Creative Living & Collaborations

Another month passed and we're still very much in winter.  I have enjoyed time out in the white coated landscape recently but have also been hiding in my studio for most of the month!  The dark mornings are making me forever tired so I roll over and give myself another half an hour in bed each morning, is anyone else struggling out there?  Atleast the evenings are gradually getting lighter, no more dark at 3pm!

A wee personal thing happened last month, there's a new addition to my family.  I can say that I am now the proud auntie of a beautiful wee baby girl who is such a bundle of joy, I'm thrilled to spend time with her.

So that's January over with.  Following on from my last blog I was to make time for reading, sketching, listening and being in the moment.  I think I could have done better with this (I will always be my own worst critic!), but I did give time to let ideas form and was there to spend precious moments with family.   As for designing and sketching, I have a range of different designs I have pinned up in my studio and plan to make.  This year I want to work more with tartan and light weight fabrics so garments can be worn in the summer, not just focusing on winter.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been working on two designs.  One of which is an adaption of the Moidart coat.  I have been looking at men's armour throughout the medieval period and wanted to capture this look.  With the black Moidart Coat, I wanted to have floaty fullness around the bottom half of the coat, to contrast with the stiff armour feel of the upper bodice.  For this new version I wanted to keep the military structure entirely, so I teamed this structured look with a tartan fabric, which lends itself to the rigidness of the style.  I wanted to try a waistcoat style, which gradually formed into a cropped jacket shape.  Style is not finished yet, but so far I see it would look fabulous with a floaty skirt or even jeans.

I was approached this month by a filmmaker, a model and a photographer requesting a collaboration to showcase creativity in Scotland (in particular the highlands and islands).  I am pretty excited about this and have a few styles I will be putting forward, but one in particular will be a dramatic tartan skirt.  The plan so far is it's going to be shot in a highland landscape, so my aim is to design a skirt that will command attention, yet will be soft and gently float in our forever changing highland winds.  Below is a sneak peek at what to expect..... 

So a have a few jobs to be getting on with, better get to it!

L x