Save Lives Charity

As you may know I support a fantastic charity called Safe Lives and they’ve just given me a lovely mention in their magazine.

Safe Lives is a charity that works at policy level to end domestic violence for everyone involved. They don’t work at outreach level, but rather look at the issue from top down: how can we intervene earlier? How can we help to keep those affected in their homes and in their jobs while also ensuring their protection? How can agencies work with perpetrators to better understand causes and offer support.

To show my support for Safe Lives charity and to offer some financial help I designed a Cherry Blossom linen, which was created to feel dreamy and calm, to introduce tranquility into any space. The design features Cherry trees in blossom amidst foxglove spears and gives the impression of summer clouds in an evening sky. It would be perfect for a bedroom, hall or bathroom as it’s a subtle soft repeat in pinks and neutrals. A portion of all profits from this design goes straight to the charity.

Thank you Safe Lives for a great mention in your Spring Newsletter. To learn more about the charity click here.

I’ve been talking to Safe Lives about the power of flowers and how floral wall designs can change an atmosphere or give you a lift when you’re feeling overcome.

I have in the past created wall designs and hospital art for scanning units and intensive care units but I’ve been thinking more about how to bring flowers into urban environments. There’s more and more evidence that images of nature and gardens have a hugely beneficial impact on our state of mind, so I’ve been wondering how to share my paintings in spaces that would benefit the masses rather than the few with a few flowers!

Botanical wallpaper designed for Southampton Hospital ICU.

What do you think? Katy Botanicals in railway stations maybe? Here’s a mock up of one of my designs on a hoarding at Southampton Central railway station.

5 dinner party presents

Sometimes I’ve been invited to dinner or a party or a lunch and a bottle of wine just doesn’t seem quite the right gift.

It would have been lovely if I’d had a few alternatives that I could have brought along. I put a little set of suggestions on instagram and it was very well received, so I thought I’d share some with you.  

Here are five ideas:

Number 1: Olive Oil

The first is a bottle of olive oil.  The price of olive oil has more than doubled since 2018 and this gorgeous amber liquid is becoming more and more of a luxury.  Now that it costs as much as a bottle of wine, and especially as many brands have such beautiful labels, it’s the perfect gift to bring to a food loving host.

Number 2: A loaf of artisan bread

Local bakers and even supermarkets are selling increasingly beautiful loaves of bread.  We have a wonderful local sourdough bakery in Romsey called 108 The Bakery who bake the most gorgeous loaves.  At 9.30 each morning a queue forms outside their door made up of bread lovers from up to 50 miles away, arriving early to make sure of a purchase before the bread runs out and to sample specials such as miso and poppyseed loaves.   

Bringing one of these as a gift, warm, wrapped in a tea towel and smelling of home would be a delight for any host.

Number 3: A bunch of flowers

Most of the time bouquets of flowers are quite expensive and it’s not easy to find classy bunches in supermarkets or local shops, so I celebrate the arrival of spring with daffodils.  Daffodils are usually around a pound a bunch and when their multitude of golden trumpets open, they bring a burst of joy to any kitchen.

Number 4: A tea towel

A simple tea towel is always a welcome gift.  A little square of art printed on linen that will always find a good home, and be used and enjoyed for years, especially if it’s a Katy Botanicals tea towel!

Number 5: A pineapple

Historically, ever since sailors brought them home to their loved ones, gifting a pineapple has symbolised hospitality, wealth and good fortune.

However, when I suggested gifting a pineapple on social media I received all sorts of entertaining comments!  You may want to choose this gift carefully and make sure you know the implications before bringing it to your host’s door.

Finally, I’m painting a new woodland fabric design which is filled with oak trees, deer, birds and woodland plants and flowers. It’s going to be gorgeous.  Watch this space for updates x

Some guidance on repeat patterns and how to measure them

What is a repeat pattern?

