Women We Admire
Celebrating 20 years of Nancybird, we wanted to bring to the forefront the women we work with and shine a light on them! We got together for a fun photoshoot, conversation, dressing up, laughs, and cake. There's always cake!
Joining us is a long-time customer and gardener designer Jo Ferguson; we were lucky to shoot in Jo's spectacular garden in 2020, Victorian artist Amy Wright with who we loved collaborating as part of our AW21 collection. Plus, our talented hair and makeup artist Kat Bardsley and photographer Jess Tremp. You'll also see glimpses of our wonderful model Brianna, Sarah Kourim, our Design Manager and our founder Emily Wright. We wanted to take the time to celebrate each other, connect in person and continually seek out what inspires people in their work and life. Thank you to everyone that inspires us every day. You genuinely make Nancybird what it is today!
Location: Ma House
Hair & Makeup: Kat Bardsley
Photogpraher: Jess Tremp
From left to right, Amy Wright, Brianna and Jo Ferguson.
What inspires you?
Jess
Road trip adventures, struggles, late night spaghetti feasts, travel, finding beauty in the imperfect, rock pools, connecting to others or the difficulty of doing so,setting the table to eat with friends and overly animated conversations that span a breadth of topics from politics to TV shows.
My daughter inspires me to show her how important it is to follow your passion.
Nature. All love comes from nature. At a deep level, we know this; in moments when we are looking at the power of the ocean, or a beautiful sunset, or waves of wind moving through paddocks of grass, the sounds of small birds flitting through shrubs; this is the feeling of love and if we connect we can feel it flow into our bodies. We are all one. We are all connected. We all know this.
Amy
Nature in its entirety. The sun, the sea, the grass, the flowers, the trees, the rivers, the birds, the bees, the butterflies. Nature is incredible. It feeds my work and my soul.
Pictured: Jo Ferguson and Amy Wright.
What do you love most about your work?
I love being able to be creative and also working with creative, like minded people.
I've always been hugely drawn to humans as my main muse, both in the sense of body/form and the rich landscape of our inner worlds. My job allows me a strong contrast between being thrust into chaos (meeting new people, challenges, thinking on my feet and physically big work days) and the chance to be flexible throughout the editing days with my time, hibernate and re-charge my social batteries.
Jo
Gardens can connect us to who we are at a basic level. Fascinated by memory and childhood experiences and how they shape and inform us, I love to listen to people's stories and weave them into their gardens to connect and get closer to who they are and what is most important. Nature has the capacity to heal, to take us back into joy and bliss but also back into dark memories to feel and heal them. As children, gardens and nature often provided safety when the world became overwhelming. An experience in nature or in a garden can provide refuge; the sights, scents and sounds as well as the visual cues are powerfully evocative, reminding us of who we are and valuing our own personal story. What I love about my work is making gardens that attend to the needs of people and connecting them to themselves and to spirit of place.
Amy
I feel incredibly lucky to spend my working hours in the studio painting. I Love that I work in my garden especially in spring and summer when I just feel joy surrounded by all the gorgeousness as the plants burst into life.The scents, the colours, the textures. It makes me a bit giddy at times!I feel humbled that people respond to my interpretation of landscapes,they want to adorn their spaces with my paintings and surround themselves with a piece of my world.
Pictured: Emily Wright and Jo Ferguson.
What secrets would you share with your younger self?
Kat
That I am a lot stronger and more resilient than I realise and that it will all work out.
Jess
To care less about the approval of boys/men and that my self worth is not tied up within their acceptance of me.
Jo
I believe sensitivity is the greatest gift, and all children should be attuned emotionally and nurtured as a priority. Child focussed cultures are successful cultures. Everyone is born perfect, it is just their conditioning that obscures what is always right here.
Amy
Stress less! Enjoy the quiet. Say No to things and people that don’t sit well with you and trust your instincts. They are invariably spot on!
Where are your favourite places to escape?
Jo
I love being home in my garden, surfing and walking in my local area.
Amy
My favourite places; are anywhere along the coastline or with water in view. Getting my hands in the dirt, and tending my garden, always makes me relax and calms me. Having spent time in the UK growing up, anywhere and everywhere in Europe is on my list to explore. I am thrilled by the history and variety of cultures. I am increasingly drawn to exploring more of Australia - never having visited the far north or central Australia - the colours are so enticing and have piqued my interest more as I age.
Pictured: Jo Ferguson.
How do you lift up and support the women in your life?
Jo
Amy
I try to support businesses owned and run by women, and I am slowly growing my art collection with a focus on female artists. Nothing better than a girl's hang time, just chatting over a coffee or wine, sharing daily life antics.
Follow these inspiring women on Instagram:
Jess Tremp @jessicatremp
Kat Bardsley @katbardsley
Jo Ferguson @joferguson.gardens
Amy Wright @amywrightstudio
Pictured: From Left to right, Kat Bardsley, Sarah Kourim, Jo Ferguson, Emily Wright and Amy Wright.