Mindful tea with orchard blooms - my woven spring collection

Introducing my Bespoke Woven Spring Collection - Mindful Tea with Orchard Blooms

Spring has a way of gently awakening the world around us. Swollen buds unfurl into tender green leaves, orchard branches soften beneath blossoms, and the air fills with sweet fragrances, the hum of bees and the flutter of birds gathering materials for their nests.

It’s a season of stirring, creating and becoming, and one that has invited me to slow down and notice the simple moments that nourish my own connection with the living world.

This spring, I’m delighted to share a small and intimate collection of just three bespoke woven creations, each with its own story of place, inspiration and relationship with nature.

Nature as Muse - mindful tea beneath the orchard blooms

The collection was inspired by the quiet pleasure of pausing beneath a flowering canopy: holding a hand-crafted cup of freshly brewed garden tea, enjoying a simple picnic among fleeting blossoms, or watching sunlight filter through the new leaves.

These moments remind me that nature connection is often found in the everyday, in the textures we touch, the scents we breathe, and the time we make simply to be.

Each piece has been lovingly hand-woven using natural, spring-inspired colours of hand-dyed raffia fibres, alongside nature treasures gathered respectfully along my trails. The materials and forms have their own character, allowing each creation to unfold organically through the weaving process.

A special collaboration with McLoughlin Rd Studio

At the heart of this collection is a very special collaboration with my friend and talented local potter, Seán McLoughlin of McLoughlin Rd Studio, a pottery studio he shares with his partner, Kylie Dubrich-McLoughlin.

Their story began with a need for self-care alongside their busy professional lives, and grew into a shared creative practice, one that not only brings beautiful ceramics into the world, but warmly invites others to discover the joy of making.

Seán is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker and EMDR therapist, while Kylie teaches Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drugs, and is an accredited Mental Health First Aid instructor. Their work in caring for others is reflected in the thoughtful, heart-led spirit of their pottery.

At McLoughlin Rd Studio, Seán and Kylie create hand-thrown and hand-built stoneware, guided by function, feel and a genuine love of the process. They welcome others to get their hands into the clay, shape something uniquely their own, explore glazes and experience the delight of taking a handmade piece home to use and treasure.

As they beautifully express, there is something quite special about holding a piece that began as a bag of mud and, through your own effort, creativity and self, has been brought to life.

I feel this sentiment resonates deeply with my own weaving practice.

Our collaboration brings together the beautiful meeting of clay and woven fibre, two creative paths shaped by patience, care and a relationship with the materials, and celebrates the beauty of handmade objects woven into the rituals of everyday life.

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Each of these three woven creations is one of a kind, made slowly in Gippsland with deep respect for the materials, the creative process and the living world that inspires it.

I hope they offer a gentle invitation to pause, make space for connection, and savour the beauty of simply being, perhaps with a cup of tea beneath the orchard blooms, or in a quiet moment at home.

The collection will be shared with my subscriber community first on 6 November, with the public release following on 7 November.

You’re warmly invited to explore the collection and discover the stories woven into each piece.

With deep respect & care,

Sue

Artist & Creator - my biography