Tag: water colour

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Bedrooms Designers Interviews

Tour time! Step inside Bluebellgray’s gorgeous Scottish studio

Famed for her beautiful watercolour print textiles, Scotland’s Fi Douglas graduated from The Glasgow School of Art in 2005 before launching her Bluebellgray brand to much success. A fixture inside the UK department store stalwart John Lewis, the range is now available at Myer, much to the delight of many Aussies. Our Jen, for one, is a massive fan!

Bluebellgray’s ‘Petals’ bed linen

“Bluebellgray is all about colourful, uplifting, design – it’s about doing florals in a modern way and thinking of textiles as artwork. The Australian aesthetic is exactly what I dream of when I’m designing the products, I love that so many Australians embrace colour as I always think that bright and fresh colours work so well in the beautiful light and sunshine,” says Fi, whose paintings run the gamut from traditional watercolour florals to more abstract designs.

Fi Douglas working in her studio

“I always want my designs to have a fun edge to them, they are not too serious, they have a contemporary edge but can work in any era of home. I’d like to think they sit really well with the relaxed Australian lifestyle and the colours will sing in sunny Australian homes.”

Bluebellgray’s gorgeous Glasgow showroom

Fi’s career path started at university before she worked in the interior textiles industry for a couple of years before setting up her own solo venture which is now stocked across the world. “I started the company with just six cushions, not a lot of confidence, a huge amount of energy and determination and a very understanding and supportive husband!” says Fi.

Studio moodboard

She credits her early success to a feature in Elle Decor and also the support of the aforementioned John Lewis. “I was featured by Elle Decor magazine in the very early days which was incredible, it really got my name out there and got me noticed by some amazing stockists. I’m always very grateful to them. John Lewis has also really been instrumental to growing the business – they took me under their wing in the early days as part of their ‘design collective’ and over the years I’ve grown with them to become a fully-fledged brand in my own right with my bedding stocked in all their UK stores along with a host of other products.” The brand also offers a full lifestyle collection including tableware, lampshades, wallpaper and artwork.

The designer’s inspirational journey now sees her employ a team of 12 who all work out of a stunning Scottish studio and showroom. “My studio is two floors of a beautiful old townhouse in the West End of Glasgow with huge, double-aspect windows and high ceilings. It’s flooded with natural light which is so important to me – I’m a real fan of light and space as I swear they help me be more creative.” The vibrant space features a large painting table in the middle. “It’s very colourful — there is always lots to see as we are working on new things all the time,” says Fi.

Bluebellgray’s ‘Abstract’ bed linen

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Design Expert Tips RENO ADDICT Styling

How to: Use walls to add texture to a room

Image courtesy of HGTV

From wallpaper to speckled paint, exposed brick and the living green variety, there are myriad ways for walls to bring texture to a room.

Image courtesy of HGTV
Image courtesy of HGTV

Wallpaper

When it comes to texture, wallpaper can always be relied upon to bring this to a room. Whether subtle or dramatic, wallpaper will change the feel in the room making it perfect for creating an overall vibe.

Paint

Textured paint is a great way to add texture to any space whether you purchase a ready-made one or make your own (texture can be added to paint with the use of joint compound). As an added bonus it conceals uneven or chipped walls too.

Image courtesy of Somhome
Image courtesy of Somhome

Water colour

Painting a wall in a water colour design is a great way to add unique texture to a space, and it also has a lovely painterly quality. Any colours can be used to create this look, however it is best to use hues that complement one another – a trio of purple, blue and pink is one such alternative.

Speckled paint

Adding paint speckles to a wall is a great way to add texture to a space, depending on what colours are used. In a child’s bedroom, speckling bright coloured paint on a neutral toned wall is a great way to add texture and create a unique space that is unlike any other. Speckling paint can also be achieved through flicking the paint on the paintbrush onto the wall.

Image courtesy of Inside Out magazine
Image courtesy of Inside Out magazine

Timber

Much like painting brick, painting timber is great for an injection of texture. If the timber isn’t smooth, painting over it will create a unique, rustic design in the room. Similarly, leaving timber exposed and unpainted will also retain texture in a space.

