Stockist Spotlight - Swoon & Blues

   

Who are you?


My name is Lisa and I'm one half of Swoon & Blues. We started Swoon & Blues as an umbrella for the individual and collaborative pursuits of myself and my dear friend Lee. It is a merging of art and design, textiles and textures. I live in Erskineville, Sydney and Lee lives in Katoomba, Blue Mountains. 

 What do you make?

I use my original designs for hand screen printed tea towels, screen printed clocks, greeting cards and ceramic tiles and hearts. I also collaborate with Lee who is a pattern maker, seamstress and designer. We have recently begun getting my designs digitally printed onto fabric to create garments and home furnishings. Our collaborative creations take baby steps due to distance, work, and family (lee has a lovely wee one Katja), we love working together and are finding ways to make those baby steps bigger.

 When did you get started?

We began Swoon & Blues early last year, following more than a decade long friendship between Lee and myself. I have a background in Visual Arts, Education and Textile Design and Printing. I teach the wee ones 4 days a week at a local Primary School, which I love almost as much as my making. Lee has a background in Fashion Design and Fashion Manufacturing, and has worked in both aspects of the fashion industry. 

Why do you make your 'thing'?

I just love drawing, painting, designing and making things. I completed a course at Ultimo TAFE a couple of years ago in Design and Fabric Printing. I was able to extend my screen printing skills and create designs facilitated by passionate and talented teachers. The drawing and design part of that course was so inspiring. The teachers really pushed you and provided challenging briefs that totally refreshed my aesthetic and designs. I also developed from that course an obsession with repeat patterns and a love of screen printing. The immediacy, process and ability screen printing gives you to reproduce designs is just wonderful. 

 Where to next for you? (what direction do you see your work heading in?)

I want to focus on my tiles more. It would be great to get them into some bathrooms and kitchens! I think the repeat patterns would work beautifully as splash backs, full bathroom walls or even in a funky small bar. I would also like to start doing some regular market stalls which I'm in the process of applying for now actually. Also, another step is to find some more stockists. View Point is my first, thanks guys! Finally, turning the collaborative baby steps with Lee into giant ones, well double baby steps at least.