STYLE REV VISITS
LOWRI
On a typical overcast day in London, I made my way north of the river where the streets are lined with charming Victorian terrace houses. One of them is Jo Faulkner’s cosy home studio, nestled amongst the overgrown and thriving foliage of her back garden.
Although it was cloudy outside, Jo’s colour drenched studio vibrantly contrasted the grey skies with cosy lamps, a steamy pot of tea to warm us up…and of course, a few cheeky pastries!
Step inside the Lowri studio where Jo Faulkner comes to create.
What is your favorite room in the house?
“It has to be my studio. Although it’s chaotic, I love it. I love spending time in my garden. My bathroom also feels like relaxing and calming after a stressful day. But yes, definitely this studio.
What does a typical day in the Life of Jo look like?
Well, it’s probably quite a surprisingly late start compared to everyone else. My brain starts working later in the day. I like to do some exercise if I can, or spend some time in the garden on a nice day, lots of coffee, and then I’m ready to go. I usually get emails out of the way and then spend a few hours in the studio painting or cutting samples. I’ve got someone that helps me with that, thankfully, because it takes a long time. That’s a typical day, and I usually work or drift late into the evening.”
What are some places that inspire you, near and far?
“There are many places! Down the road from me are the Walthamstow and Hackney Marshes where the grass grows wild, brambly and bedraggled, with the canal running through, and the smoke from the canal boats. It feels like you’re not in London anymore.
I have very fond memories of Wales. When we were growing up we would go to Anglesey in the North where it was always raining, but it would be the whole family—piles and piles of us. I have lots of memories of my granddad, in a full suit and tie on the beach. There were these plants called Crocosmia that grew outside the cottage we stayed in. I thought they were tropical because they seemed so exotic, but when we moved into this garden, they started growing here too.
We also take a lot of holidays in Cornwall along the coast. It’s really wild there. There’s something about the English countryside where everything grows on top of everything else —it’s soggy, wild, filled with thorns, flowers, and grasses. I definitely get inspired by that kind of wildness. It all feels weird and wonderful, with different plants growing on top of each other, toadstools, and strange shapes.
It’s all very nostalgic for me and there are lots of elements in my art that are in response to that feeling of nostalgia.”
What has led you to where you are in your creative journey?
“My mum used to take me to a design department store in London called Liberty and we’d look at all the beautiful fabrics. I have always loved art and painting, but definitely more from a decorative angle. When I was figuring out what I wanted to do, textile design provided a nice mix of the things that I loved, including fabrics, fashion, making things, painting and photography.
I studied textile design at university and specialized in printed textiles. After that, I worked for high street retailers like John Lewis, West Elm, and Anthropologie for about 10 years. Then I started Lowri and it was nice to make my own decisions about colours, direction, and the way the fabric was sourced.”
How do you find being an artist for brands compared to working under your own brief?
“I really enjoyed it. You have to adapt your own style to suit different things. And I really love that challenge of “Today I have to do really delicate florals or tomorrow I need to do big bold geometrics”. But you can lose sight of the things that you’re really good at, or what you like doing the most. It’s quite nice to have full reign and responsibility for every stage of the process, and realise what you’re really driven by.”
Who inspires you?
“My grandfather was an artist. I still have some of his sketchbooks with his beautiful pastels. He was quite a successful artist, but his personal works are truly beautiful. He would paint the Welsh countryside and Welsh people. There’s one I love of two men chatting in a Welsh bar.
He was always drawing us when we visited. I was so envious of how he always had a sketchbook with him, like it was part of his outfit. We have many sketchbooks filled with drawings of us growing up, which is really lovely.
My mom is also a very talented artist, mostly working in abstract art. It seems to run in the family. My granny painted a lot of still-life pastels and taught me many useful tricks. My mom said, “I taught you,” and I replied, “Yes, you all taught me something.”
None of them are around anymore, which makes these memories and mementos even more special.”
Do you have a favourite artwork and why?
“Probably the Forest and Hills. I like those traditional Chinoiserie layouts, with Chinese villages and trees. You can really get lost in them. But I liked the idea of those elements in a bolder way, more abstracted. So I played around with it, trying to make something new and different. I think it has a nod to that style while still being its own thing.”
Why do you choose digital printing?