Most of the fabrics and wallpapers you see with a pattern on them will have been designed as a repeat pattern.

Repeat patterns enable the manufacturer of the fabric or the wallpaper to print an even, duplicate design across the whole surface without showing any gaps or joins. Usually you won’t know the pattern comes from one tile or image that is then run again and again across the paper or fabric, it’s quite fun to try to find the repeat in design, it’s sometimes very hard.

How to measure a repeat pattern..

Often if you’re working with an interior designer, having curtains made up or a sofa re-upholstered, the curtain maker or upholsterer will ask you the measurements of the repeat pattern, so they can work out how much fabric to buy.

This is because they will want to match the pattern across the seams and need to know how much fabric or wallpaper they will have to sacrifice to match this pattern. If the pattern is a small repeating dot, then the fabric or paper will only need to be lined up by a few cm, but if the pattern is a large floral or botanical design, then they may have to sacrifice 50cm of the wallpaper or fabric to line the images up across the join until they matches. This will mean having to buy more fabric to accommodate the bits you cut off to line up the print.

Below are two different scales of the same Nettle design. The one with the stripe is a smaller repeat, so will need a bit less fabric when making up. Can you see the difference in the scale of the print?

Measuring a repeat

Most fabric or wallpaper suppliers will be able to tell you what the repeat pattern measurements are if you ask. However, if this is not the case, or if you’ve inherited a piece of fabric and you’d like to work it out yourself, it’s very easy if you follow these steps:

1. Lay the fabric or wallpaper out on flat surface like a table.

2. Look carefully at the design and try to find an image or detail that is easy to spot, like a bird or a flower.

3. When you’ve found an image that you can find again, look for the next exact duplicate of that detail above the one you’ve chosen. Not one that looks similar but exactly that detail, this bit is important.

4. When you’ve found exactly that detail again above or below, measure the distance between those two points vertically. That is your vertical repeat.

5. Then find a detail in the design that you can find again, and measure the distance horizontally between those two points or images. That is your horizontal repeat measurement.

6. Now write down the vertical and horizontal measurements, this is the size of your repeat pattern.

In the images below of my Wren design I’ve added a green square around the repeat pattern tile. Can you see the white and orange flower that’s turned away from us at the top and the bottom of the square? That’s what I’ve used as my guide for the vertical repeat. Then there’s a white flower with blue stamens, next to the bird, that’s what I’ve used to measure my horizontal repeat. Those two measurements, the vertical and the horizontal, give you the size and dimensions of your pattern repeat.

Here are some repeat patterns by the masters of fabric design, from the Arts and Crafts Movement at the turn of the last century, William Morris and Charles F A Voysey. Can you spot the repeat pattern in their designs?

William Morris, Honeysuckle design

C F A Voysey, Apothecary’s Garden

NEW FOR SPRING - Bee Orchid Linen

I'm delighted to say that Katy Botanicals is launching a new design for February 2025 to welcome in the spring. Our new fabric design is hand painted and features Bee Orchids, Toad Flax, Leichtlinii, and bees of course. Bee Orchids are a tiny orchid native to the UK and are loved by many botanists as the blossoms mimic the round furry bottoms of bumble bees.

I originally created this design in partnership with the head gardeners at Horatio's Garden spinal unit garden charity, as part of their beautiful tea towel collection (hop over to the HG shop to see their latest offerings). The tea towel was very popular and we thought we could revisit it, change the scale and print the design onto a malty natural background. This way the original painting would be on a background that was more flexible and could be used in almost any interiors colour-scheme.

Our new creation is printed onto undyed linen here in the uk, with ecological and uv safe inks. The fabric is 135 cm wide and the vertical repeat is 50 cm deep. This linen cotton mix is 228gsm in weight and perfect for furnishing fabrics and great for uses such as curtains, blinds, cushion covers and tablecloths.

If you’d like to know more or receive a sample please email Katy here,

Where can I buy an extra wide tablecloth?

