I responded to the woodland theme, firstly, by writing a poem. Very unlike me, but I am in the woods daily, and the trees and leaves inspire so much of my work... so it wasn't hard to find the words. They sort of tumbled out.
Then I carved many many leaves and ferns and woodland plants, across three lino blocks. Martin type set my poem for print in a fourth colour, and the poster was born.
I also printed some copies of a Ledbury lino block I had carved a couple of years back; coincidentally of Church Lane, where the exhibtition was to be held.
Both prints are for sale online via Tinsmiths, for £27 each.
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If you would like to buy one of these limited edition prints, all the money raised from them goes to the Disasters Emergency Committee's Ukraine appeal. You can buy your print here.
]]>My inspiration was flowers, right for each person and for the season, or ones relevant to our personal story. My jacket featured Lily of the Valley becuase it was in bloom when we got engaged.
Designing something so personal was very enjoyable! But I also thought what a privilegde it could be to design like this for others. If you would like a bespoke fabric made for someone special, or a special occasion, do get in touch to see what might be possible.
]]>Fiona gives me a description of the exquisite combinations of natural organic ingredients in each Soap Folk product, and I design the patterns they are wrapped in, with unparalleled creative freedom.
As a very creatively-minded company, Soap Folk remains the perfect client, and offers a truly local collaboration, as Soap Folk have premises just down the road in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire.
All images courtesy of Soap Folk, photographed by Article Studio, Nailsworth
]]>Please get in touch if this is something you might want to commission me to do for you.
Then I got into lino-cutting some rooms, with pencil crayon or pen as the background colours.
]]>Over the years when time allows, I have worked to commission on prints for homeowners who want to capture the character and texture of their period homes, in the form of a bespoke lino print.
]]>Over the years when time allows, I have worked to commission on prints for homeowners who want to capture the character and texture of their period homes, in the form of a bespoke lino print.
Prices start from £600, working from photographs (price dependent on style/detail of property, scale of print, print method etc). The finished piece would be printed by hand, ready for you to frame yourself to your own preferences.
If this is of interest to you, please get in touch to discuss availability and your requirements.
]]>My home has two stone planters either side of the front door, where I planted blueberry bushes as soon as we moved in. The first crop came in the spring lockdown of 2020, and was plentiful. An easy snack for three homeschooling children when simple pleasures really counted. I drew the blueberries from our ‘school desk’ and want to remember this happy moment in a strange time.
This hand drawn design is available as a fabric here.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
]]>‘Vine’ is a simple observational drawing of a grape stem, stripped bare by the hands of my young children. The architecture of the stems reminded me of DNA strands, and when positioned vertically made a satisfying stripe.
This fabric is discontinued but can be printed for specific projects, so please get in touch if you might be interested.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
]]>'Filigree' is a trellis based pattern than can be used in any direction. The design is inspired by honeysuckle vines on our terrace; continuous and intertwined.
This is a hand drawn design that is available as fabric, here.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
Berries and oak leaves create happy little wreaths, with the acorn at the heart of the design.
]]>'Oaknut' is a playful fabric that brings together the many elements found in other Susie Hetherington fabrics, forming part of a collection inspired by my home and surroundings. Berries and oak leaves create happy little wreaths, with the acorn, or oaknut (just to be different) at the heart of the design.
This is a block printed design that is currently available as digitally printed soft furnishing fabric, here.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
'Willowleaf' was inspired by the variety of evergreen Contoneaster shrub of the same name, in my garden. Gracefully arched branches and clusters of berries almost create a pattern in situ, which caught my eye and soon reappeared in sketchbooks.
This is a hand drawn design that is available as fabric, here.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
]]>A cascade of Nasturtiums from an old chimney pot planter, bathed in sunshine on the terrace, inspired this bold print.
This is a block printed design that is currently available as digitally printed soft furnishing fabric, here. The original hand printed texture has deliberately left in when being digitally reproduced, to add interest and to express the hand made origin.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
Epworth Corydalis was inspired by the wild plant 'Corydalis Lutea' that grows at the foot of the drystone walls around the footpaths and lanes of my village.
This fabric is discontinued but can be printed for specific projects, so please get in touch if you might be interested.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
Peonies, captured in their fleeting prime, and a favourite flower of my daughter, Mo.
This is a hand drawn design that is available wrapping paper, here.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
Down a holloway and into the woods, under the cover of young oak leaves. Light glinting through making patterns on the path, made me look up and see the canopy above.
This is a hand drawn design that is available as wrapping paper, here, and as fabric here.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
A brood of chickens, pecking their day away under the tendrils of a runner bean wigwam. This design was inspired by my own chickens, but the forerunners in the print are the hens of a close friend, Kate, with some brilliant pun names. Meet 'Princess Layer', for starters.
