I come from a long line of artists and have been drawing, painting and creating for as long as I can remember. I have always been particularly fascinated by pattern and design. Before I started Hadley, I was an antique dealer in London. The shapes, colours and textures of the pieces I sourced were a constant source of inspiration for my artwork.
When I became a mother, I wanted a job that fitted flexibly around being present with my children as much as possible. I decided it was time to stop selling beautiful things that other people had made, and start selling beautiful things that I had made! I have a lot of fun in the studio. Sometimes designs are hand-painted or printed from a block, pieces might be snipped out of old books or magazines. I often use antique paper in my collaging, a homage to my early career.
I still create every Hadley design from scratch myself but I now have a wonderful team who run other aspects of the business. I feel privileged to have built and grown an enterprise that is run entirely by women who are also mothers. We all work flexibly around family life and have a great time doing it. Design and creativity drives us at Hadley Headquarters and makes us extremely happy! We think that happiness shines through in our products, I hope you will agree.