At Katy Botanicals we pride ourselves on being able to create bespoke tablecloths to any width or length.

With us you can order your tablecloth with a plain linen border suitable for wide dining tables, or order an extra wide tablecloth made from multiple lengths of linen for larger events, stage and film productions or banqueting halls.

Here are some tablecloths we’re recently made up for our clients, with plain borders around the edge and finished with mitred corners.

We can make up floral linen tablecloths in any of the fabrics on our website.

If you’d like to ask us about making up a wide tablecloth for you or would like some advice or more information, we’d love to hear from you.

If you don’t know how wide your tablecloth should be and would like help working it out, we recommend a drop on either side of the table of 15-20 cm or 6-8 inches. This length of drop makes the table look lovely, and avoids your guests getting caught up in the linen when they sit down. So to calculate the width of your tablecloth, measure the width of the table and add 15 or 20cm x 2, then to calculate the length of your tablecloth measure the length of the table and add another 15 or 20cm at each end.

Safe Lives linen

SafeLives is an amazing UK-wide charity working at policy level in it’s dedication to ending domestic abuse, for everyone.

Safe Lives works with children, young people, the communities affected by domestic abuse, as well as at government and policy level, to try and understand why it happens and to stop it before it starts. And if it does start

“to find a response that provides long-term, wraparound support to decrease the chance it will happen again.”

I am delighted to be designing a new fabric with Safe Lives charity in mind, and will be donating 10% of the profits raised to this extraordinary organisation.

I hope the design will be a dreamlike cherry blossom landscape of flowers and birds, very escapist, and will be trialing it on wallpapers as well as natural fabrics such as linens and cottons.

Here’s a sneak peak of how it’s going so far. As soon as it’s finished, I’ll have it up on the website.

To keep up to date on my progress with the design and my work with Safe Lives, please do sign up for newsletters or follow me on instagram:

If you’d like to know more about the important work Safe Lives are doing, such as the Reach In programme to help children start the conversation with friends they are concerned about, and how SafeLives works with local strategic and operational leaders, and frontline practitioners to achieve systemic change, the button below takes you to the Safe Lives website.

The Garden Museum and an at home painting workshop

Russell Cole and I have just hosted a wonderful Horatio’s Garden botanical painting workshop at the Garden Museum in London. So many friendly and enthusiastic faces dropped in and many truly lovely paintings were created.

If you’d like to come to something similar, I’m hosting one more painting workshop at home in the Test Valley on the 19th April and have a few spaces left.

Firstly, the Garden Museum! If you get the chance and have some time in London, it is well worth dropping in. It’s right next to Lambeth Palace and close to Tate Britain and Waterloo Station.

In a calm, spectacular space in the old Lambeth Palace church, this museum offers exhibitions, interesting talks by gardeners and interior designers, and has the most wonderful hidden gem of a restaurant in a plant filled glass extension.

The museum is a gorgeous secret and you’ll definitely return once you’ve discovered it. I’ll add a link below so you can find out more.

I’m hosting one more workshop this spring, on .

It’s such a joy to teach budding artists how to paint, whatever level of experience they bring. I believe that anyone can paint, given good materials, some simple lessons on how to structure a painting, and a little bit of guidance and support.

I have four places left on my spring painting workshop, which includes all materials and lunch.

If you’d like to come and join me, alone or with a companion, I’ll help you create something beautiful over a relaxed morning in the countryside. What could be better?

The workshop and lunch costs £50, all materials provided and then a simple shared lunch and time to chat. For more information, either email me on return of this email or click the link below:

Spring and summer workshops

Back due to popular demand, would you like to come to one of my lampshade making or painting workshops this spring?

At the end of January I’ll be hosting a lampshade making workshop, where well be creating a pretty little conical lampshade, either in fabric or hand painted by you (with guidance and support from me).

This will be a lovely morning and you’ll be able to go home with your very own shade and the know how to make your own in the future.

