Chrissie Gregory is inspired by nature in her textile designs

    Chrissie Gregory © Serena Kirby

    Textile artist, Chrissie Gregory, has been known to stay up all night considering the patterns in a eucalyptus leaf, the veins, the tapering shape, size and even the raised definition of edges. 

    Naturally occurring patterns are a passion of Chrissie’s that she’s turned into a career of digitally printing her photographic images onto fabric.

    “My inspiration comes from the macro scale of patterns in nature; in the minute details you often don’t notice. The forest and ocean are ideal places to observe, record, and contemplate the finer details of nature,” Chrissie says. 

    Images such as dragonfly wings, bubbles in the ocean and dewdrops on a leaf are details she often uses to create the unique patterns that adorn her wall art, wearable garments and homewares.

    “My pieces have gone all over the world and I’m always busy with new designs and new items in my range.”

    With more than a dozen exhibitions behind her and her exquisite work found in just as many retail outlets across WA, Chrissie has built a vibrant small business, ChriseaDesigns, a name chosen to represent both her name and her nature-inspired prints.

    Chrissie is probably best known for her wraps which she says are distinctly different from scarves.

    “Scarves go around your neck whereas a wrap is much larger and goes across your shoulders to cover your back. This adds a lot more complexity to the printed design as you can consider the middle of the wrap as a flat canvas.”

    The composition of the fabric is also important as having a luxury feel adds to these wraps’ allure. Chrissie opts for blends of natural fibres such as cotton/silk and merino wool/silk with the latter being her personal favourite. She also produces high quality cushion covers and has recently started a range of sand-repellent, microfibre beach towels.

    But way before the choosing of fabric and pattern design is the job of photographing the images featured in her work. 

    “There’s such a joy in hunting for interesting flowers, leaves, shells and then the true creative part comes in turning that into a pattern,” Chrissie explains. “It can take weeks, sometimes months, to select the best placement of images on the fabric. Certain colours can also be tricky, but it’s always exciting exploring the combinations and the effects they create.” 

    From Red Tailed Black Cockatoos to dainty dragonfly wings and from Tingle trees to Hakea flowers, Chrissie’s images are representative of WA’s abundant and diverse flora and fauna. 

    You can find Chrissie’s textiles at Aspects of Kings Park, The Artisan Store in Fremantle, the Holmes à Court Gallery Shop in West Perth, RedSea Gallery in Margaret River and at the Mundaring Arts Centre.

    You can also find ChriseaDesigns on Etsy.