Ingrid Anderson textile design's are about celebrating the home with colour and personality.
When she first started screen-printing on everyday household items - from teatowels to oven gloves - it was, she says, "to make them look stylish. I couldn't afford the more expensive ones in shops so I designed them myself".
For Ingrid it all began with a screen printing course more than 20 years ago at the-then Auckland Technical Institute. With her fingers in the paint pots and pasting paper cut-outs on to silk screens, Ingrid felt this was far more her calling than the BA she was doing at the time. She pursued this new passion at The Quarry in Whangarei where an inspiring tutor encouraged her to put ink to fabric.
Graphic and vibrant pohutukawa and kowhai flower bloomed. With more cutting and pasting - and the occasional hand-drawing - stylised native ferns, karaka and pukeko appeared. Her abstract designs grew bigger and bolder, taking on a distinct, modernist almost Scandinavian flavour.
Concerned about quality and sustainability, Ingrid uses a local printing company and sewers to make her products. She strongly defends New Zealand made. She believes that New Zealanders should be more selective about what they buy if they're to preserve their uniqueness.
Ingrid enjoys taking on design students as interns in their final year of their design degree, providing much needed work experience. Students normally contribute around 80 hours each, a process which keeps the design industry alive.
The above text was published in Viva NZ Herald on the 3rd April 2010. It has been paraphrased where required for length.
