Discover more about the creatives featured inside Issue Three

SUPERFOLK

Craft design & print-making

Irish husband-and-wife team Gearoid Muldowney, a craft designer, and Jo Anne Butler, an artist and architect, have created their brand Superfolk as a reflection of their deep connection with nature. Their work is a joyful celebration of the ever-changing vibrant, rich colours and patterns of the wildlife, landscape, geology and seasons of their native Mayo, a county on the west coast of Ireland. In 2021, Superfolk became a member of the 1% for the Planet movement, which is part of a series of commitments that they have made to grow slowly and sustainably, sharing their passion for protecting, preserving and restoring the natural world.

Photography by Superfolk

For more information, follow Superfolk on Instagram and take a look at their website.

Fiona Corsini di San Giuliano

Painter, Italy

Fiona Corsini di San Giuliana is an Italian painter and we are thrilled to share this intimate portrait that celebrates her life and work as seen through the eyes of Australian photographer Robyn Lea in an excerpt from her book A Room of Her Own (Thames & Hudson, 2021).

Photography by Robyn Lea

For more information, follow Fiona Corsini di San Giuliano on Instagram and Robyn Lea on Instagram

Loïc Michel

Maraicher, Belgium.

Loïc Michel is a young Belgian market gardener who, over the last two years, has created a life for himself farming a large plot of land in Vencimont, Belgium, with a focus on sustainable farming and biodiversity – building a community where ‘love and diversity reign’.

Photography by Karen Hilmersson

For more information, follow Loïc on his website

Jannik Abel

Artist, Norway.

Jannik Abel is a Norwegian artist who moved to a forest in 2017 to make a home and to make art from fallen wood. The forest has inspired Jannik to create The Reconnector Project, a very special wood factory where she creates functional objects and artwork using only her hands and hand tools. Inside her unique artist studio, surrounded by her vintage axe collection, Jannik’s focus is not to produce, but to provide. She lives to create things that make you remember who you are

Photography by Jannik Abel

For more information, find Jannik Abel on Instagram

Alyssia Belloso

Ceramist, Belgium

Belgian ceramist Alyssia Belloso has always been fascinated by craftsmanship and fell in love with the meditative process and earthy nature of pottery. After her studies she travelled extensively in Asia and New Zealand, learning and refining her skill. Today, ceramics have become more than a job – for Alyssia, it has become a philosophy, a form of spirituality and an important path to healing. In recent years she has craved an escape from the frenetic energy of the city and during confinement she made the decision to leave behind her beloved studio in the heart of Brussels to make a new life and creative space in the countryside of the Belgian Ardennes.

Photography by Karen Hilmersson
For more information: Alyssia Belloso Instagram.

Elizabeth Cope

Painter, Ireland.

Elizabeth Cope has been painting for over 50 years and she still draws and paints continuously while also running her organic working farm in County Kilkenny in Ireland. She draws all subject matter, as the subject is the paint – the object, which is the person, place or thing, is just the excuse for putting down the paint. Elizabeth believes that art doesn’t answer any questions, only asks them. This may be why she still has an appetite for learning, whether it’s by visiting museums, travelling or doing residencies around the world. At 70, she feels that she is only just beginning to grow up and is happier now than she has ever been.

Photography by Doreen Kilfeather

For more information, follow Elizabeth Cope on Instagram

Sara Emami

Illustrator and designer, Netherlands.

Iranian-born designer Sara Emami has created a distinct visual universe, one that reflects her passion for the colour blue, fashion, interior and product design, and for culture and aesthetics more broadly. Inspired by people she has learned from along the way, she strives to make aesthetics into a daily way of living. Sara is a firm believer in the power of surrounding oneself with the objects and colours we love and she has adopted blue as her signature colour. She uses blue as the foundation for everything she does, from how she dresses to how she creates art and illustrations.

For more information, follow Sara on Instagram

Ruth Miller

Fibers artist, U.S.A.

Artist Ruth Miller had been creating decorative embroidery since childhood when a serendipitous visit to the Montreal Expo introduced her to the abstract figurative woven tapestries by Senegalese artist Papa Ibra Tall. It was a life-changing experience that marked Ruth and inspired her to create large wall-hung embroidered paintings. In 2019, Ruth courageously left behind her life in Manhattan for rural Mississippi, where she knew the slower pace of life would allow her to intentionally focus on her art practice and build up a body of work for a solo show at the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art. Her exhibition was met with acclaim and led to Ruth receiving the 2019 Mississippi Governor’s Award for Excellence in Visual Art.

Photography by Ann Madden

For more information, follow Ruth on her website.

Lea Rutledge

Textile artist, U.S.A.

Lea Rutledge’s textile designs stem from a love of place, which in her case is the horse-dotted New England countryside near the sea that has been home to her family for five generations. Captivated by textiles, she tries to design patterns that she could see her mother and grandmother using in their own historic New England homes. Taking a risk on a creative career and a simple country life in her hometown has brought a peaceful balance to both her individual and family life and has led to the organic growth of her textile line.

Photography by Brynna Grae Lee

For more information, follow Lea on Instagram

Amanda & Matt Caines

Sculpture, jewellery-making, and fibers, U.K.

