upon a mill where there were building works happening, i would just ask a worker if it was possible to get some photos inside. they’d then get the foreman, i’d sort of talk my way into it, and next thing you know i’d have an appointment to come back on a saturday afternoon and take (supervised) photos...as long as i brought my own safety boots and hard hat.

when i got braver, i contacted hillcrest housing association about access to one of their larger buildings. their wonderful “upper dens” has been converted into 70+ flats, but i actually wanted into their basement… they were wonderfully helpful, and allowed me supervised access to the basement area, to see the pillars and the oil-stained wheel-pit for the huge steam engines which would have powered the mill. whilst there, i was allowed to tour the rest of the building. then they asked if i’d like to see others! we took a whole day to tour their 8 former-mill buildings scattered through dundee, which was absolutely fantastic!

ZITA: how cool! it's great how helpful everyone was to share these spaces. and was there anything that you particularly loved discovering, or something that really shocked or surprised you about any particular place in dundee that you discovered while researching?

ALISON: what surprised me? hmmm….having volunteered as a machine operator at verdant works, tales of accidents, explosions and deaths didn’t surprise me at all. it was the really random little discoveries that i am surprised by. for example, a couple of the mills had ponds in the basement area… one still reportedly has a small rowing boat in it!

ZITA: fascinating! i haven’t read your book yet - i’m sorry, i missed the pre-orders but i totally want a signed copy when i can buy again please! - but have you set yourself a writing style, have you discovered your own oice while doing this? do you plan to write more?

ALISON: you haven’t got one yet?! shame on you…. haha! since the book happened kind of organically, i just wrote it in the style which comes most naturally to me. i write in the same way i speak; it’s really just a text version of how i would speak to visitors to the museum. i try to be clear and friendly, just like having a chat, rather than a lecture. i am always mindful that despite what i’ve learned, i will never class myself as some kind of expert. i try not to use unnecessary technical language, as i found that quite off-putting when i was researching. sometimes it felt like you needed to be an architect to understand descriptions in the sources i’ve used! i try to keep it interesting, accurate, but understandable. i am aware that not everyone reading it will be local to the area so where i have used local words or terms, i have added a wee glossary at the back to try and help clarify things.

ZITA: i can't wait to read it. you must find it quite inspiring using jute in dundee as a maker - is your material choice of jute related to your dundee research? can you tell a little bit about your accessories as well?

ALISON: yes it feels pretty good to be bringing scottish jute working back to dundee in some sort of form. “jist jute” was initially set-up as a temporary idea, to raise the funds to get my book printed. i was just making some simple jewellery from jute (earrings and bracelets) and my very first stall was within the overgate shopping centre! a friend who does weaving was talked into weaving jute “live” during the day so that shoppers could come over and watch it happening, and talk about the process. i was asked on the application for what my business name was, and i was like "i have no idea what to call it?! it’s jist jute…” it means “just jute” in english, but the locals pronounce just as jist. and so “jist jute” was born.

we have since grown our range of items, to include: loop/drop/stud earrings, mens cufflinks, necklaces, knitted necklaces, bracelets, botanically dyed twine, soap-savers, lavender bags, eco-scrubbies, shopping bags, faux cacti, exfoliating mitts, amongst other things. the list changes and alters as time goes on, and depending what is in demand at any given time. throughout 2020 coronavirus crisis, we completely changed tact (literally overnight), and worked hard for almost 8 months supplying cotton facemasks to both individuals and local businesses, in quantities of 1-300 pieces. we also supplied local foodbanks with a number of simple “soap savers” to help struggling families to make their precious soap go a little further during the early pandemic panic-buying.

ZITA: this is amazing. i love this. and not only jute is environmentally friendlier but some of your stuff is also made of recycled materials aren’t they – do you find it hard to market sustainable goods or do you think the attitudes have changed a bit more in favour now?

