The Pioneering Spirit

Every summer, a tent would be packed and camping kit prepared so as to discover the wild beauty of the countryside. From besides the River Frome, perched overlooking the Isle of Purbeck or enveloped in the ancient woodlands of the Sussex Weald, camping allowed me to forge a bond with nature; a love found in the beauty of plants as well as the practical skills needed to live alongside them. A camp would be made with fallen branches bound by natural cordage, rain water gathered from stretched canvas and with a warming fire always built at its heart. This pioneering spirit - of being inventive with materials and situation - persists within me and my work as a designer. Today, I aim to create gardens that retain a sense of the wild in their planting, while also designing functional objects to harmoniously exist within them