Matt Caines is a sculptor who works in stone and bone and Amanda Caines is a multidisciplinary artist who expresses herself through embroidery, found objects and silversmithing. They have been collaborating – on creative work, life and raising a family together – for 32 years. Their collaborative artwork speaks of the power of symbolism and spiritualism, of storytelling and talismans which serve to illustrate the journey of life, connecting the past and the present. They both believe that when the creative process is working right, their art is not actually being made by them at all, but rather that they are channelling some other, potent, invisible force.

Photography by Alun Callender

For more information, follow Amanda & Matt Caines on Instagram 

Féau Boiseries

Masters of Craft

In the heart of the 17th arrondissement in Paris, only a few blocks from the Arc de Triomphe, is an enchanting workshop seemingly untouched by time. The unassuming storefront on 9 Rue Laugier gives little hint of the remarkable surprises that await behind its doors. Four centuries of woodwork and more than 25,000 decorative wonders – including fireplaces, plaster mouldings and drawings – are nestled beneath the atelier’s elliptical glass roof, which majestically soars 39 feet in height. Féau & Cie, a French family heritage company, is headed by Guillaume Féau, a passionate collector who has made it his life’s work to not only preserve his family business, but to also seek out, salvage, restore and promote centuries of France’s most exquisite and skilled decorative arts.

Photography by Ruth Ribeaucourt

For more information, follow Féau Boiseries

Elainea Emmott

Food and photography, U.K.

Renaissance woman Elainea Emmott gave up Chalk, her successful British fashion company, when she found herself divorced and a single parent to a young son, Wesley, who has autism. In recent years she has rediscovered her creative voice through food, cooking and sharing flavours and stories through her supper club, Our Seat, Our Table.

Soon Elainea and Wesley will launch their own print magazine exploring identity, heritage, flavour and memory, comfort and conflict.
For more information, follow Elainea on Instagram

RUTH STEADMAN

Ruth Steadman is a writer and storyteller. She authors the column for ‘Stories of Salt and Starlight’ for Faire Magazine. Ruth has also been published in Oh Magazine, while her poetry can be found in the anthology Poems For The NHS, and Popshot Magazine, as well as in a variety of poetry journals. She is currently working on her first non-fiction book, and building a performance storytelling practice.

Photograph by @gary.eason

For more information, follow Ruth on Instagram and on her website

SIMON AKKAYA AND MAARTEN HEIJLTJES

Photography for Sara Emami (p. 80)

Waarmakers is a design studio founded in 2009 by Simon Akkaya and Maarten Heijltjes, who aim to design positive experiences and behaviours through products, focusing on sustainability and the influence of objects on us and our surroundings. Objects that you can connect with, balanced in form and interaction.

waarmakers.nl | @waarmakers

BRYNNA GRAE LEE

Photographer for Lea Rutledge

Originally from Asheville, North Carolina, Brynna received her BA in English from Regent University and has worked as a creative content developer and digital media marketer. She founded her own photography studio, Brynna Grae Creative Co., which specialises in visual storytelling in the form of wedding and lifestyle photography.

brynnagraecreativeco.com | @brynnagraecreativeco

ALUN CALLENDER

Photography for Amanda and Matt Caines

Alun is a U.K.-based commercial and editorial portrait photographer with a particular interest in human narratives within the creative community. In 2020, Alun was recognized with awards from the Association of Photographers (AOP), the British Journal of Photography/JCDecaux, the National Portrait Gallery, and Production Paradise. His extensive client list includes British Airways, Country Living Magazine, Toyota, Alfa Romeo, Royal British Legion, and Homes & Gardens. 

@aluncallenderphoto; aluncallender.com

KAREN HILMERSSON

Photography for Loïc Michel and Alyssia Belloso

Karen Hilmersson is a French portrait and lifestyle photographer based in Brussels, Belgium but she often works in Paris and Stockholm too. Whether Karen is photographing and styling for brands, capturing families or her own children, her use of soft colour has a timeless and nostalgic visual signature.

karenhilmersson.com @karenhilmersson

DOREEN KILFEATHER

Photography for Superfolk (p. 11) and Elizabeth Cope

Doreen Kilfeather is a portrait and editorial photographer based in Dublin, Ireland. Inspired by a sense of narrative and beautiful light, Doreen is drawn to youth, innocence, humour, melancholy, vulnerability, beauty and simplicity. Her portraits often feature children and young adults and she strives to portray not necessarily a picture of what the subject looks like at a certain point in time, but rather a sense of who they are – that evanescent element that reveals the subject as well as the moment.

@dkilfeather

ABIGAIL LABRANCHE

Photography for ‘Stories of Salt & Starlight’

Raised on the wild, rocky coast of Maine, Abigail has always seen the beautiful details of life that surround us in the everyday. Early manifestations of her passion for styling included dollhouses turned- showhouses with her interior designer father’s wallpaper and fabric samples. Her studies at the Art Institute of Boston opened her scope of sight and imagination even wider. Now, bringing those details of life into focus for the viewer has become a passion. Abigail currently resides in the perfumed South of France with her husband, their little love and a cat named Albert.

abigaillabranche.com | @abigaillabranche

ANN MADDEN

Photography for Ruth Miller

Ann Dinwiddie Madden’s photographs and mixed media pieces have been shown at galleries and museums all over the United States. Born and raised in New Orleans, Ann has lived and worked in Washington, DC and New York City. She now splits her time behind the camera between New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Ann is perpetually on the hunt for potential collaborators, unexpected beauty and new adventures.

annmaddenphoto.com @annmaddenphotography