FK talks to Carly & Amy from Adelaide based textiles label Umbrella Prints, about their collective creative space, Nest Studio. We’re also excited to announce our new Adelaide photographers for our Creative Space project – White Wall Photography!

Tell us a little about Umbrella Prints and what happens in your creative space at Nest Studio?
Umbrella Prints is a textile house by Amy Prior and Carly Schwerdt. We create meterage of hand printed organic hemp/cotton and a range of quilter’s weight fabric, as well as a small range of product to compliment the fabric beautifully. Nest Studio is the lovely space we work from and a business in it’s own right.

What is your work space like and what things surround you when you work?
The space we work from is a vibrant, light filled space which works as an art studio, a retail space, a classroom, a melting pot of colour, activity and visitors. We love it.

What is an average day like with Umbrella Prints?
We spend the first hour catching up, lots of chit chat about what we have seen, what has inspired us, over a hot coffee. Every day is different; the reality is we spend a lot of time organising orders, chatting with clients, answering questions, scheduling print runs, updating websites.  But we also get to balance that with the yummy things. We play with colours for our fabric range, get our hands dirty with ink for custom orders, draw pretty pictures which become new designs waiting their turn to feature on our organic hemp cloth & create beautiful jewellery and patchwork. Fun!

What essential things surround you when you work?
Cafe, coffee, light, pin board, colour, humor, collections of inspiration, paper, ink, pencils, macs, silk screens, visitors, customers, camera, music & CHILDREN!

What is your creative process, and what keeps you motivated?
We are both driven individuals who feel a need to express our passion & ideas. There is a constant flow, the creative process is not linear, it’s made up of every moment of the day weaving together, overlapping into a million billion fragments of stardust. To be honest a fear of the mundane motivates us.

What do you love about your surrounding area, and how does this influence you?
Stepney is a creative hub, we are surrounded by designers, artists and artful retailers… sneaky art studios are in and around the warehouses.

AP Bond gallery is a few doors down and there is a gorgeous park which appeared before our eyes just months after we moved in. Inspirational creatives like Khai Liew, Cul-De-Sac, Mimili Maku & Tangentyere artists works literally next door and some amazing street art by artists like Peter Drew in amongst all the old industrial building and Otto’s wood factory. We couldn’t ask for a better more creative environment from which to work.

How do you balance your creative life, home life and running a business?
Keeping everything in perspective, keeping a sense of humor and making sure you are having fun. We also ask for help and are fortunate enough to have lovely families and assistants like Tali & Galit! Of course we could always do with a maid … just someone to clean the bath would be great.

What things keep you inspired on a daily basis?
Eyes open, senses alive, we believe everything you need is around you, you just have to look harder. We could create a lifetime of new fresh designs with what we have already drawn, printed & made.

All the wonderful photos featured in this post are by White Wall Photography and are exclusively for the Finders Keepers!