Alpaca home products, pillows, throws, quilts, blankets

I love the idea of the workshop household described by Mark Rosenthal, and believe in the importance of our interaction with materials, texture, pattern, and the handmade. Recent research evoked memories of home and childhood. Decorative patterns on wallpapers and fabrics reminded me how important patterns were to me as a child, providing endless starting points for day dreams and imaginative, sometimes fearful, scenarios. I remembered how the familiar furniture and objects in my grandparent’s houses and my own acted as an assortment of scenery and props for games and stories to be built around. The home-made object, creates another layer of significance and forms a part of personal and family narratives, making links and connections through generations. My work continues to explore the interplay between screen-printed and embroidered textures, colour, mark, drawn and stitched lines. Recently playing with imagery and ideas springing from our relationship with familiar domestic objects, everyday pastimes, the meaning of ‘home’ and home-making activities. Abstract and semi-figurative forms combined with pattern and texture present an ambiguous and sometimes absurd narrative. Using Irish machine, and hand embroidery the work employs a combination of traditional techniques, such as applique, patchwork, needle-punch and screen print. Forms, are hand drawn, paper cut, found or photographic; layered and collaged with abstract and semi figurative appliquéd, needle-punched and printed imagery. Embroidered lines and richly embroidered areas create further layers of texture and tension. Sustainability is a priority, materials a mixture of natural organics such as cotton, hemp, linen and wool combined with found/recycled/vintage materials. Embroidered elements use plant dyed wool yarn, cotton, alpaca, silk and linen.

Longtime friends with similarly rural childhoods, Nicole Chiala and Kristina de Corpo started Amenity in 2004 to bring some of the peaceful tranquility of their youth into their urban, adult homes. Two graphic designers passionate about nature and modern design, followed a vision of sleeping among treetops to create duvet covers quite unlike anything available at the time. Amenity's debut collection, large-scale, nuanced silhouettes hand-drawn by Kristina and printed individually; combined nature's flawless elegance with a modern aesthetic. Utilizing textural linens and a rich palette of warm earth tones and luminous metallics, Kristina and Nicole soon expanded their timeless sophistication into pillows and prints that could work outside of the bedroom. As Amenity's roots were taking hold, so too were those of the green movement. Conscientious manufacturers from the start - producing their goods locally and only with eco-friendly dyes and minimally-processed, natural fibers - Nicole and Kristina launched their first certified organic bedding collection in 2006. Marrying modern ethics with clean, modern design, the collection was an overwhelming success. As the organic market continued to grow, so did the Amenity family. Kristina and Nicole both experienced motherhood for the first time and a delightful Nursery collection made with only the purest, organic fabrics and dyes was the next introduction. This season, with the transition of their accessories collection onto organic fibers, Amenity has realized its longtime goal of offering organic design exclusively on organic or sustainable materials. In addition to new artwork, 2008 introduces a broadening of the Amenity brand with beautifully handwoven alpaca throw blankets from Peru and the long awaited "Muir" bed, designed by Nicole and made locally from reclaimed vintage Douglas Fir.