6 minute read
BOTANICAL ARTISTRY
Down a quiet country lane in East Sussex lies a scene of pastoral perfection that might have once inspired Constable to lift his brush to a fresh canvas. Nestled within these rolling fields of green, sits the chocolate-box home of Heidi Francis and the location of FLINT, the carefully curated lifestyle brand she runs with her mother, Julia Smith. Having opted for a slower pace of life after closing their Lewes-based stores at the end of 2020, the mother-daughter duo moved their business online, ploughing their collective passion for the botanical world into refined artisanal products unequivocally tied to the abundance of nature around them. Here, Heidi shares her passion for considered craftsmanship.
Wildflower celebrates the savoir-faire of FLINT, a life-affirming brand with a deep respect for nature
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MANY OF YOUR PRODUCTS ARE CRAFTED WITH YOUR NATURAL DYES. HOW ARE YOU INSPIRED BY WHAT’S ON YOUR DOORSTEP? “We are 100% inspired by nature. When we planted the initial seeds in our cutting garden, we could not believe how much it flourished. And with so much plant material available, we’ve been able to create an incredible range of natural botanical dyes that we use in everything from our scarves to our tote bags. The colour palette produced so far has been a sea of lovely soft, muted tones, but we do want to explore richer colours, so we’re growing indigo and madder from seed to experiment with.
We’ve also been able to get some amazing colours from food waste. I get sacks of onion and avocado skins from my sister-inlaw’s mother and the avocado skins have been the biggest surprise. You’d think they’d create a gorgeous green, but pop them in a pan of water, and within five seconds this extraordinary rose pink is revealed – it’s the most beautiful hue.”
FLINT’S HANDCRAFTED PAPER FLOWERS ARE SO LIFELIKE. HOW ARE THEY CREATED? “My mother, Julia, is passionate about flowers. When she was a little girl, her mother gave her a book on making crepe paper flowers – I think it was a bit of a thing in those days. For a long time, I’d often hear her lamenting how she couldn’t find the Dennison crepe paper she loved so much, but then my brother tracked it down and this rekindled her childhood passion. I think the secret to the beauty she creates lies in the fact that she’s a trained florist who genuinely loves flowers. When we had flowers in the shop, she wouldn’t just stick them in a vase and hope they’d sell, she’d always prepare them with so much care and respect. As a result, she can look at a flower and know exactly how to recreate it in paper form; her skill is born from years of loving flowers and observing them.”
WHERE DOES YOUR CREATIVE PASSION LIE? “It’s in the pressing of flowers, and the reason is simple: I love taking something like a forget-me-not and using just one tiny sprig to showcase its wonder – the flower has its moment in the sun. When you take something very innocent, something that somebody would usually take for granted, and press it, mount it, and put it in a frame, it suddenly becomes a work of art. You’re forced to consider it, to observe it, and you suddenly see its beauty in a completely new way. That microscopic focus on something very innocent and simple somehow elevates it.” HOW DID THE APOTHECARY SIDE OF THE BUSINESS DEVELOP? “It’s something we are really only just getting into. Last summer, we experimented with extracting essences from our roses and other flowers and plants using the ‘sun method’, which involves steeping petals in olive oil in Kilner jars and leaving them in the hot sun to create a tincture. I was also given a ton of pure beeswax from a friend who keeps hives of bees and we’ve made all sorts of balms and moisturisers. These initial experiments turned into a larger project, and I began to learn about making more advanced formulations using natural ingredients. We now supply a few select shops, and our hand and body washes and moisturisers are available on our website. However, we hope to adapt the range in the future as Julia has recently been experimenting with cold pressed soap making.”
YOU REGULARLY TAKE ON COMMISSIONS. WHAT PROJECTS HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING ON RECENTLY? “Herbariums are having a moment, so we’ve been crafting a number of these recently, which I’m thrilled about. We’ve been going to people’s homes, wandering around their gardens, and picking their favourite flowers before mounting them on our handmade rag paper and popping them in wooden frames made by a delightful company called Courtyard Framing. The initial idea with the herbariums was to try and create something reminiscent of the cuttings preserved by bygone plant collectors. So, we hand-dye our rag paper and give it a deckle edge to create an aged e ect. It has been such a joy making them.
My mother and I have also been working on a few interior design projects. It’s a service that’s grown organically through word of mouth and the projects we take on have varied immensely. It can be as simple as o ering advice on colours in a room or leading a whole renovation project. Over the years, we’ve gathered a little coterie of talented people around us – FLINT friends, I like to call them – and we all have a similar ethos. The craftsmanship they bring to the table is extraordinary.”
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE? “We hosted a pop-up in our studio at Christmas and opened the doors exclusively to our customers. It’s an event I’d love to do again this summer as it was so wonderful to see and connect with people and for them to be able to see our creative space. I think people really respond to coming in and seeing a working space – that connection to the art of making. We have recently been asked to help with the look and feel at a brand-new centre of learning – The Enjoolata Centre, the brainchild of Norwegian ethical entrepreneur Svein Wilhelmsen. It is situated at Basecamp Maasai Mara, Kenya, and is designed as a welcoming space for guests and locals alike to come and learn more about the culture and craft indigenous to the area. “The Basecamp Explorer Foundation has been successfully supporting a large group of local women for many years, who will use this new space as a place to make their beadwork, subsequently sold through the foundation. One idea is to widen the scope of possibilities for these women by teaching them about dyeing cloth and manufacturing items made from local materials. Our vision is to include these textile crafts, and perhaps host workshops for visiting guests.”
