- Motherhood Melbourne
Melbourne creative: Motif Blak
With a vanilla flavoured coffee to her right, Tammy-Lee loves to sit down and let the creative juices flow. No plan of attack, instead Tammy-Lee enjoys seeing where the piece will take her. Perfection is not the aim, and yet as an admirer of her work, I think it's pretty darn perfect. Tammy-Lee now shares her talent via her label Motif Blak, where she provides on-trend and affordable prints. It was her preference for monochrome that certainly caught my eye but Tammy-Lee is getting brave and venturing slowly into the world of colour. Discover more about the wonderful Melbourne mama and creative behind the chic brand Motif Blak and snap up one of her exclusive pieces via the special below.
HOOD MAMA SPECIAL – Join the hood to grab your FREE digital print (featured below) created by Motif Blak. Plus you'll also get a code for a special 10% off all prints. Available for November 2017.
Introducing – Tammy-Lee (Motif Blak)
Beginnings…
As a young child, instead of reading picture books I would get my pencils and redraw exactly what I could see, no tracing just simply sketching what I saw. For some reason I loved doing this. I actually still have my folder of sketches, (from about 20 years ago). Hoarder…? Ever since, I have worked in the fashion industry and just recently moved into homewares and am loving it!
Signature style
I don’t like perfect. The organic the better. I will raise my hand and admit I am afraid of working with colour, it is always a stress for me. Just recently I have grabbed the bull by the horns and have tried to overcome this little fear of mine. I do always revert back to black and white, for some reason I feel as if it is my safe zone and I am just drawn to the rawness of it I guess. My current medium I have been using for most of my prints at the moment is watercolour. I am loving the unpredictability of every stroke and it is helping me add colour into my prints…(baby steps)!
Creative environment
I actually won’t sit down and start creating until I have a spotless house, my son is napping, sun glazing through the window and a vanilla flavoured coffee is to my right (love Nespresso).
Behind-the-scenes
About 99% of the time I have a 11 month old permanently attached to my leg so most of my creating time gets done from 9pm onwards. Yes I should be in bed…
Brag-moments
One of my paintings is soon to be featured on a velvet cushion for a major Australian Retail Outlet. Super EXCITED!
Spare time activities
You will find me in my little garden. It is definitely not the biggest, but my husband and I have been very clever with the space. A beautiful passionfruit tree adorns our back fence, which creates a beautiful carpet of green, our little veggie patch has fresh herbs and vegetables we grew from seedlings. A gigantic Staghorn fern offers some welcoming shade in the afternoon to just relax on the grass.
The process
I don’t sit down and have a clear vision of where each piece will go, I kind of let the moment take over and see what I come up with, I find it more enjoyable without a plan.
Low-down on the minimalist print you've created for Hood Mamas
I came across this quote from William Leal and it pretty much stopped me in my tracks. It was spot on to where I am at the moment, I have never been so busy in my life, working and being a mother is hard work, oh and running my own business. Life is a mess, but a beautiful mess!
Join the hood to grab this free print in November.
ABOUT MOTIF BLAK
Designing on-trend, affordable prints for the home.
Creator: Tammy-Lee
Favourite café: Lucios- you get a sneeky free mini choc chip cookie with your coffee.
Coffee order: Medium Skinny Cap,1 sugar
Join the hood to receive the HOOD MAMA SPECIAL.
MOTHERHOOD MELBOURNE
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