What makes you feel the most wild and alive?
When I am completely immersed in Mother Nature. When I am feeling lost, overwhelmed, stressed or I need to be mentally nourished, I grab my meditation music and walk among all the beauty that surrounds my home. I am lucky that I’m surrounded by a national park full of watering holes, waterfalls, walking tracks and more. Being with Mother Nature is when I feel most alive and wild. This is something that I have taught my two young children — to immerse themselves in nature and to embrace the beauty of the outdoors.
When did your love for art and creating first begin?
I had an intrinsic calling to create from a young age. For as long as I can remember, I was always drawing, painting, sewing, dancing and creating with my wild, free, childlike imagination. Believing in all things magic is what sparked my creativity and love for art.
How has a sense of ambition and drive shaped where you are now?
This intrinsic calling to create naturally led me to pursue a career in the arts. I have an extensive background in graphic design, fashion, interior styling and event styling. After giving birth to my two beautiful children, I felt the stirring to return to my roots and create with my bare hands again. This yearning, drive and ambition led to the founding of The Escape Co.
Can you tell us a bit about the products you create?
I create unique homewares — candles, bowls, art using ever-changing mediums, designs and processes. This allows me, as the sole artist, to always produce innovating and original pieces for all my customers and clients. Each collection is created like a piece of art: unique, original and limited edition — that’s what makes our pieces so special. Hand-crafted for your home, heart and soul, each piece captures the unrefined and imperfect beauty in life.
Where do you find inspiration for your intricate homewares collections?
Each piece is carefully created to embrace the philosophy to live life slowly with heart, magic and depth. Just like each one of us, no piece is alike or perfect, which is what makes them so magical. The inspiration for the collections arises from the natural surrounds of my Australian home. Each piece attempts to capture the exquisite beauty of the Australian gum tree seen through the lens of the Japanese aesthetic “wabi-sabi” — roughly translating as imperfect beauty.
What has been your favourite piece to work on and why?
I have many favourites as they are all so unique. But if I had to choose, my favourite would be the BARE collection. It is exactly what I was trying to create when The Escape Co was born — the attempt to capture the beauty of the Australian paperbark tree. After years of creating many collections, I finally brought my original idea to life!
The Escape Co has an eco-friendly focus; can you tell us more about what you do to reduce the environmental impact of the brand?
Our philosophy is to create beauty, value imperfections and to live deeply, embracing the natural beauty that surrounds us every day. Creating artisan pieces that are eco-friendly is important to us. Our candles are hand-poured using clean soy and plant-based wax, which is biodegradable and vegan-friendly. Purely ethical and non-genetically-modified sources and only ethical suppliers have been chosen that do not contribute to deforestation. Each piece is hand-wrapped in our reusable linen wrap, paired with a small recycled paper swing tag. We always use recycled boxes, tissue paper, eco wrap and bubble wrap when sending our pieces. It may not always look pristine and perfect, but we value recycling over appearance any given day. The amount of bubble wrap that is used within the building industry each day and thrown out is mind-blowing. We reuse this bubble wrap that would normally be thrown out and encourage everyone to do the same. Be mindful, recycle and do what you can to help Mother Earth.
What are you …
Listening to: My music continually changes depending on what I am feeling. Whether I am creating, working, playing or training.
Reading: Breath by James Nestor.
Watching: I am not a big TV girl, but I love watching scary movies with my eldest son.
Learning: Pottery.
What’s next for you?
With my extensive background in the arts, I am getting back to my painting. I will be creating a collection of artworks with botanical fabrics, eco paints and beeswax. I am so excited to get my soul back into what I love most and that is painting.
For more, visit theescapeco.com.au or @theescapeco on Instagram.
