Love affair with Olhão

How travel sparks creativity

There’s a place we go regularly that is such a visual feast, it has inspired a lot of my work. From things I like to draw for fun like interiors, ceramics and tiles, to colour palettes, jobs that have come my way, and my abstract collage work. It’s called Olhão, a fishing town to the east of Faro, characterised by a maze of white-washed cube houses with terraces, steep steps and flat roofs.

Add to this, tiles of all colours, patterns and eras and a certain Havana-esque romantic decay and you have somewhere incredibly inspiring.

One really fun project inspired by Olhão was this pop-up kitchen, commissioned by Flow magazine for one of their ‘Books for Paper Lovers’. It meant I could design both the interior and exterior, so I loved creating these tiles and cobbles and all the bits and bobs for the kitchen.

Another job for Flow - the art director liked this Portuguese kitchen I drew as a personal project and they asked me to create an illustration for an article on slow living, which eventually became my first jigsaw puzzle.

Blocks of colour and worn patina inspire my collage.

While sharp, geometric lines and the juxtaposition of strength and delicacy inspires abstract prints.

After this trip I’m really excited to get back to my desk and finish my new collection of collages. Do you have anywhere or anything you’ve noticed regularly pops up in your work?

You can follow my Olhão instagram here.

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Life lately…

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Thanks for reading :-)