How much do you know about Katie Procter? She’s not a household name (yet) but her designs are both delicate and vivid, with raw illustrative talent capturing your eyes.
We spotted the talented textile designer at The New Designers Show earlier in the year and I caught up with her when she popped in to our offices recently. She has her own sense of fashion style too, and I couldn’t help but comment on a huge resin encased ring she was wearing on a necklace chain. ‘Jewellery is a sideline, it’s my hobby,’ she replied.
Not for sale then? ‘Well, it’s a work in progress. Anything to do with resin is hard. There’s a lot of polishing and sanding and finishing to do so I guess it would retail at £60.’ Certainly a wonderful Christmas present for her friends then.
Though the Lincolnshire based designer is not at a loss for great gifts to give. I love the thoughtfulness in her fox paintings – even though I can’t abide the creatures in real life.
Like many textile designers she is inspired by nature and birds: ‘I love anything rural, where I grew up in the countryside. I’m inspired by what’s around me and it’s electric to work from birds and animals and trees…’
Image credit: Katie Procter (moodboard created on mydeco)
But what sets Katie apart from the graduate crowd are the materials she juxtaposes and methods she employs: ‘I always use a range of materials and techniques. In terms of colours I use a range of brights and neutrals but my style is definitely eclectic and wide ranging.’
Take her fox painting: instead of framing it (how conformist!), she searches for old chests of drawers and uses one of these said drawers to mount her design. The versatility the image then garners is fantastic. It can be hung on a picture rail, on a wall, propped on a chair, on a dressing table – and it doesn’t look out of place.
She showed me her drawer mounted laser etched bird design. ‘This would be quite nice on a wall with other pieces to make an eclectic collection,’ she said. ‘All my pieces are mounted in old drawers, Victorian headboards with mahogany backing, any old furniture I can reclaim.’
The piece she brought in retails for about £180 and is part of an interiors collection she’s currently working on, from a pokey workshop in her parents’ house. ‘I’d like a business of interior accessories, like cushions, with lighting and screenprinting as well as my artwork,’ she told me.
‘Obviously I’m starting off small and not renting a massive workshop because it’s just not feasible at the moment but I do want to expand and it’s certainly something I’m saving for.’
Image credit: Katie Procter
So Katie has ambition, originality, reclamation, eco, talent, eclectic style, artwork, textiles and jewellery to offer… is there anything more that could we want? To be number one on her Christmas list perhaps…
Ellie was mydeco.com's fabulous Editor for three years, and is now off exploring South America. Read more posts by Ellie.
2 comments
Flock of Tea cosy says:
Oct 13, 2010
Yes, add me to her xmas list!
How to become a new designer - watch our video of this years graduates at New Designer 2011 | mydeco blog says:
Jul 6, 2011
[...] friendly face at ‘one year on’ was designer Katie Procter better known as Katie and the Wolf . mydeco’s Ellie predicted that she was one to keep an eye on in 2010 and she was right. You [...]