“My degree involved a lot of screen printing and I graduated with lots of screen-printed samples. I’d done loads of natural dyeing, but when approaching studios they were like, “What can we do with this? Everything’s digitally printed now.” I think that hand printing and screen printing are coming back around, and people are really valuing them. I haven’t done a lot of screen printing since then, but I’d like to add some screen printing back into my life.
I choose digital print because there’s less waste, and the process works really well for the amount of colour and painted detail that I use. It’s more environmentally conscious than some of the screen printing processes, but there are lots of different types. It works for me, but I think it’s quite nice when you can see the watery marks in the back of the painting. It’s so stunning, and it would be very difficult to screen print something like that.”
How does sustainability enter into the day to day of the brand and designing?
“Sustainability is definitely an integral part of what we do and is very close to my heart. I don’t like waste of any kind, and I’m very conscious of it day to day. I don’t have a huge amount of waste because I print to order. I donate large cuttings of fabric to a nearby school and small bits of fabric can be composted. We use organic cotton and linen, and all the dyeing is azo-free, which means it releases fewer chemicals and is less harmful to the planet. We also donate 5% of all sales to Rewilding Britain, which is a wonderful charity. I read a book last year called Rewilding, which is about a farm where they put rewilding into practice. It’s really inspiring, especially seeing all the nature that has come back in that space. I’m trying to be a bit more wild in my own garden. We send little packets of seeds with every order, though not internationally because of legal restrictions. I wouldn’t want to get shut down over a cute little pack of seeds!
We’re trying to be more conscious by offering to buy back any excess orders or items that come to the end of their life. We will either reuse or recycle them the best we can. It’s early days, so this hasn’t happened yet, but we want people to know about that.
I’ve tried using rainwater as paint water, but it didn’t work out—it ended up smelling haha. I thought I was being really resourceful, but I had to shut that one down. The rainwater I collect is better suited for the garden. I think I’ll stick with tap water.”
Do trends factor into your designs, or is it purely personal?
“I’m not a slave to trends, but I’m definitely inspired by them. I love seeing what interior designers do with prints, how they layer them, and what coordinating colours they use.
I love some of the unusual colour combinations trending at the moment, like purple and brown. I enjoy finding ways to incorporate these while maintaining my own painting style.”
Do you ever struggle to keep yourself motivated to create?
“Occasionally I have moments where nothing comes out, right? It’s like your paintbrush isn’t working…blame the paintbrush! But generally, I think those moments are quite exciting because sometimes you paint something and really hate it, but then a year later or so you might re-discover it and it becomes the starting point for a new style of painting or art that you haven’t explored yet.
Sometimes if there’s a painting I don’t like, I’ll cut it up and re-collage it, or play around with it. I’ve been doing that recently with some florals and it gives them a really nice, different feel.
I’ve always found it quite a strange process, but I’m never really lacking motivation to create, because I love it. You might have bad days but I’ve learned to love those days because it can give you a fresh perspective afterward. The best thing to do is just keep going and push through.”
What is something that you can’t live without?
“I think it’s this old, manky thing that I’m obsessed with *points to her well-loved paint palette*. I don’t know what I’m going to do when it starts to run out, I’ve had it for about eight years! I actually got this new Chinese ink paint palette as a gift, but it’s too perfect to use at the moment, it needs a little bit of roughing up. I also love my pencils, and my pair of very cute pinking shears to scallop edges.”
Do you have anything in the works for future collections?
“I’ve got a couple of ideas for designs that feel classic to my style of painting that I haven’t included in the collection yet. I love to draw animals—like weird animals. The forest and hills feel really true to my style, with mark-making, slightly strange-shaped trees, and little houses. But I’d really like to do more creatures, slightly mythical ones, and then a really large-scale floral that’s big and bold, almost so big that it feels abstract. That’s the plan. But also, some super small-scale prints that can be layered with all of these things. I also really love the little check from the first collection; it’s such a nice layering piece. So I’m thinking about doing more coordinates that break apart the more eclectic pieces, so you can mix and match.”
Jo’s vibrant, calming and nostalgic personality is delightfully reflected in the stunning textiles & wallpapers of Lowri.
Immerse yourself in her creations here… better yet, pop into our showroom to see these beauties for yourself!