This fabric is discontinued but can be printed for specific projects, so please get in touch if you might be interested.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
This design was quite simply inspired by looking down, one early morning, to a dew covered carpet of clover underfoot. It was already a pattern to me, so I carved it to lino to capture it.
This is a block printed design that is available as wrapping paper, here.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
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This eccentric parade of some of the more fanciful beasts of the animal kingdom, (the lion, elephant and peacock), was imagined by my middle daughter when she was three. Many a visit to gardens of stately homes introduced her to the beauty of peacocks, and her ‘commission’ appealed to me, for bringing this unlikely combination together.
This fabric is discontinued but can be printed for specific projects, so please get in touch if you might be interested.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
A burst of lilies on the surface of a pond, with a cascade of stems beneath, give this design depth as well as detail. I was inspired by the lilies of well stocked formal ponds at National Trust properties, but it was in fact a simple pool in the walled garden of a favourite museum that lead to the original drawings.
This is a block printed design that is currently available as digitally printed soft furnishing fabric, here.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
A swift on the wing, swooping past a rambling rose… this pretty design is a quintessential English garden print, capturing a fleeting second of country life.
This is a block printed design that is currently available as digitally printed soft furnishing fabric, here.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
The Whitebeam tree is a species I return to again and again, for it’s tangle of branches and the two-tone contrasting leaves. I show off these contrasts by framing the leaves against circles; perhaps the sun or the moon, with the leaves moving from dark to light across the design.
]]>The Whitebeam tree is a species I return to again and again, for it’s tangle of branches and the two-tone contrasting leaves. The flash of white on the underside of a Whitebeam leaf was described as a ‘sudden-lighted whitebeam’ in gusts of wind, by poet George Meredith. I show off these contrasts by framing the leaves against circles; perhaps the sun or the moon, with the leaves moving from dark to light across the design.
This is a block printed design that is currently available as digitally printed soft furnishing fabric, here.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
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A primrose species with striped petals has the name ‘Zebra Blue’ after a similarly detailed butterfly, found in India. Amongst a sea of more general primroses, these caught my eye; they look almost coloured in… as if someone has picked up a biro and brought out the pattern on the petals.
This is a block printed design that is currently available as digitally printed soft furnishing fabric, here, and as wrapping paper, here.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
]]>Tumbling over a drystone wall, a beautiful kiwi plant created a canopy for pedestrians on the lane below, and made the perfect perch for a speckled Starling.
This is a block printed design that is currently available as digitally printed soft furnishing fabric, here.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
The vivid colours and overlapping petals of Camellia blooms, against the sandy soft backdrop of a Cotswold house, has lead to this strong, eye-catching design; a bold floral pattern with a subtle striped background.
This is a block printed design that is currently available as digitally printed soft furnishing fabric, here.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
An abundance of papery sycamore keys grace a cascade of winter branches, and the eye is cast from one bunch to the next, across the design.
This fabric is discontinued but can be printed for specific projects, so please get in touch if you might be interested.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
Inspiration for this design came from the bursts of wildflowers adorning and bordering the dry-stone walls of a village walk, and is named after a young walking companion who enjoyed spotting the flowers along the way.
]]>Inspiration for this design came from the bursts of wildflowers adorning and bordering the dry-stone walls of a village walk, and is named after a young walking companion who enjoyed spotting the flowers along the way.
This fabric is discontinued but can be printed for specific projects, so please get in touch if you might be interested.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
Delicate details dance along the tiered branches of the Mariesii shrub, as tiny white buds begin their transformation into beautiful lace-cap flowers.
This fabric is discontinued but can be printed for specific projects, so please get in touch if you might be interested.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
This design captures the most familiar and pleasing of natural pattern repeats:- the informal scattering of daisies across a lawn. Cheerful, uplifting and reminiscent of an English country garden.
This fabric is discontinued but can be printed for specific projects, so please get in touch if you might be interested.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
Under Hillway Coppice was inspired by a walk on a disused railway line amongst the beautiful hills of West Dorset, where the undulating land seems to layer grasses, branches, brooks and woodland into pattern for itself.
This fabric is discontinued but can be printed for specific projects, so please get in touch if you might be interested.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.
This design magnifies the charm of the wild flowers, leaves and the curling tendrils found alongside the woodland and Common land near to our Gloucestershire home.
This fabric is discontinued but can be printed for specific projects, so please get in touch if you might be interested.
© Susie Hetherington. No image may be used from this website without permission in advance.