Who's That Girl?

Is it normal to have a girl-crush on your studio assistant? I'm not sure but I know that I have been having so much fun going to work lately along with super-versatile assistant, Natalie Lane.

On Thursday morning when Natalie came to work, I announced that we were going to do a photo-shoot with me as the photographer/stylist and her as the model.

Natalie is such a great sport as we took our fabrics and draped them all over her in the local skate park at Alexandra Hills, while attracting the attention of a few teenage boys (not sure why they weren't in school) and with amazing results, don't you think?

I have updated our homepage with this same picture. The caption reads "surround yourself with organic goodness". The image will also be used in a couple of ads that I am designing, one for eco-fabulous Peppermint Mag and the other for Mixtape Zine.

I love that Natalie likes doing all the things that I don't necessarily enjoy such as mixing ink colours and testing them until we think they are the right shade. Much more time-consuming than you may imagine. And yes, she is this cheery all of the time!

I first met Natalie when we both won Memento awards in 2007. The awards, now longer in existence, were given for Australian-made souveniers. Natalie won one for her "Down Undies" digitally printed gift pants and I for the Brisbane Skirt.

Natalie actually attended one of my screen-printing workshops and began working part-time for me soon after, in 2008. I trained her to print large screens for fabric yardage with me.

I was so excited when Natalie called me before Christmas, after returning from a long European trip, as previous assistant (and cousin) Eleni announced that she will be concentrating on full-time studies this year.

The above images are from a project Natalie worked on called 2 Series. The plastic earrings were recycled from discarded domestic packaging. Natalie is a crusader for the environment and this is something that was important to me as an employer.

So who is Natalie Lane? Well, let's ask her.

1. What are some of your achievements to date?

In 2008 I graduated from Griffith, Queensland College of Art, with a Bachelor of Design - Majoring in Product Design. I was proud to receive the Design Studies Medal for outstanding academic achievement in my program. In 2007 I received a first place at the Memento Australia Awards in the Emerging Queensland Designer Category. This is actually how I met Thea as she won an award for her Brisbane Skirt the same year.

2. What do you do outside work? I started dancing when I was a ‘little one’ and still do. This year I am teaching Tap Dancing to kids and hopefully soon beginner adults. Tap is my favorite style because you’re creating a visual performance and sound too.

3. Share something interesting that people may not know about you? Hmm, I didn’t really grow hair until I was three!

4. Why did you choose to work at Thea & Sami? Thea and Sami was appealing for a number of reasons. I was impressed that they used organic fabrics and water based inks for the environment and came to realize that they also much nicer and less toxic to work with. I enjoy creating things by hand so studio work is perfect. As Thea and Sami is a small business, I get the chance to perform a variety of tasks (from mixing colours to modeling) so my days are never dull.

5. What are some of your other plans? I am also in business with my friend Melanie Foote who I met in first year at university. We are currently in the early stages of developing a product range made entirely from recycled household plastics. The first product is cabinet/door knobs! We hope to supply these to interior designers, furniture manufacturers and home renovators. We just thought of the name ‘waste-not-want-knob’ which gave us a laugh.

Thanks Natalie! I'm sure that your name will be one to watch out for in the near future.

I'm saying a quick hello to Holly and fellow students here from my Blogging Your Way class as this interview also counts as my homework this week :)