Fk chats to creative ladies Lucy & Lily, behind the ever evolving colourful label Peaches+Keen. Who will also be debuting at the upcoming Melbourne Markets!

Can you tell us about your bold and bright label Peaches+Keen and where the name comes from?
Our work is about bringing colour, joy and leafy delights into living spaces. We make hanging planters, artworks and jewellery that combine our love of all things bold and bright into the creation of tactile, handmade items that make people smile. We want to make beautiful things and not lose track of the reason why… to have fun! The name Peaches+Keen came about because Lily’s nickname is Peach and Lucy is super keen!

What are your backgrounds and how did you start working together?
We met in 2003 at Brighton Bay Art Design & Photography course (Lucy had a yellow Datsun called Delilah and Lily had a pale blue Datsun 1000 called Kiddy, so obviously we were destined to be friends). Lucy went on to study Gold & Silversmithing at RMIT while Lily studied Visual Communication (Design) at Monash, and we remained good friends throughout.
We have always had a very similar aesthetic (way too often we accidentally dress the same and even our partners call us each other’s name), and we constantly have ideas for things we want to make together. In mid 2011 an opportunity came up where we had access to an unused shop space in a backstreet of Richmond, so naturally we decided to have an exhibition. Within about a month we had cleaned up the space, created a substantial amount of work and put on a show. Despite the pressure of a short deadline and combining two creative visions, we were both thrilled with how well it went and how much fun we had working together. Since then, Peaches+Keen hasn’t really slowed down! Lucy is also is a mum to a beautiful girl called Ada and recently welcomed a gorgeous little boy called Rafferty. With so much going on, we recently made the decision that Lily would leave her job as a Graphic Designer to work full time on P+K, and Lucy spends as much time as she can in the studio around motherhood.

What inspires you daily? 
The most obvious inspiration in our work comes from our surroundings. We both have a love affair with colour, pattern and nature and always incorporate these elements into what we do. We are also very fortunate to have a close circle of incredibly creative friends who always encourage us to see the world in new ways.

And some of our daily online inspiration fixes:
Fine little day
Ungtblod
Bawkbawkbawk
Plenty of colour
The design files

What is your workspace like, and what inspires you about your surroundings?
A few months ago we moved into a studio space at the Windsor Workshop in Chapel Street, Windsor. After working from our lounge rooms it’s incredibly nice to be in a space with lots of other lovely creative people. Everyone who comes into the Windsor Workshop is blown away by what an amazing space it is, and we think this has a lot to do with the fantastic mix of people who work there. Our area is definitely the most colourful within the space, with lots of plants, colourful supplies, tools and paper to keep us happy and productive!

What do you love about making one-off items? And what are some of the challenges?
We have always wanted to create unique objects, because we place a high value in having something personal and locally made rather than something generic and mass produced. While the hands on nature of our work is very satisfying, the reality is that – like many makers – we struggle to produce work at a rate that justifies the time that it takes to produce. At the moment we are seeing this is just another problem to try to solve in a creative way. For the most part, we are incredibly fortunate to have fun doing what we love every day.

What can we expect to see from Peaches+Keen at the upcoming Melbourne Finders Keepers?
We will have some of the planters, jewellery and prints that are on our website. We are also really excited about some new projects in the works. We don’t really want to be making the same thing all the time, so our work is always evolving and we are always coming up with new ideas of things we want to create. It will still be the same mix of colour, pattern and nature but hopefully by the time the market comes around we will have some new work to show. We can’t wait!

www.peachesandkeen.com