FK talk to Amy & Carly from Umbrella Prints based in Adelaide. Umbrella Prints made their FK market debut at the last Sydney Finders Keepers in December.

Tell us the story behind Umbrella prints – who is behind it, how did it start?
Umbrella Prints is a collaboration between Amy Prior and Carly Schwerdt. We had businesses next to one another and chatted between the doorway.  We became fans of each other’s work; which grew to feverish brainstorming of ideas about design. We complement each other, it was inevitable we would work together.

What are your backgrounds and what lead you to design?
Amy has a background as a screenprinter and visual artist. Carly has a background in graphic design.
We never stop thinking of new ways of doing things and are really driven to inspire people and their spaces with beautiful pattern and functional objects.  We love that fabric has a life beyond its design and sale… that it’s potential is latent and that it gets better with age.

What do you love about running Nest studio and managing your own print label?
So many things!
We have a retail space of our own, Nest Studio, where we can experiment with some of our more unconventional designs and speak directly with clients.
We teach children art and they remind us that the best work is unselfconscious and inventive.
Complete creative freedom.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?
Anywhere! Everywhere! And all the time! Inspiration can be a single event or connections made between lots of things. Passionate people, music, contrasts, colour, flowers, nature, beauty, ugly, ethereal, lines, quiet, shape…. it all goes in the mix 🙂

What do you love about Adelaide and what makes it unique to other states?
Adelaide is under-rated. You have to work harder and smarter to get noticed nationally which can only build character! There are heaps of creative people working here in music, science, art and design and… we have pandas.

What was your experience like at the recent Sydney Finders Keepers and what are you working on next?
Sydney Finders Keepers was interesting for us; we met heaps of people in the gorgeous Carriage Works.  The feedback has given us a real boost.

Next? As well as new meterage, we are printing more hands-on one-off pieces in the studio.  We really feel like getting our hands dirty and experimenting more. Also we have had a lot of interest in our small range of resin jewellery and are keen to develop this area of our work. We are super excited about the future.

http://www.umbrellaprints.com.au