LAURA MENZIES COLLABORATION

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As part of our April Edit we have collaborated with contemporary painter Laura Menzies to produce an exclusive three-piece summer collection. Inspired by Menzies’ painting, Colour in the Sky, our design team have used responsibly sourced euroflax linen and cotton fabrics to create a tunic, dress, and lightweight scarf printed with the abstract artwork.

An Interview With Laura Menzies

Can you tell us a bit about your background as an artist and where painting began for you?

Growing up I loved to draw, paint, dance and be creative in any way I could be.

When I went to university I decided to do a multidisciplinary arts degree that combined art, dance, and music. I had to specialise in one discipline in the third year, so I picked art. Since then I've continued my practice, exploring different themes, mediums, materials, ideas, and processes. I relocated to Cornwall shortly after university and did my MA down here. I've had my studio for the last twelve years, and I’ve been exhibiting and doing art fairs and events and collaborations like this one with Celtic & Co.

Your art really showcases the relationship between texture and light.

Many of my paintings are built up slowly through layering, and then I scratch back to reveal what's underneath so that they have this history contained within them.

The textures often come from things I've seen and experienced, especially living in Cornwall, in this beautiful landscape. The textures I see when I'm swimming or walking in the landscape often filter through in the mark-making and in the different experiments and playful techniques I use in my work.

Light comes through in many different ways. I use a process of layering, often working in thin layers and glazes, and then this creates a luminous effect within the painting that comes through. Living in Cornwall, the beautiful light can be very atmospheric and it’s something that I try to capture within my work. It's very intuitive; it’s about the work being balanced.

How do you achieve that balance?

I like them to look at the work up close; does it excite me? Then from far back; does it look different? It's got easier the more I've painted, over the years, to know when something is done. But still, I have moments where I push something and then think, oh, I wish I hadn't done that.

Laura is wearing the Merino V Neck Jumper in Oatmeal Ecru Stripe.

I love the painting behind you; what you were saying about working in thin layers, you can really see it in this one; there's a lot of air and space in it.

That painting wasn't working for months and months. I just left it and then found I could be more expressive when I went back to it. There are a lot of big brush marks on this, whereas some of my other work is a bit more expansive and soft.

There is that thing where you think, “Oh, this isn’t not working. I've got nothing to lose. I'm just going to go with it.” And then by doing that, you've got something new to react to. And then the work grows and goes on a different journey from what you had originally planned for it.

I love the lightness of the colours in this painting.

I actually rarely paint with these colours! This painting was started in the spring. The colours change for me throughout the year as the seasons change. In the spring and summer, they do feel more vibrant, brighter, and more alive. It's an important part of my practice to walk through nature and absorb it, being outside and taking in the moment.

Do you think part of the walking for you goes back to when your multidisciplinary training, and to dance?

Being outside of the studio allows me to use a different part of my brain and slow down, look and stop, whether that's just to closely look at something, photograph something, or make a note. I think a slower pace can be quite meditative in itself.

I might listen to music and really immerse myself in the landscape. I suppose the process is quite physical. So when I'm back in the studio, sometimes I'll work up on the wall or sometimes on the floor. I might spill the paint or throw it or flick it. Somebody said to me recently, “I didn’t know you had this dance background, but it appears now that instead of you dancing with your body, you're making the paint dance and swirl and pool.”

I thought that was quite a nice way of thinking about it. Painting can be a really physical thing. It all depends on my energy levels. My big paintings; I think I can be much more immersed in and physical with.

The Collaboration

So let’s talk a little bit about the pieces that you've made for the Celtic & Co. collaboration. What was your relationship with fashion or clothing and textiles before?

I've always loved fashion and magazines. I did think about doing fashion or some sort of design degree at university. When I was approached, I was just unbelievably excited. I've never done anything like this before, but I had thought about how my paintings might look on cloth, on fabric.

Our Senior Product Designer Morgan got in contact with you and had been to your show…

That's right. She saw my work in Falmouth just over a year ago and then got in contact to see if it might be something that I would be interested in exploring. Morgan came over for a studio visit and had a look at some of my pieces here.

Actually, the piece, ‘Colour in the Sky’, that was selected for the print was a painting that I did on my return from India just over a year ago as well. Last winter I spent about seven weeks in India and I wanted to go over there just to bring in some new inspiration that I could use in my work.

I'd been to India several years ago and it touched me very deeply, emotionally and spiritually. I wanted to go back as an artist to really soak it in. When I was out there, I worked in sketchbooks and did a small series on this beautiful Indian paper called khadi paper and then worked with some of those paintings, sketches and memories back in the studio.

‘Colour in the Sky’ isn’t a literal representation of a place in India, it’s more a feeling of the colours and the shapes and the texture. I suppose it’s the sense of freedom that I felt when I was out there.

India can be an assault on the senses in every way, and I think my work got a bit bolder after I came back. The marks became a bit more expressive, a bit more expansive. India’s so huge, and the excitement, the aliveness I felt when I was out there travelling hopefully came through in the series that I made on my return.