ALISON: yes you are correct! not only is jute environmentally friendly and incredibly sustainable, but i also try to recycle it when i can. i have to be honest with you, i didn’t initially start using recycled because of environmental benefits, but because i’m a bit “mean” - scots for tight-fisted or someone who doesn’t like spending money. i felt it was silly to purchase brand new hessian from fabric stores, when i could source jute fabric for free from local coffee roasters. it was only later when i was trying to work out how i could be a bit greener that i discovered the amazing journey that jute sacks undertake before they reach me, that i realised these sacks need rescuing! for example, the jute is harvested, processed and woven in india. it may then go to kenya to be printed and filled with coffee beans, before being shipped to london coffee roasters. then i would buy 20+ empty sacks online, and they’d be shipped to dundee. once i’d made my recycled bags etc, they may be bought by anyone around the world...some have gone out to the US and australia. the amount of travelling these sacks do in their lifetime is astounding!

i have now moved over to using 100% recycled jute in my textile products, and only ever using locally produce nutscene twine for my bold & colourful bracelets and earrings. on a small scale, i haven’t found it too hard to market sustainable goods. at craft markets etc, you can get a good chat with customers and let them get touchy-feely with your product (or, at least, pre-covid). it's really just about being friendly, having a natter and gaining their trust.

what i do find difficult is persuading other businesses to stock our stuff. i have approached lots of local “refillery” type stores, and either they already stock a big chain brand which you see in all the shops on every high street, or they knock you back saying that they have “a similar product” (usually referring to hemp, which is certainly not the same thing as jute). this makes me especially sad when these tayside-based eco-stores go on about green businesses and supporting local, and save small businesses… yet won’t support other small businesses with a very unique local connection. what’s with that? i make a real effort to now source my sacks locally, for perth (where i live) or dundee (where “jist jute” is now based). i always mention my sources, because it’s important to both me and them. i believe it’s important to work together and to support small businesses. even more so now than ever. as small businesses, we are battling against big brands, against the high street chains, against cheap imports, against brexit… the last thing we need is to be fighting with each other!

on that note, i get sacks from unorthodox roasters in kinross and the bean store in perth. my recycled cotton is generally sourced from either charity shops, or my landlords, scrapantics. sometimes i use waxed cotton, which is always ‘end of line’ or small-batch experimental stuff from halley stevensons in dundee, who make the waxed cotton for barbour jackets. our botanical dyes are homemade from free and foraged fruit & veg.

ZITA: thanks so much for sharing that. i do think that local businesses can achieve s lot more by working together! now, i know we have discussed your exciting book already, but i ask this question from everyone - can you recommend a book, or someone else whose work is worth looking into?

ALISON: a good book if you would like to read more about dundee's jute mills is mark watson's “jute & flax mills in dundee”, which turned out to be a bit of a bible for me! it is not generally easy to find, and went out of print circa. 1990 (when i was a mere 6 years old!). due to its age, it now holds a wealth of info about many mills which were around at the time but are now no longer with us. it is a bit more technical in its terminology, and a very different style from my own book, but still worth a look if “if these wa’s cuid talk” gets you hooked...

ZITA: and what are your new projects – apart from your book, what else can we expect to see from you this year and where?

ALISON: oooh... i wish i knew! all along i have let things just happen organically, as the best laid plans often go astray. i find if i make plans i get incredibly stressed when they go askew, and i make myself unwell over it.

a year ago i was asked where i wanted to be in 5 years time (at that point i was a struggling stall holder). i jokingly said “dundee’s first jute baroness, with a business in an old dundee jute mill, and maybe 5 staff… and now i’m based in anchor mill, my book is about to come out, i have “bricks & mortar” stockists for my products and i’m really wishing i had an extra set of hands! but i have 4 more years to achieve that, right?!

i keep thinking back to how it all started… being bored, angry and “on the dole”. i know i’m not the only one who feels like that. i know dundee has had a tough time of it, and there are many people in the same position as me. signing-on, queuing for jobs that we all know don’t exist, being made to feel worthless and useless… and through no fault of their own. i want to find out how we can help each other more. i want to expand my business further, and employ local people to help out. it gives me extra hands, them a source of money and most importantly, a sense of wellbeing and worth. i started this because i didn’t have a job, i know how they feel and what having a purpose would mean to these folk. i just need to work out how to do that. i don’t think my current studio is quite large enough to work safely (distanced) just now, but maybe now is the time to look into my options for the future.

i’ve had so many people ask me if i’ll do another book, too. in my head, i have the plans for another two...but whether i have the time to actually do it now that “jist jute” itself has grown arms and legs, i’m not really sure. maybe when i get a few staff under me, i can delegate and get back to pen & paper?!

