Painting on linen

There is something about linen that we never tire of. It creases and softens and catches the light, and it seems to grow more beautiful the longer it is lived with. So when we began painting cushions, there was never really a question of which cloth we would use.

It begins on paper

Every design starts at the studio table as a pencil sketch: a sprig of rosehips, a scattering of stars, a single trailing stem. We play with the scale until it sits just right on the cushion, then lightly trace the outline onto the linen.

A light hand

Painting on cloth is quite different from painting on paper. Linen drinks colour in, and too much paint sits stiffly on the surface. So we build the colour slowly, in thin layers, so the cloth beneath stays soft to the touch. Every leaf and berry is painted freehand with a fine brush.

You are holding something that was made for you, not printed by the hundred.

Why no two are the same

Because each one is painted by hand, no two sprigs are ever identical. A stem might lean a little further, a berry might sit a touch higher. We think that is the charm of it, and the reason a painted cushion feels so different from a printed one.

The finishing touches

Once painted, each cover is made up with care, sometimes with a piped edge in olive linen, ready to bring a quiet moment of detail to a bed, a window seat or a favourite chair.

Caring for your painted linen

Because every design is painted by hand, our cushions are not made to be machine washed. We think of them as small pieces of art for the home, lovely on a bed, a window seat or a favourite chair, and happy to soften and age gently with time, just as good linen should.

If little hands are likely to reach them, they are very welcome to be loved and leaned on. We would only ask that you are happy with the odd mark along the way. Like a well-read storybook, a little wear becomes part of its charm.