Brick

With the industrial aesthetic trending, exposed brick has experienced a resurgence in popularity over the last few years. Leaving bricks exposed, or roughly painting over brick to give it a faux worn look adds fabulous texture to a space. Much like wallpaper, exposed brick allows any space to have a unique texture and feeling.

Image courtesy of Atlas Concorde
Image courtesy of Atlas Concorde

Three dimensional tiles

Three dimensional tiles, or tiles that appear that way, are a great way to add something different to a space and will usually make it feel larger too. Three dimensional tiles are easy to clean and maintain, however it’s worth considering that they don’t age that well.

Metal

Exposed metal, or pressed metal is a great way to incorporate an industrial feeling into a space. Metal works better as a feature on a wall – don’t cover the entire thing as it can be overwhelming. Exposed metal tends to look more rustic the older it gets – its unique patina only improves with age.

Image courtesy of Home Desogning
Image courtesy of Home Designing

Green walls

Green walls are a great way to add texture and they provide a host of other benefits too. While they can be difficult to construct and maintain they can help improve air quality, focus and productivity. In purely aesthetic terms, filling a wall full of greenery will leave a lasting impact whenever you walk in to the space. When paired with neutral soft and hard furnishings, the greenery will pop all the more.

Naomi Findlay is one of our resident experts, principal of Silk Home and founder of the International Institute of Home Staging. 

Read all her articles for Reno Addict.

Categories
Art Interviews

“A few daggy cheap brushes, some rags and I’m happy!” says artist Belynda Henry

One of Belynda Henry’s fondest memories is the day she painted her first watercolour landscape, aged 10, armed with a red suitcase full of paints and the guidance of her artist father. She sat in a paddock for an afternoon and painted.

belyndahenry2014

Years on, her love for landscape painting has not wavered, constantly being inspired by the colour and calm of tranquil landscapes, creating works that she describes as: “Very still but very alive.”

Working on both canvas and paper, Belynda uses a mix of acrylic paints and pastels. She uses lots of thin layers to build colour on colour, something that she believes is achieved most successfully through the simplicity of acrylic. For Belynda, using basic materials has certainly proved best: “I guess I could say after years of experimenting I have come back down to using just the basics. No fancy mixers and other paint effects to add, just a few daggy cheap artists brushes, a few spray bottles with water, some rags and I’m happy!”

This certainly doesn’t take away from the quality of her work though, with Belynda a finalist in the Art Gallery of NSW’s Wynne Prize both last year and in 2000. “To have your painting hung on the same wall as Australian artists that you have always loved and respected, is a wonderful feeling,” she explains. “And saying to my girls ‘look, that’s Mummy’s painting!’ It doesn’t get much better than that.”

PINK BUSH. Acrylic and pastel on canvas. 122 x 97 cm. $3400
PINK BUSH. Acrylic and pastel on canvas, 122×97 cm. $3,400.

Having studied both visual arts and teaching at university, Belynda never majored in painting, instead doing sculpture and printmaking. “I suppose you would say even though I went to art school, no one ever actually taught me to paint. Instead, it has taken me 20 years to work through experiments and mistakes, to work out the best way to use a paintbrush.”

VALLEY END. Acrylic and pastel on canvas, 87 x 87 cm. $2500
VALLEY END. Acrylic and pastel on canvas, 87×87 cm. $2,500.

While Belynda has taught art at the local high school, lately she has been working solely in her studio, something she feels extremely fortunate to be doing. “Lots of commissions and lots of works selling, makes one happy artist!”

In her studio, she focuses on many works at the same time, often having four or five canvases and six to eight paper works on the go at once! “Just this year I bought some long tables and now I fill them with sheets of Arches paper,” says Belynda. “I find my smaller works often make interesting images and compositions that I can then use to attempt to create on a much larger scale.”

EMERALD, acrylic and pastel on arches 300gm paper, 57 x 38 cm
EMERALD. Acrylic and pastel on Arches 300gm paper, 57×38 cm. $650.

Currently painting day and night (often past midnight!), this year has seen Belynda produce a constant flow of paintings, many of which were exhibited in her Queensland exhibition earlier this year.

Contact Belynda via her website.