ZITA: amazing! good luck with your plans and thanks a lot for your time!

ALISON: thanks!

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“if these wa’s cuid talk” is available from 10th april from the jist jute etsy shop and facebook page (£23, free UK postage) and from selected stockists: coorie scotland (broughty ferry) and scrapantics (dundee)

further links:

hillcrest housing

unorthodox roasters

the bean store

halley stevensons

in conversation with louise kirby

time flies - it's march now, how did that happen? nevermind, in the quest for constant inspiration i'm pleased to announce that my series of design conversations continues and this time i had a virtual cup of coffee with louise kirby, dundee-based surface pattern designer, illustrator and artist, whose work you might see in and around the city as well as on cards and smaller products. she is a multidisciplinary talent whose work is fabulously colourful and warm and i was really keen to know a little more about her work and inspirations.

ZITA: first of all, thank you for accepting my invitation, i'm really happy to have you here as i'm really impressed with your work. could you tell a little bit about yourself, what you do and how you got there?

LOUISE: hi! i'm louise kirby, a local designer, i'm based in dundee and i've got a studio in dundee at wasps studios. i create bespoke print and patterns that ultimately captures a sense of place - within in all my work i like to bring out the positives and bring really meaningful and unique imagery that relates to the local spaces or briefs that i'm working on. my work is on quite a range of different things and i apply it to really small scale things as well as larger, public art, mural types of works as well. but in everything i do has this playfulness to it. my background is in textile design so my work has this kind of playful textile influence to it - i try and capture a sense of place with it but also the particularities of the brief i'm working towards. and how i got there..?

ZITA: yes! please tell a little bit about your journey too.

LOUISE: i studied printed textiles at duncan of jordanstone (DJCAD), but i graduated in 1999 so it was over 20 years ago now. i absolutely loved printed textiles and i was completely on fire. from when i started my first block, when i first discovered printed textiles i just absolutely loved it. as soon as i graduated i went to london and worked for a fashion design studio where i was coming up with print ideas but it was following trends and very much fashion related. i really liked working at that fast pace and constantly changing briefs, that we had to constantly come up with new ideas. then i moved back to scotland and just continued freelancing for the same design studio. then i took a little bit of time out and went travelling for a year - which i really recommend to everyone! i was really lucky, when i was in australia i decided to approach one of the design studios so i ended up doing some work for them too, john kaldor fabricmaker ltd. in sydney. i was only doing it for a couple of months but it was a great experience - and the design studio knew my work because they bought my designs before just through the fashion industry.

ZITA: wow!

LOUISE: when i came back i really wanted to just work out what i'm doing and where i'm going, so i decided i wanted to create my own label then. i created printed scarves on silk and wool, hand screen printed or monoprinted, and i would make them myself. this was really high-end, gallery type stuff and i did some shows with that, but i didn't just want to keep making things, and i did another "big review" about where i'm going and what i'm doing, and i got a little bursary to do some research and self development. i was always kind of worried about just making things and keep adding stuff to the world - i didn't just want to do that. i guess what i'm good at is coming up with ideas and working towards briefs, and i wanted to be able to apply that. and that's when i was starting working on more of these illustration type things and different briefs, and also seeing my work helped me think about how patterns can be applied not just onto textiles but murals and different scales. with most of my designs, i guess i really wanted to be purposeful, to be doing a job that improves space, i guess making a difference, in a way.

ZITA: that's really fascinating, and your journey is fascinating! you know it's funny because i took quite the opposite way. ok, i didn't start from illustration but from graphic design, it was more typography and logos, but then it was from that i discovered pattern, and printed textiles. whereas you started with that and then expanded. it's really interesting to see. i really love what you say about the sense of place and it is quite literal in some of your work when you do the murals. i'm really interested in those projects! i'm researching a lot about new towns such as glenrothes and i love the concept of a town artist. when you talk about improving a place and making a difference, i always think about those so i'm really wondering how these projects found you, and where we can see them in your work?

