Interview with Leanne Culy:

(Suzannah Tonascia for Bolt of Cloth, March 11th 2010) 

We love Leanne Culy's designs - they have a beautiful simplicity that is really elegant and a distinctly Kiwi Vibe - that's no easy combination to master! 

We caught up with Napier based Leanne this week:

You were already well known as an artist and designer - what made you add fabric design to your range of work?

I have always had a passion for interiors and been a collector of fabric.  With some of my art I could just see that it would really work in repeat format on fabric. It was a bit of a whim but it became an obsession and I have enjoyed the new process and the challenge.

What inspires you when you are designing fabrics?      

I get most of my inspiration while driving my car through the countryside.  I always have a camera with me, and I stop and take photos of things that capture my imagination.  They are often simple - a shape, or an amazing colour.

Are you drawn to any particular colours?

I particularly like soft, pale blue.  And red.              

Where do you design your fabrics?                    

In my studio at home in the Hawkes Bay.  It is a beautiful light room and it has huge windows that open from the floor up - so I can walk straight out onto our veranda and look out over our garden.  I love this room and it is filled with things that inspire me - photos, postcards, memorabilia, hankies, labels off tins, buttons, kina shells....

How do you go about designing a fabric?

All my fabric designs start off as oar art.  A design I am doing for an oar will grab me as being a possibility for fabric, but then I will need to simplify it and work out how to repeat it.  My oars are a series of paintings which have to work together whereas the fabric designs have to look good alone.  So it is different and I like that.

Do you have a textile designer that has influenced you?

I really love the work of Florence Broadhurst - though it is quite different from my own style.

How did you decide what base cloths you would print on?

I wanted to use a base cloth that would have as little environmental impact as possible.  Hemp is pesticide free and lasts a long time and that appealed. I like to think of my designs as being simple and enduring and the cloth it is printed on needed to be too - so people who buy it can easily have it in their homes for ten years or even more.

What would you say to people who think your fabrics are expensive?

Buy now while Bolt of Cloth has such a great deal!

You know, there is that saying that you get what you pay for. My fabrics are made to last - both aesthetically and in terms of their quality, they are made here in New Zealand in small print runs, with a lot of love.  All up, they are actually pretty good value.

Which of your designs do you have in your own house?

I have Tutu curtains in my lounge and  a chair in Nature/Nurture.  In my bach I have Gold Rata curtains and Nature/ Nurture lampshades. We have the Chocolate Swans dividing the hall way as it has such great insulating properties.

Have customers used your fabric in any ways which has surprised you?

A lot of people have used my designs for clothes, which did surprise me at first.  It does drape beautifully though, and looks great as clothing, so maybe I should have expected it!

What are you currently working on?

I am currently working on a range of Sheers  - the first being a white Swan printed on a white sheer fabric.  It is looking amazing and I am really excited about launching it.  I am also working on a new range which I have called Bouquet.