Little Garden by Rachel Castle
Rachel Castle’s new bedding range ‘Little Garden’ is as close as you’ll get to being wrapped up in one of the artist’s paintings.
Photography: Caitlin Mills
Styling – Louella Boitel-Gill. Location – Riverhawk Ranch. Photo – Caitlin Mills.
It’s no secret we’re big fans of Rachel Castle’s work. We visited her inner-west studio earlier this year where we were endlessly inspired by her clever use of shape, her meticulous eye for colour and of course, her wicked sense of humour. Since our visit, Rachel has been tinkering away, working hard on her delightful new collection, titled Little Garden. The range is available to pre-order now and is her most colourful artwork yet, printed onto an array of bedding products.
The bedding prints are an artwork in themselves and appear as if the artist has lovingly painted them directly onto each sheet herself. “I’d just finished a load of little paintings with watercolour, acrylic and gouache, with some pencil and pastel combined - they were so pretty with all the different textures, we set about finding a way to print every single solitary colour - to print the artwork exactly as it was onto a full bedding range,” shares Rachel. In previous collections, the artwork was reduced down to seven or eight colours before being printed onto products, but in this instance, Rachel wanted the entire palette of the original work to be represented.
A soft wash cotton was used to accomodate the new printing technique, with the addition of tie ends to all the quilts. The floral print has a new creamy spot linen on its reverse side, a signature design element seen in most of Rachel’s work, ‘cause we just couldn’t do a range without a spot!’ says Rachel.
Styling – Louella Boitel-Gill. Location – Riverhawk Ranch. Photo – Caitlin Mills.
Styling – Louella Boitel-Gill. Location – Riverhawk Ranch. Photo – Caitlin Mills.
“Our business is as much about the artwork we create daily in our studio as it is about our products. The art comes first, the products follow from that. ”
Styling – Louella Boitel-Gill. Location – Riverhawk Ranch. Photo – Caitlin Mills.
Styling – Louella Boitel-Gill. Location – Riverhawk Ranch. Photo – Caitlin Mills.
Styling – Louella Boitel-Gill. Location – Riverhawk Ranch. Photo – Caitlin Mills.