Botanical painting workshops

I’ll be hosting two more botanical painting workshops on Friday 19 April and Saturday 22 June. I do love hosting my workshops. Everyone always has a lovely time and it’s wonderful to see creative confidence returning, sometimes long dormant, and the delight my attendees take in their paintings.

If you’d like to join us and spend a happy morning painting, the link below will take you to more information and a booking form. All skill levels welcome and do bring a mum or friend if you like.

Lunch is provided and if you like your painting, I’ll create a beautiful linen tea towel from your design. A great present for friends and family and nice memento of your morning.

Featherstone Flowers Christmas Fair

We don’t take our tea towels and fabrics on many outings, but the one we wouldn’t miss is the Featherstone English Flowers Christmas fair.

You couldn’t wish for a lovelier location or kinder hosts and we spent the whole weekend chatting to flower lovers and small business supporters.

A great time was had by one and all.

The magical tythe barn that has hosted two King Charles’ and graces the Hampshire landscape is used throughout the year by Katie and Jess for flower arranging workshops, summer events and pick your own flower days. To find out more follow the link: Featherstone English Flower Company.

Botanical painting safari

Our first botanicals painting workshops at the gorgeous Gambledown Farm went down very.

Our guests were delighted with their tents, which are unbelievably luxurious, it was hardly camping really with double beds, duvets and wool blankets, hot showers, sofas, log burners and an incredible view. Our lunches and dinners were beautifully prepared by The Kitchen Social, specialising in healthy food and locally sourced ingredients, and I offered both drawing and painting workshops on our mess tent veranda overlooking the Test Valley.

The weather was very kind to us, so we could sit out under the awning and our workshop participants were both enthusiastic and great company. They were all a delight to spend time with.

With country walks into the bargain and visiting chickens, it couldn’t have run more smoothly or been more fun. Definitely something to put in the diary for next year.

Artist at RHS 'Best in Show'

It was a huge pleasure to represent the Horatio’s Garden arts programme and artists in residence at the charity’s Main Avenue show garden at RHS Chelsea 2023.

As one of the spinal injury charity’s designers and art workshop hosts, I was invited to take part in garden events by painting ‘plain air’ in the show garden itself. While visitors and charity sponsors took in the beauty of the planting and cutting edge garden designs in the garden, it gave me an opportunity to record a little of the plants in the evening light and to chat about the charity which builds and looks after beautiful garden spaces for spinal units across the British Isles.

Added to the excitement of the event was the presentation of Best in Show to Horatio’s Garden and the garden designers, Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bug of Harris Bug Studio.

Horatio’s Garden nurtures wellbeing after spinal injury in vibrant sanctuaries in NHS spinal centres. This show garden was the first garden on Chelsea’s famous main avenue that has mobility needs at its heart and it is being relocated to the Princess Royal Spinal Cord Injuries Centre in Sheffield in 2024. It will be the eighth of the charity’s gardens at NHS spinal centres.

As you can understand, I felt as slight sense of trepidation in representing the charity in their show garden, with such a large audience. To prepare and ensure I didn’t make a mess of my part I did lots of plein air painting, or outdoor painting, and packed and unpacked my travelling wooden easel and palette many times.

However, once set up in the garden the light was so beautiful and visiting garden enthusiasts so friendly that the event was a joy. I’d do it again at the drop of a hat!

Katy Botanicals in Stockbridge

Katy Botanicals pop up shop will be returning to Stockbridge Town Hall on Thursday 18th and Friday 19th May.

We’re visiting for two days, Thursday and Friday, May 18th and 19th, straight after the farmer’s market closes at lunchtime on Thursday, then all day Friday (9.30-5.00), and I’ll be there all day to answer questions about upholstery and talk about painting projects.

We have some lovely new products to show off, as well as the old favourites like tea towels, and I’ve been painting away as the spring flowers are appearing so there’ll be some art to buy too.

