LUKE TAAFFE
This is our second Cushion Cover Edition and we couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome. For us, textiles, especially in the form of cushions, can provide the perfect opportunity to inject some creativity into a space. Like a painting, a new cushion can add considerable visual impact to almost any room or space. It’s also a great canvas for an artist to work on.
At East Editions, we love the idea of making ordinary everyday things special… and can you ever have to many cushions! We produced only 25 of each design. We want people to know that when they purchase one of these Cushion Covers, they purchasing a limited edition piece of art that only a few other people will own as well.
We invited our good friend Luke Taaffe to make the designs for this Edition, Luke is an artist from the NSW Central Coast, but currently lives and works in California. The designs Luke hand painted for the cushions were made with the screen printing process in mind, are very effective one colour designs and a true representation of Luke’s unique style, influenced by mid century surfing culture and psychedelic imagery.
Together with Luke, we decided to print one design in a Tangerine red orange colour, and the other in a dark Chocolate brown colour. These colours have a great retro feel, and are sure to compliment almost any couch, chair or interior space.
There are a lot of screen printed products on the market those still use plastisol inks, which are much easier to print with and do last well, however, plastisol inks contain PVC and phthalates that are harmful to the environment. We made the decision along with Shannon at Aisle6ix to always screen print our products using water based inks. We use Permaset Inks for our Cushion Covers, these water based inks do not contain PVC or phthalates and they do not contain ozone-depleting chemicals or any toxic chemicals whatsoever. The Permaset inks also screen print really well into the canvas like fabric, giving a nice natural finish to the prints.
Each Cushion is hand-sewn by a local dressmaker and are made from locally sourced 55% hemp / 45% organic cotton canvas fabric. Hemp is one of the most eco friendly fabrics in the world, and this particular blend is actually perfect for cushions.
We hope you enjoy these process images of this Edition being created, from Luke painting the designs in his California home studio, to screen printing, sewing and packaging them in Sydney.