There are people who understand aesthetically how the world feels. Who notice not just what they see, but what surrounds them — the weight of a material, the temperature of a colour, the way a room changes when something considered enters it.

I have always been one of those people.

After qualifying in Product Design, I specialised in Colour and Material Design — drawn instinctively to the elements that give objects their emotional resonance. For 25 years I developed that expertise with major luxury brands, including 15 years consulting in-house on exterior paint and colour palettes for Microsoft, Jaguar Land Rover and McLaren.

Uncompromising standards were never a choice. They were the only way I knew how to work.

When I became a mother in 2020, everything shifted. I wanted to be present for my son during his formative years — and to redirect a lifetime of expertise toward something more expressive. More personal. More mine.

I returned to fine art when Monty was twelve months old. The path wasn't yet clear, but I had inherited my mother's sewing machine and began experimenting with textiles I'd collected over the years. My mother has worked as a seamstress for over four decades — always late into the night when we were young.

The sound of her machine would lull me to sleep. When I pressed that pedal myself, time folded, and working with textiles felt like coming home. Now I too work through the night while Monty sleeps, hoping he'll one day recall with the same fondness the memories my practice leaves with him.

PHOTO CREDITS: JUSTYNA KULAM