Stockbridge is looking gorgeous with trout in the streams and new coffee shops opening, so I very much look forward to seeing you there!

Stockbridge Town Hall

Stockbridge High Street

Stockbridge

Test Vally

Hampshire

SO20 6HE

Thursday 18th and Friday 19th May

Horatio's Garden at RHS Chelsea 2023

Horatio’s Garden, spinal unit garden charity is presenting their very own garden on the main avenue at RHS Chelsea this year.

Designed to be the antithesis of a busy, clinical hospital environment and with the requirements of people with mobility needs at its heart, Horatio’s Garden at RHS Chelsea will give visitors the opportunity to experience the transformative effect and sense of hope felt by patients, their loved ones and NHS staff in Horatio’s Gardens.

It will also give people a first look at the charity’s eighth garden, Horatio’s Garden Sheffield at the Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre, as every item from Horatio’s Garden Chelsea will be relocated to form the nucleus of the new garden in Sheffield as its enduring legacy.

As one of Horatio’s Garden designers and artists in residence, I’m very excited to see this amazing charity enjoying such wonderful expose at this year’s RHS Chelsea. Do look out for the garden if you’re visiting the flower show.

Art safari staying in the gorgeous Gambledown Farm glamping tents

What could be lovelier than to take a few days out of a busy life in the beautiful Test Valley to paint, walk and sleep under canvas.

Together with Gambledown Farm, we’re offering a mid-week painting workshop with guided walks and a chance to unwind, eat good food and spend two nights in Gambledown Farm’s beautiful fully furnished safari tents.

The art safari is being hosted on this gorgeous farm, deep in the Hampshire hills and the painting workshops and walks will be guided by me, Katy McIntyre-Brown, botanical artist and textile designer.  I’ve been painting and teaching for twenty years now, my botanical fabrics fly all over the world and have been featured in national magazines.  I’m also proudly an artist in residence and designer for Horatio’s Garden, national garden charity.

Over the safari workshop sessions you’ll have the chance to learn useful top tips while being taught or brushing up on the foundations of botanical painting.

If you’d like to join us, the group will be small so you’ll have plenty of opportunity for one to one tuition, and we’ll be providing your meals and one or two guided walks depending on the weather.  All art materials will be provided so all you’ll need to bring is yourselves, some walking boots (optional!) and an overnight bag.

I’ve taught all ages and levels of experience, and will always delighted to give tips and advice however creatively confident you are or aren’t, and you are free to take part or not in joint activities as you choose.

The art safari costs £325 to £425, depending on tent occupancy and activities include:

·      Two painting workshops, in the morning and afternoon of the Wednesday 7th June

·      Dinner on Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th June

·      Breakfasts hampers delivered to your tent containing local produce and eggs from the farm

·      One or more walking safaris around the stunning Test Valley countryside, depending on the weather

·      The chance to wander the woodland walks that surround Gambledown and meet the many and various animals that live on the farm

·      The opportunity to choose one of your paintings for scanning and from which I will create an original linen tea towel for you

Safari tents, with kitchens and ensuite bathrooms, can be booked exclusively or up to three visitors sharing.

 To see more details and to book one of only six places, please click on the links below, call 07713 979809.

Stockbridge Town Hall Christmas Shop

Well, we had a truly lovely visit to the ever wonderful Stockbridge Town Hall, my favourite location for showing my wares.

Loads of chats about fabrics and designs, some interesting projects and lots of tea towels winging their way to happy homes.

The tea towels always go down well, and this time they were being employed in all sorts of interesting ways - for bedside table covers, to wrap Christmas present, to wrap around wine bottles as an extra gift for dinner party hosts, even being turned into cushion covers.

Here are some holiday snaps of my fabrics on their trip out. They’ll next be visiting the lovely Tythe barn at Berry Court Farm, Nether Wallop, for the Featherstone Flowers Christmas Fair on the weekend of the 3rd and 4th of December.

