With sustainable design practices gaining momentum, basket weaver Sarah Powell is bang on trend with her new venture, Find Your Happy. “The majority of my designs start with rescued or found materials,” she says. “I love giving materials a second life. I can often be found scouring op shops, recycled centres and even my husband’s shed for ‘potentials’.”
While many basket makers work with natural materials, Sarah laughs that her preference for manmade materials stems primarily from laziness, as natural materials require preparation to work with, whereas manmade materials such a rope, wire, nylon, and paper are all readily available.
“By working with recycled, manmade materials, it allows me to also address sustainability and the fact that we continue to over produce things. I like to think by rescuing materials for my baskets I’m doing my very small bit in helping reduce landfill.” Having studied textiles design at the University of Wollongong, Sarah was drawn into the world of photography, and initially chose to pursue this medium as a career. She spent most of her twenties travelling the world, documenting what she saw with her camera.