Aussie ex-pat Anna Jackson bases herself in London these days, where she produces a range of hand-printed textiles for her own range of purses and bags, Black Cactus London.
Training in Printmaking at the University of Southern Queensland, Anna says she originally went to London about 15 years ago to be with friends who were living there at the time. “They’ve since left and I’m still here! It’s now my home and Australia has almost become a foreign country to me. However I do want to re-connect with it creatively. The country itself is such a rich source of inspiration for me and I’ve ignored it too long. I love Australia and had a very nice childhood there which I wouldn’t swap for anything.”
black cactus london – blue silk clutch with script
Although her finished bags are all about the fabric’s surface, she is very sure about her role and calls herself a printmaker, and not a pattern maker. “I don’t see myself as doing surface design. It’s all about the printing. I studied Printmaking at the University of Southern Queensland and printmaking has always been my first love. It’s the physical act of laying marks on the surface that excites me and the creation of a new surface in that act. Each print is different and I’m not sure that just pattern design alone would satisfy me.”
black cactus london – deep purple with gold
Initially, when she set up her studio two years ago, she started by printing fabric for others to use. Quite quickly however, this became a chore, and she realised that she wanted to do more with the fabric. Bags and purses seemed a natural extension – the fabric and its individuality retained pride of place, but the item itself is also functional and practical. There may be something a little subconscious in her choice too.
When she was a kid, she “had a duck which I carried around like a hand bag. I still miss that duck!” 😉
black cactus london – gold silk chinese lanterns
I asked her about her worst experience. “Early on in my making I had a supplier whose product proved to be unreliable and I had a bag break on a customer the first time they used it – at a wedding! Mortifying! Rather than get depressed about it I felt it was best to be as honest and direct as possible. I explained that although I printed the fabric and constructed the bag, the clasp was made by a third party. Not an excuse but it was the truth. The matter was resolved and I learnt a valuable lesson – always use the best materials but don’t panic if something goes wrong.”
black cactus london – holographic textures envelope clutch
the heatpress area. This is where I spend lots of happy hours experimenting with heat sublimation prints. I have coloured heat sublimation papers which can be used to infuse things like leaves with pigment and then transfer their detail and shape onto fabrics. It’s all completely colour-fast and can be layered and then screen printed. Every single print is different and I find experimenting often leads to results you could never have managed deliberately. I need to hang up samples to help me reproduce the print later.
It’s still early days for the studio though, and Anna also works part-time in an admin job. “It’s not very interesting except that it’s on an OCD clinic for children, which is fascinating! But simply keeping a studio and having cultivated the frame of mind to work creatively on a regular basis is a huge thing for me. It’s taken me a long time of working in offices, travelling, etc., to get to this point. Now that I’m here I’m finding that, with persistence, my goals are achievable and I’m feeling very positive about the future.”
“Don’t wait until everything is ‘perfect’ before getting yourself out there as a designer, that will never happen!”
You can find more of Anna and Black Cactus London in her Etsy shop here.
I have many of Anna’s products and they are excellent quality and edgy. I find that her clutches make a LBD ultra cool!
I love the blue silk script one – yum!