Interview with: Philippa Nilant of Pixie Nut & Co.

We chat to Illustrator & Designer, Philippa Nilant about her creative background and super cute label, Pixie Nut & Co.

Tell us a little about yourself and what path lead you to become an illustrator/ designer.

I grew up in Perth, moved to Melbourne for 3 years and now I live on a community in Nimbin. When I was a kid I decided I wanted to be a fashion designer or an artist. I was always making things, drawing and sewing, inventing little fashion label names and stuff. My mum had a small business selling speciality paints and she would also do workshops at schools and markets selling things she made like painted table cloths, mugs and cushions and I made these little painted fish badges and they sold really well! After school, I studied sewing and pattern making at TAFE and then went to WAAPA to learn set and costume design. After that, I sort of gave up creative things for a few years and worked with kids at a Steiner kindy. One day after looking at some of Phoebe Wahls beautiful books and illustrations, I was just like – I’m gonna do that! So I decided I wanted to be a children’s book illustrator but realised that it was super difficult. At that time I was inspired by all the small creative businesses I saw on Instagram and decided to give that a go.

Can you tell us a little about your label Pixie Nut & Co. and the inspiration behind it?

My label is focused on earrings with a side of clothing and other bits and bobs but I’m focusing more on fabric at the moment. I started Pixie Nut and Co in late 2016 with just some cards and intended to do mostly stationary. Around the time I was really into the Australian outback so I naturally focused on that as my subject matter and people responded really well to that so it stuck I guess. I started making earrings from shrinky dinks and people loved them but it was really time-consuming to make and I didn’t like using plastic so I was really happy when I found somewhere to manufacture my charms on wood and then Pixie Nut really started to take off.

Can you give us a little insight into your creative process and what materials you use in your work?

I design in my head, ideas will come to me and I’ll think yes or no and then work on it mentally – the colours, shapes, everything and once I think I’ve got it I’ll try and translate the ideas into sketches and then paintings from that. I mostly use gouache paint which I describe as something in between watercolours and acrylic but sometimes I play a bit with coloured pencils and crayons like in my latest fabric print, Road Trip.

What would we find you doing when you’re not making pieces for Pixie Nut & Co?

I spend a lot of time visiting friends on the community, it’s nice to live around so many other creative people, its a really good vibe in our little rainforest valley. I’m just about to buy a house here which needs a bit of work so my partner and I have been designing the interior and are going to be building a kitchen, adding some windows and doors and making wall panels with a mixture of sand, sawdust & cement. A few of our friends are in similar situations, building or extending their homes, so we want to do building swaps and share knowledge with each other along the way.

Are you working on any new illustrations or designs at the moment?

I’m at the end of designing a new fabric which features flowers in vases but I do have lots of other design ideas brewing away, I actually want to do a fabric print which is based around on our community – rainforest plants and little hand made houses and people, I think it’d be really cute.

What do you wish you knew about being an illustrator/ designer before you got started?

I wish I knew that I didn’t have to be a super amazing artist. I’ve always been pretty confident in my design skills but felt I fell short when it came to painting and the technical skill of it. But I realised that I actually really love naive style art so I don’t need to make stuff look realistic, it’s more about creating unique and aesthetically pleasing illustrations. You don’t need to be an amazing, talented artist to be successful!

Are there any budding artists, photographers or designers that you are loving right now?

Emily Imeson (@emilyimeson), Lucy Hersey (@lucehersey) and Zak Tilley (@zak.tilley) are three amazing artists to look out for!

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Fake it till you make it. It slowly dawned on me that when most people start their own business or become an illustrator or anything, they don’t know what they’re doing. You just have to get out there and try it out, there’s no real guideline, you have to make it up. Don’t think – I can’t do that – because you probably can if you give it a good crack!

You can see more of Philippa’s work at pixienutandco.com.au or on instagram.com/pixienut