By Sine Robertson

Rustique Interiors is a busy and much loved stall in the 3D2D craft and design marquee of The Royal Highland Show.

Carey Naughton first graced the Highland 12 years ago, with an eye catching display of handmade, hand decorated, salvaged and resurrected homewares, long before the vintage vogue attracted its current following. Her training in theatrical design, her natural talent and the eye of an artist combined to create an atmosphere that was a mixture of an old fashioned, over grown garden, a bohemian mix of colours and a delightful array of fabrics and objets d’art.

“I love that moment when a seemingly random collection of odd stuff coalesces into a harmonious scheme, just the right balance of pattern and texture and negative space. It’s a tiny bit like magic,” she said.

Since then, Carey, who lives in a log cabin at Smeaton, East Lothian, has developed and focused her art, made use of modern technologies and established a thriving business with devotees around the world drooling over her creations. Rustique Interiors still holds true to Carey’s original ethos of valuing original craftsmanship and giving new life to aged fabrics and furnishings to create heirloom quality furniture, lampshades, cushions and prints.

Carey’s eye catching, reupholstered fireside and wing backed armchairs are probably the most memorable, but from time to time, as her raw materials dictate, her range of furniture includes, stools, pouffees, and painted tables. Despite the rich life history inherent in the designs and creations, the overwhelming effect on the viewer is primarily awe at the sheer artistry of the design and imagery and the skill of its creator.

Carey credits her earliest exposure to art with the inspiration for her work. “Of all the amazing artists whose work I admire, I come back time and again to the books that I loved as a child, both the stories and the illustrations of books like Rats Magic by Wayne Anderson, any of the books by Kit Williams, A Child’s Garden of Verse by RL Stevenson, Alice In Wonderland, The Quangle Wangle’s Hat which I absolutely adored, and still do. I like to think of all of my animals one day turning up to share living space with the Golden Grouse or the Pobble Who Has No Toes,” she continued.

Carey’s current work has its roots in appliqued and patchworked landscapes of rolling farmland, sunny seascapes or crisp winter snowscenes appearing on cushions and fireside chairs. Soon, the vistas became background to a series of animals with attitude, costumed swimmers or eerie owls flying through moonlit nights. As the focus of Carey’s work graduated from a patchwork of colour, shape and texture to detailed and atmospheric images produced by the medium of embellished applique, she started to record the works of art embedded into armchairs and soft furnishings in framed and mounted prints, which have become a product line in its own right.

The rural landscapes and seaside scenes were followed by cityscapes, depicting old town houses, rich in architectural detail and often elegantly encased in wrought iron fencing, delicately embroidered around urban parkland.

“There are usually animals lurking somewhere in my designs, sometimes creeping along the front or hiding in amongst grasses or flowers. In the cityscapes there are sometimes figures at the windows or cats on rooftops, that are not always obvious at first sight; although people are very rarely seen, they are always part of the landscape. I love the idea of hidden stories in my work,” Carey explained.

Once the idea of printing her own designs was established, Carey’s creative mind soon moved beyond printed paper. She began to print on fabric, first reproducing detailed images such as windows, which enabled her to applique the fabric print of her own, time consuming originals into her urban streets, packed with characterful buildings. From there, fabric prints of fully worked originals allowed Carey to repeat her design on printed cushions, alongside handmade originals.

Carey explained how reprographic technology has benefitted her work. “Using the prints of my artwork to create the cushions and other items means that I can spend much more time and effort on the original pieces,” she said.

Since then, print has offered another dimension to Rustique Interiors. The familiar style of an ever increasing range of creatures, from pheasants and foxes to newts and toads as well as sunny seascapes and mystic, moonlit night scenes appear on coasters or as backing to pocket mirrors.

Carey scans her original pen and ink sketch into the computer and ‘cleans it up’ or pares it down to a simpler, less detailed image for printing onto calico – once as a template and once for cutting into templates for individual pieces. When the ‘patches’ are cut out, they are laid onto the template and stitched into place. Carey then sprinkles her magic over the work, in the form of what she describes as “extra detail and shading, done with free embroidery”. When the stitching is complete, the piece is ready to be fitted on to the chair.

There are two different versions of the original artwork, the first is the textile piece that is upholstered onto the chair and the second is the hand finished print which is then reproduced.

Before the upholstery begins, Carey scans the fabric, prints it on paper and adds further enhancement with pen and coloured pencils, at which stage the artwork is ready for sublimation* printing onto products. Rustique’s range currently comprises coasters, placemats, mirror backs and fabric for cushions.

In addition to the printed cushions reproducing Carey’s patched and appliqued works, Rustique’s latest development in an ever evolving range is a linen furnishing fabric, printed with Carey’s drawings of wildlife.

In time for this year’s Royal Highland Show, Carey has produced a new series of farm animals comprising a cow, sheep and pig.

“I am preparing for the Highland and looking forward to catching up with my customers, both old and new; some people have become such regular visitors, I think of them more like friends.”

Contact www.rustique.scot Facebook - Rustique Interiors email: carey@rustique.scot

*Sublimation printing is a system used by artists for relatively small scale printing of artwork onto products which are then heatproof in use and machine washable.

Sublimation printing describes a process by which special inks are used to print an image onto a sheet of paper which is then taped to a mug, placemat etc, which is then put into a heat press where the image is transferred from the paper to the polyester coating on the product, or straight to polyester fabric. The heat causes the polyester fibre to open up; the pressure then pushes the ink into the fibres and then the fibres close again, trapping the colour permanently in the polyester. The mats and coasters are heat proof and fabrics are machine washable.