handprinted friday:: interview with Ink & Spindle

seriously, i could gush about the extraordinarily talented and lovely Tegan and Lara of Ink & Spindle all night. i've been following the amazing rise of their handprinted textile business since its inception and have known them personally almost as long. they are truly on their way to becoming australian textile icons (if they aren't already) and are a couple of the nicest, most encouraging and supportive people you could even hope to meet. they have without a doubt been the hugest inspiration for me to start maze & vale and have been such a huge help over the past year, answering any question, offering advice and regularly presenting me with liters and liters of ink to remix and play with when they have finished a print run. i loves them : )

Ink & Spindle
website:: www.inkandspindle.com
blog:: inkandspindle.blogspot.com.au

what is your creative background?

Lara & I were both drawn to the creative whilst growing up, we did everything we could get our hands on as kids - paint by numbers, pottery, knitting, drawing, calligraphy, flower pressing... You name it, we've probably tried it.

Fortunately, I had very supportive parents who encouraged me to follow my passion & study Fine Art. I left secondary school at the beginning of my final year & undertook a Diploma of Visual Art. This led me to study my BA of Fine Art & then a Postgraduate Diploma in Education. During my second year as a secondary school teacher, I met Lara and we started Ink & Spindle.

Lara studied BA of Multimedia & became a web & graphic designer. Feeling frustrated with the limitations of digital, she began experimenting with repeat patterns & started getting her designs printed on to fabric.

how did you get started with printing by hand? 

I had printed by had as part of my diploma & degree - photographic silkscreen and also traditional printmaking, and - hilariously in hindsight - had screenprinted one-off t-shirts for friends birthday since forever... Lara had done short courses in screen printing & was getting her designs printed by a third party but wanted control over the whole process.The progression in to hand printing textiles was a very natural one.

 

what mainly influences your designs? what/who do you look to for inspiration?

We are inspired by our environment & beloved hometown of Melbourne, plus many designers - Nancybird, Spacecraft, Skinny Laminx, Lotta Jansdotter, Cloud 9 Fabric, Cloth.. the list goes on. There are so many amazing people out there doing amazing things!

what is your favourite fabric to print on?

Our favourite fabrics to print on at the moment are our hemp/yak & eco-linen in flax. They're both so beautiful, lighter weight than our normal basecloths & have lovely drape.

what colours are you currently loving? 

surprisingly (or not, we are Melbournian after all) it's all black & grey with a dash of soft gold or mustard.. we just keep coming back to these!

what would your dream printing project/job be?

We're always on the lookout for an amazing bespoke furniture maker to collaborate with - that's kind of our dream at the moment...