Fleur MacDonald’s work relates to the everyday, the domestic and the kitsch, with cultural references informed by post-modern theory and discourse over afternoon tea.

Fleur’s artwork honours traditional creative practices. Her intricately painted, found objects reflect her admiration for the fine craft of hand-sewing, weaving together contemporary images with historical references. Her highly detailed painting celebrates a skill almost lost but now regaining respect through the contemporary make-and-mend movement.

Armed with a business plan and encouragement from friends, Fleur and the Penguin began designing and printing textiles in 2017. They soon found themselves Lino block printing and sewing, reviving their passion for repeat-pattern design while producing a range of high-quality handmade napery on linen and damask.

Our first range of textiles was based on multiple configurations of the humble carpenter’s pencil, followed by a range inspired by tartan. Then we started to ransack the plant kingdom, and many of our designs now feature a variety of garden plants, weeds, and flowers, not to mention the odd kangaroo. Designing with old school pencil and paper, carving rubber blocks, printing onto linen, heat setting the ink, cutting, sewing, ironing, marketing, and sweeping the floor… the patterns continue to repeat and flourish as Kosmos & Thistle - online and with a bricks & mortar shop in the main street of Kandos.

As well as tea towels, we now produce napkins sets; peg, project, bread and tote bags; pencil cases, make-up pouches, aprons and cushion covers… with a few more ideas on the boil. Our print designs have 2 main categories: sweet and spicy. Sweet is all things lovely, while the hot-headed Spicy was born out of the Covid lockdown era.

Fleur MacDonald, Kosmos & Thistle

Kandos, New South Wales