Meet the Makers behind Field Day
FIELD DAY: The love child of Style Rev’s much loved Louise Jones and Shelley Steer.
Based in Melbourne, Louise and Shelley create nature-inspired original artwork translated onto wallpaper for interiors that inspire joy in the everyday environment.
Their friendship began in 2010 whilst working together in the fast fashion industry. Due to their shared love of patterns they consistently contemplated how to join artistic talents, and after ten years, in 2020 they decided to bite the bullet and create Field Day. Although it was the year Covid-19 hit, the lengthy Melbourne lockdowns allowed them the time they needed to plan their dreams for their joint venture.
The desire was always to produce their own range of products. After shortlisting a variety of creative possibilities, they eventually narrowed it down to creating wallpaper as they recognised a growing confidence in bold, multi-layered interiors, often celebrating colour and pattern.
“We love how [wallpaper] can introduce art and pattern into everyday life, whether it’s a bold hit of colours or a calming rhythm—there’s an inspiration and joy that follows.”
NEW FREEDOMS AND COLLABORATIVE CREATING
In Louise and Shelley’s individual careers they sometimes felt constrained to stick to one medium, which is why they created Field Day, to have more creative freedom and experiment with different mediums such as gouache painting, watercolour, oil pastels, illustration and photography. Being able to set their own design briefs and seeing out the creative process from beginning to end has been liberating for them both.
“We complement each other’s working styles and we each have different strengths. I tend to take a big picture approach and Shelley has a meticulous attention to detail and thinks things through thoroughly. We enjoy working on projects where we each offer different perspectives.”
– Louise Jones
THE HANDMADE PROCESS
Shelley and Louise just like us see the intricate value in hearing the stories and unique processes behind a finished product in order to fully appreciate it.
“Original artwork design is a very rewarding and joyful process – but is also incredibly time intensive and can be very creatively challenging. But it’s so integral to what we do and is at the core of our studio!” – Field Day
There is an immense amount of care and time that goes into each design and they reflect who Louise and Shelley are as artists, the places they live and the things around them that they are inspired by.
We are a huge believer of celebrating the imperfections – some people view this as a flaw from the maker, we want to educate them more and help them understand that this is part of the natural beauty – how do you help people overcome this thinking?
SS: “You’d be surprised at how many times we’ve stumbled on unexpected artwork concepts from ‘imperfect’ sketches or paintings. Some of our favourite designs were created from very rough initial concepts that were far from what some may consider a ‘perfect illustration’.”
LJ: “For example, Sunnyside was an early watercolour sketch that I didn’t think would eventuate into anything apart from experimenting in different styles. However, I revisited the sketch and rediscovered its potential, scanned it onto the computer and developed it into a repeat pattern.”
The exciting possibility of digital printing allows Shelley and Louise to create wallpaper that captures the textures of the pencil, brush or oil pastel stick in the artwork beautifully.
Who would your dream job be for (dead or alive) and how would you make your mark?
LJ: “I would love to find a dream client who would commission us to create a whole range of patterns for their home featuring a full wallpaper interior, sort of like a dollhouse project :)”
SS: “A collaboration with any Botanical Gardens in Australia, it would be such a dream to just paint plants and flowers for a week!”
VISION FOR THE FUTURE
Collaborating with brands and designers along with exploring different mediums invigorates and pushes Shelley and Louise creatively. They both are so inspired when they get to see their designs utilised in a myriad of ways by clients and designers, because there are often unexpected pairings.
“So, we’d love to continue collaborating with brands and designers on new collections that showcase the designs in new and innovative ways along with continuing to develop original artwork and explore new ideas through our themed collections.”
Check out Louise and Shelley’s full Field Day wallpaper collection here.