Introduction & Sissinghurst

Hello, I’m India and this is my first blog post!

I recently graduated from Newcastle University with a degree in Fine Art and I love painting, printmaking and sewing. I enjoy using painting and drawing to describe everyday life around me; objects, people and interiors. I also have my own fabric printing business, and I’m currently working on a new range of fabrics to form my first clothing collection- it’s all very exciting. So with both avenues of work going on I’m pretty busy at the moment, and a blog will hopefully help me to clear my thoughts, plan ahead and tell you what I’m really excited about.

I thought this would be great platform to write my thoughts around transitioning from student to graduate, making the process a whole lot easier. So expect thoughts on art, fashion and textiles and everything in between. There are so many things that I can’t wait to start writing about; what it’s like finding your way as a Fine Art graduate, artists that I admire, finding inspiration in the everyday, my favourite exhibitions, places to visit and anything else that catches my eye.

I thought I’d start with introducing myself by sharing a few pictures of a day out we had the other day in Sissinghurst. I’ve been here so many times before, but wanted to explore the grounds and old library again- now with the knowledge of the Bloomsbury set which I studied throughout my degree in Newcastle (more about them later). Sissinghurst was the home of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicholson. I love the way that Vita created a tumbling, overgrown garden, showing that women could turn their hand to anything and make gardening a profession. There was an amazing exhibition on about Gardening Women which I would recommend seeing, featuring hanging dried flowers, beautiful vintage gardening books and follows the acceptance of women’s right to train for careers. We also paid a visit to the Sissinghurst bookshop. Nobody really knows it’s there, as it’s right at the back of the cafe. The art section is ways my favourite, with well selected books, all displayed amongst pretty Cornish ware. I bought a guide to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as we are going to New York at some point this year, and I wanted a guide of some of the work that I missed the last time I visited on a school trip. On my list of things to see is Mary Cassatt’s etchings, and the beautiful oriental kimono’s. It was well worth the visit, as always, although I had to carry around the heavy book for the rest of the day!

Here’s some photos of myself and boyfriend Jack, exploring the gardens and enjoying the lush fig trees and famous white garden (which isn’t that white at the moment, it’s best in the Spring)