Most artists say that they get their inspiration from the landscape. And why wouldn’t you? The Australian landscape is amazing. I guess what makes what I do different is that my inspiration not only comes from my backyard, but is created from that landscape as well.
 
Amee is a self-taught sustainable artist, hand papermaker and designer.
 
The source of her creativity comes from the paper she makes by hand from the native grasses that grow in abundance on the family properties she calls home. Her artwork and jewellery is sort after by galleries and private collectors.
 
About Amee…
Passion
My passion is paper, and handmade paper at that. Over the last few years my love of natural paper also developed into three jewellery collections – The Conner Collection, The Dawn Collection, and The Red Heart Collection designed specifically for Eco Fashion Week Australia. 
I wanted to create something remarkable and memorable that people could take away with them that would remind them of an amazing part of the country.
I’m now working toward the next stage of my career and my art, using grasses from different regions to make paper, incorporating hand made cotton papers and our homegrown alpaca fibre into my work. 
I want my work to be sustainable, ethical and different. I want your piece of jewellery, or that artwork to spark conversation in a positive way.

​Inspiration
My home - our home, is a constant source of inspiration.
Our landscape constantly changes. The plants. The wildlife. The ecosystem. We have a 360-degree horizon… more stars than anyone else normally sees and we can watch the full moon rise as the sun sets every month. The salt lakes change as you watch, and the magnificent Mount Conner moving through all shades of orange to deep purple throughout the day. The antics of the animals and the surprises - shapes, colours and textures found in the natural world. There is always something that will catch my eye and germinate the next idea. Sometimes I feel I have more ideas than time to produce them.
One of the primary materials I work with is Curtin Springs Paper – the paper we make on the station by hand from the local native grasses and plants. Each of the grasses gives the paper a different quality, texture and colour.
With all the handmade paper I work with, there are never two pieces of paper the same. Paper and paper pulp is such an amazing medium – you can cast, tear, sew, stick, sand, drill, rust, twist and the list goes on. I love to see how far I can push it. Paper is more versatile and hardy than people think.
I then add anything else I can get my hands on… those ‘forgotten’ things in old cupboards, rusty things from ‘down the back’, material from the sewing box, etc. I like to see how handmade paper can be incorporated into and combined with other materials like wool in the felting process or with metal and rust.

​Vision
I am always looking for a completely new way of looking at a piece of paper, or any of the fibre I work with!
My first foray into a full fashion collection as an emerging designer and artist was driven by my fascination with how I can convert a modest piece of handmade paper into a designer garment that could grace any Fashion Week runway, embellished by my jewellery and accessories made primarily from handmade paper, and designs inspired by the amazing landscape I wake up in every day.

​There is something really exciting and humbling about working with a material that is, in every sense of the word, home.