“I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of drought and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!”
Dorothea MacKellar’s 1908 poem My Country echoes how I feel about Australia. It is a love letter to the outback, the desert, the grasslands, the rainforests and the coast.
As my camera roll can attest, I travel a lot, having long been governed by wanderlust. I’ve been charmed by the tea rose quaintness of the English countryside, the Saharan sand dunes in Morocco, the palm lined coast of Sri Lanka, the jungle in Bali and the pale peachy light cast on the coastal cliffs of Ibiza.
But Australia is where my heart lies. This is where I grew up and I still feel a deep connection to this landscape, where desert plains are cloaked in deep rust and shadows stretch long while the sun blazes. It’s also a place of variety: for every scorched infinity there’s a rich tropical rainforest or a cool coastal morning.
My latest fabric collections are so close to my heart because they are inspired by Australia with shades of the landscape found in all of the fabrics.
Two of the collections – Outback Velvet and Savanna Velvet – boast luxurious, sumptuous textures but retain the muted tones and understated aesthetic that is true to me. Outback Velvet is inherent so they are perfect for upholstery and particularly hospitality and commercial projects.
Then, Hinterland collection is a mohair blend which is also inherent. The colourways in each collection are extensive and deeply nostalgic, instantly transporting me to specific spots in Australia. These fabrics are an easy addition to my existing collections thanks to a shared tonality.
Working on these fabrics has evoked memories of a childhood exploring the bush barefoot, playing hide and seek in sand dunes, mustering cattle in the outback, evenings in a bronze half-light, before sleeping in swags next to campfires and billabongs. These fabrics feel like an homage to Australia, as well as a way for me to experience the vast continent that has my heart no matter where I am.