LOUISE: i guess when i come across a brief like that, i always think about, what is meaningful and unique about that particular place and focus on bringing out all those positives. how i found them... i guess it's either through open calls or you just see the commissions advertised, or maybe i've worked with people before and they know my work. an example of this is the scrapantics mural that was an open call for artists, which is on concertina doors - it's three or four metres tall and i had to use scaffolding. for me, thinking about the sense of place was about what that shop was about. scrapantics is a reusables store, a bit of an aladdin's cave of lots of different things. so i used my patterns and layering, that kind of juxtaposition of my style as a metaphor of what's inside that store, that kind of clashing and mixing things together and bring that out to the street, and just bringing some joy into the street.

ZITA: beautiful!

LOUISE: other commissions i've worked on was the tayside healthcare trust, i worked on three different sheltered housing units, within their corridors to help improve the space and it involved lots of consultations with the tenants there. what's really important is that it's never about me just coming along and decide "hey this is what i'm gonna do", i think it's really important that i get it right for whoever's using that space. i always do the research then arrange consultations to try and really understand and get a bit deeper into what's important to the people. then i develop ideas - then i'll keep going backwards and forwards in order to come up with design solutions that fits the site-specific requirements of the space and works for all the people who will use it. i've only been really recently getting into public art, and i've done some of the wild in art trails - which are really fun to do! because they are so accessible and they're outside, it encourages families to get out and about. i really like the wild in art trail so i've done a few.

ZITA: this is super fascinating. i really admire these types of work - i've never done them myself but i love it. i love it when people adapt and colour in their built environment. it's really interesting to see how that works and responds to people.

LOUISE: yes when i was physically there and painting the scrapantics mural, people were stopping in the street and someone actually came up to me like "wow you're responsible for actually bringing some joy to the street?!" so it does make a difference! there were three commissioned by scrapantics and the whole area around it actually feels more vibrant and more - it kind of reflects the area i think, by just adding some murals to the street.

ZITA: i love that you told this story, that people stopped and talked to you. i love it when a place creates conversation in the community. this is really cool! having started from fashion though, and with printed scarves and the like, do you find it difficult to work to such different scales? i know that you do cards as well and then you say that you worked on a 3 or 4 metre tall mural... is there a lot of change in your process to adapt to that?

LOUISE: not really. i mean i love the challenge of working to a huge scale. the biggest thing i've ever done was ten metres by four metres, and I did an A4 or A3 sketch. it's still the same process, i guess i have to think about the shapes and the scales it's going to go on, how it's going to look or how it's going to be worn, so you're always just considering the end product, i guess. but it's the same process of research, development, testing ideas, playing, drawing skills, colour... all that kind of work. it's still the same process. i find it quite easy to move from one to the other actually. i guess the challenge gets me quite excited, in a way of "oh i've never done this before!". i tried to once put my designs on aeroplanes.

ZITA: really? wow, what was that like?

LOUISE: it was part of a competition, quite a long time ago now, and i got to the top ten selected designers to put my designs on british airways aeroplanes, but the idea of even just doing that brief helped me visualise the scale, like "oh wow, what could it look like?", what kind of scale it needed to be, how it would work from a distance and just understanding of how it would be seen by different people.

ZITA: that's really interesting. your work is quite multidisciplinary - i love it that you went from scarves to aeroplanes and you take the same approach! is there an easy switch from project to project? how do you even start?

LOUISE: so i guess i'm just starting with a sketch of what the shape needs to be, if it needs to be a card or an aeroplane or a mural or whatever, i'm understanding proportions first. then i guess i just throw myself in! and i'm always learning, all through my creative career, i always find myself googling things and watching youtube videos if i need to, so definitely there is always a learning process. and that's exciting! and it helps develop my work as well, pushes me further and makes me think. it's important to use the brain! but yeah i do find it fairly easy to switch between scales and briefs.

ZITA: and does inspiration find you spontaneously or do you have to go after it a lot?

