Swaine is honoured to introduce you to Diana Maclean, a Scottish leather artist residing in London. Her roster of collaborators includes heritage brands such as Connolly, Ralph Lauren, Globetrotter and now Swaine.
In the early days of July, we had the delightful opportunity to visit Diana at her studio, to discuss the inspiration behind her collaboration with Swaine. The pieces are made from bridle leather in our signature colour, jaguar green.
Limited to five pieces, they will be available for pre-order from July 20, launching in-store and online on July 22.
DISCOVER THE COLLECTION HERE.
WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION FOR THE COLLABORATION?
My favourite part of the process is being given a brief and then the immediate idea that comes to mind from there.
Starting with this project, the Huntsman and the red jacket came to mind, against the dark green leather, contrasting colours. The flowers were inspired by English wildflowers and doing this continuous pattern that goes along the bottom of each larger piece, creating a sort of storyboard.
The scene goes across the bottom of the pieces, I got ideas from old paintings and loved the idea of working with an old heritage brand. I think that works very well with my style and I love to do paintings that focus on craftsmanship and more traditional styles rather than the modern.
You can see with the flowers I've done on the pieces - there are sort of lots of little dots. With my personal work as well, it's all kind of about patterns, layers and intense colours.
WHAT IS THE PROCESS LIKE WHEN WORKING WITH A CUSTOMER OR COLLABORATOR?
My preferred way of working with a customer is when they have an idea, but not a clear-cut plan. It’s a really lovely process to collaborate on choosing colours that work with the leather and to come up with the design as well - it doesn’t matter if we are making crests or initials.
There’s often a lot of back and forth in the mockups, deciding on the size and the colours of the objects. It’s nice being able to make something in collaboration, guiding them as I have quite a good idea of how it's going to turn out.
SO FAR, WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE PROJECT?
One of my favourite projects was a crest that I painted for a Swaine customer. I love painting crests and I love the idea of heraldry.
[She pulls out a Heraldry book that used to be her Grandmothers from her desk.]
For me it’s very fun to work on because of the colours and level of detail that goes into crests. Also I just love how personal it is. A crest represents family, and I think that it’s such a special thing to have on a piece, especially on a leather bag. It’s like carrying a piece of heritage and art with you.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE THING TO PAINT?
I love painting, I love painting flowers and the details that go into it. This is what I did for this Swaine project. I like adding features and decorative shapes - that also go into crests. It’s fun to paint.
HOW DO YOU CHOOSE PAINTS?
It’s very important to make sure that the paint is going to stay, as is the texture of the paint on the leather. I use acrylic leather paint and then deglaze.
The way you add layers is important to create a flat surface, which you can with acrylic paint. It dries quite quickly and you want to make sure that the layers are right.
WHERE IS YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO PAINT?
Where I grew up in Scotland, at my house. It rains all the time, so I’m often inside. And I sit hours working. It’s definitely the place that inspires me the most - inspires my work the most.
Especially in May when the rhododendrons are out, there trees everywhere throughout the garden and it's just this array of amazing colours.
Find Diana Maclean on instagram: @diana.maclean