Christmas shopping

The Christmas band wagon is almost upon us and I’d love to tell you where to find us for two Christmas events over the next few weeks.

November 17th and 18th Stockbridge pop up boutique, with late night opening

Stockbridge is always gorgeous at Christmas, lined with glittering trees, over the top decorations and many independent boutiques stuffed with Christmas gifts. We will be returning to Stockbridge Town Hall with a pop up boutique which will offer new Christmas fabric designs along with paintings, tea towels, cushions and more.  You will also find some beautiful Featherstone’s English Flowers seasonal displays - if you haven’t yet been introduced Featherstone’s are a local and wonderful, sustainable English flower farm and florist.  A joy to experience and well worth getting to know.

We will be open late on Thursday night with wine and mince pies if you fancy coming along after work, and there are also some rather excellent cafes and pubs on the high street in which to round off your visit with coffee, a meal or a seasonal drink.

Our shop will be open from Thursday 17th 12noon to 8pm, through to Friday 18th, 10am until 5pm.

Stockbridge town hall

Stockbridge High Street

Stockbridge

SO20 6HE

What3Words map location: https://w3w.co/repeating.exam.risky

December 3rd and 4th, Featherstone’s Christmas Market

Featherstone’s English Flower Company is hosting a Christmas market in their historic tythe barn.  The event will definitely be beautiful and will have wonderful artisan offerings along with their flowers, wreaths, music and the Featherstone shop, all designed to warm the heart.  Do come along to say hello at the Katy Botanicals stand, and to enjoy all the rest that the fair has to offer:

Featherstone’s Flowers Christmas Market.

The Tithe Barn

Berry Court Farm

Church Hill

Nether Wallop

Stockbridge

SO20 8EY

If you’d like to know more about any of these dates and activities,­ please do let me know via email: katy@katymcintyrebrow.com, or via Instagram messages, www.instagram.com/katymcbrown, and very Happy early Christmas to you.

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English country garden mural

After many weeks of concentrated painting, this gorgeous English country garden mural is finally finished and looking truly wonderful.

Working with the garden designer, we layered paintings of the plants and flowers that will be surrounding this beautiful country house and will be viewed through the windows of the entrance hall.

Here’s a short walk through the mural, and to see some close up images of the mural details follow this link to my instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/katymcbrown/

Katy

Back to painting murals

Now the lovely Hampshire Open Studios show is over, I’m lucky enough to be embarking on a beautiful mural for the entrance hall of a gorgeous home in Hampshire.

This high ceilinged hall will be filled with lavender, buddleja, cornflowers and all sorts for gorgeous fragrant planting.

The planning and experimentation is as fun as the painting itself, as I always try and fit in as much as I can from the gardens surrounding the house or location, and of course as many plants and insects and birds that are important or significant to those who will be enjoying it.

At the end of first stage of painting, when the mural has been planned and mapped out on the wall, then the fun starts and I can hide all manner of bugs, secrets and mementos in the leaves and blooms that cover those walls.

I’ll keep you updated as I paint!

Hampshire Open Studios 2020

Hampshire Open Studios was great fun.

Lots of guests and lots of feedback. There was great interest in how I create my designs, so I’ve put tougher this vide displaying some artwork, the fabric designs with some original working drawings and some murals.

Do tell me what you think. Feedback is always useful.

Katy x

Fabrics

In time for Hampshire Open Studios, my fabrics have arrived.

I’m so excited. They are so beautiful.

Each fabric design uses or is based on one of my paintings. The paintings are all originals and can be hung on the wall. The fabrics are being printed on both cotton canvas and on furnishing velvet.

More designs to follow, and available in my shop soon.

Do follow my instagram page: katymcbrown, or my facebook page: Katy McIntyre Brown Designs for the latest news.

Fern furnishing velvet, sage background

Hellebore stripe