LOUISE: i'm always out and about so i'm always looking and noticing things, and it might be something really simple, like stripes, or lines or something that i can make connections with. or it might be some metaphors, something i can find meaning in and play with the ideas. it generally happens when i'm out, i have my phone with me to record little bits. my phone is full of something like 23.000 photos or something. obviously if there is a brief and a specific project, i will go out and look for inspiration that's relevant to the project. but generally i just love being outside and noticing texture and surface and lines, stuff like that. just stopping and looking closely at something.

ZITA: that's the creative way of seeing i guess! what is it in specifics you're discovering when you're out though?

LOUISE: i love looking at different textures or surfaces together, in close-up, i like that kind of juxtaposition of colour and pattern that sit together and layer up. going for a walk i think is one of the best things to do. if you tried find inspiration forcefully, it might not always be the best.

ZITA: i agree with that.

LOUISE: i guess finding your own things as well is really important. to find your own inspiration. the stuff you're taught at art college of using your own work and not using someone else's photos etc. to find what's important to you and your practice.

ZITA: that comes from your own eye i guess. apart from developing your own language, your output, you must develop your own eye, your input as well. to train your eye to see what you're really looking for. talking about others and inspiration from them though, here's the bit i'm always going to ask from everyone - can you recommend a book or another designer who might be worth looking up?

LOUISE: i think the whole series of the austin kleon books are really good, the show your work!, steal like an artist, he's got about five of them i think. and they're short reads and pictorial as well so they're really good, motivational little books. the simon sinek stuff, relating to finding your "why" as well, i've read that recently. as for artists... i'm going to recommend you someone from dundee, her name is nicola wiltshire and she paints on patterned fabric. her work is really interesting and she uses really really interesting colour combinations. some of her recent work has been about landscape and places - and some of it is more like portraiture or still life.

ZITA: that's cool, i will definitely check her work out. the simon sinek book has actually been on my list for a while as well. good recommendations, thank you!

LOUISE: listen to the ted talk first, there is a ted talk. there's a whole process to go through, it's really worth it. you're about to look back on your life and find the things that are really important, to find out what ultimately is driving you. and it's not always what you think it might be!

ZITA: ooh that sounds interesting, i look forward to getting into that! and to finish this conversation with even more useful information, where can we see your work, what can we expect to see from you this year?

LOUISE: you can see my work in dundee and the dundee delights collection that i create, which is a range of greetings cards, prints and products. currently only really available on my etsy shop as most of the stockists are closed. out and about you can see my stuff, i guess the scrapantics mural is one and you can also see my penguin from the maggies penguin parade in jute cafe bar in dca (dundee contemporary arts.) as for what's to come later... i'm working on an amazing project just now, it's called spaces for people. it's quite exciting and i'm getting to do all the things that i wanted to do! it's about improving space for people in an area and we're creating temporary interventions to try some ideas out. but i'm not going to say too much about it because it's not out there in the public yet!

ZITA: oh that sounds super exciting though i wish i could ask you more about that.

LOUISE: i know! and i've got more of the wild in art sculptures as well - i've already created the lighthouse trail so the lighthouse trail is going to happen this year, but that's going to be in the aberdeen - shetland - moray - orkney areas. and i've just been told that i'm getting to do another one! but i cannot tell you what that is yet.

ZITA: amazing news! very exciting.

LOUISE: i'm also doing a project with dundee rep theatre, i got one of the micro-commissions, to create a piece of theatre. something completely different for me! i'm collaborating with a drama artist called amy hall gibson, and we're creating a piece of children's theatre called "dundee delight dice". this is based on what i do, highlighting all the positives about dundee but bringing it to life. using a giant "story-cube" type idea. that is going to be coming out later this year as well. we're having to adapt it because it's not necessarily going to be in the same format that we pitched originally due to the circumstances just now. but this is quite exciting, because i really like seeing my work in a new context and it's making me think about how my designs can work in different ways as well. and who knows what else! i will keep applying for things and see what happens.

ZITA: this is very exciting. and what a journey! from fashion through murals and aeroplanes and now children's theatre. this is an amazing creative journey and just really shows how a particular way of seeing and working and applying patterns and colours can be applied to so many things. thank you so much for sharing with me.

LOUISE: it's been great!

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links:

louise kirby’s website

louise kirby etsy shop

scrapantics

wild in art

nicola wiltshire

dundee rep theatre