A Woman’s Eye: The Artists Who’ve Put Their Stamp on Our Tailored Spirits
In our ten years at Archie Rose, women have played a fundamental role in shaping the way our business runs, the way our spirits are made, and the way we express ourselves creatively. Because the world of spirits hasn’t always been an easy one for women to break into, from day one we’ve committed ourselves to creating space for individuals from all walks of life to stamp their vision onto the world of Archie Rose.
That’s taken a number of expressions, from those pushing boundaries in our distilling team, to local artists (at least 12 during our ten years) distilling their vision of Archie Rose at a particular moment in time. We’ve worked with Evi O on limited edition artwork for The Writer’s Gin as the perfect backdrop for Helen Garner’s iconic quote, Cressida Campbell and Marian Tubbs as part of the Know My Name initiative with the National Gallery of Australia, Claudia Chinyere Akole’s joyously riotous labels for our 2022 Mardi Gras Bottled Cocktails, and Louise Zhang’s intricate Tailored Gin label to celebrate Lunar New Year. We’d love you to take the time to read the full list further down in this article.
This International Women’s Day, in the spirit of celebrating not only a woman’s palate but her mind’s eye, we’re shining a spotlight on two artists behind our current Tailored Spirits’ labels. Ready yourself for a generous dose of inspiration.
Artist Gemma Leslie, painter and founder of Food For Everyone
Gemma Leslie has always identified as a creative, but it was during the pandemic that she suddenly found herself with a lot of free time on her hands – and that meant a lot of time to paint as a way to simply explore what felt good and pass the time. That pandemic practice quickly evolved into Food For Everyone, a purpose-driven business that donates a percentage of artwork proceeds to fight food insecurity in Australia. Since 2020, they’ve contributed over $150,000 to a handful of Australian charities, equating to around 750,000 meals. Impressive stuff.
In her own words, it’s a venture built on collaboration.
“Our goal is to continue sharing our energy with other passionate creatives,” says Leslie. “We love working with people, like Archie Rose, who encourage individual expression and aren’t afraid to delve headfirst into new projects.”
As for what inspired her Tailored label?
“The process began around the idea of summer entertaining, and how I tend to host friends and family over the summer,” she tells Archie Rose. “So I started to think about what grows in my garden, thinking of the herbs and fruits that fit within the distinct flavour profiles of gin and whisky. Like the freshness of lemon, cucumber, and basil that marries with gin botanicals, contrasting to the deeper, sweeter flavours of orange rind, figs, and cherries that make for a great match with whisky-based cocktails. I love that all these pairings are accessible.”
Artist Edith Rewa, botanical illustrator and textile designer
As a young girl, Edith was drawn to two things — creating with her hands and the natural world. These days Edith’s art practice entails exploring local bushland (she’s an avid bushwalker), foraging and taking notes, then returning home to document what she has seen. Sketching and then digitising her illustrations, her work brings together the natural and manmade worlds, and the space that binds them together.
It’s what initially drew us to commissioning Edith for our 2022 Christmas art, which has evolved into a fruitful and ongoing collaboration, including her current Tailored label — and a new artwork launching in the coming weeks.
“Collaborating with Archie Rose to create their 2022 Christmas packaging was a really fun project for me,” says Rewa. “I was given a list of the botanicals that Archie Rose uses in their spirits and I had a look through those, doing research into gin making and what native Australian botanicals I wanted to feature. I wanted to create this sense of the botanicals floating through and interweaving in the liquid, enabling drinkers to visually connect with the botanicals in their Archie Rose spirit of choice.”
Having incidentally amassed a sizeable community of nature and art lovers online, connection continues to form a central theme in her work. When we interviewed her in 2022, she spoke of wanting to inspire people to connect with nature through her art — “to remind them, to take a moment and connect with the natural world.”
The 12 inspiring artists we’ve worked with over 10 years:
• Marion Tubbs - Tailored Spirits art label collaborator in 2021.
• Edith Rewa - Tailored Spirits art label, tea towel + Canvas Bag collaborator in 2022.
• Heidi Willis - 3 X Harvest Gins.
• Okhi Studio - created Bush & Coast Summer Gin Project Gins in 2018 - Australian artist who was based in Spain I think, am trying to find their name.
• Melanie Vugich - has done a range of artworks for our Bottled Cocktails over the last three years.
• Claudia Chinyere Akole - was our Mardi Gras Bottled Cocktail and Tailored label artist in 2022.
• Gemma Leslie - our 2023 Christmas artist for Tailored Labels and tea towel.
• Pilar Basar - designed our StickyBeak visual.
• Louise Zhang - has designed a Lunar NY 2024 label for a duty free exclusive and for Tailored Spirits. These will launch Jan 2024.
• Evi O Studio - designed The Writer’s Gin label.
• Ashley Ronning - designed Bottled Cocktails and Tailored labels for Mardi Gras 2021.
• And of course Cressida Campbell allowed us to feature her beautiful artwork, Gingko, as a celebration of the retrospective at the National Gallery of Australia, one of our longest cultural partners, last year. A total and very welcome fluke.
Label artworks by Gemma Leslie, Louise Zhang and Edith Rewa are currently available through our Tailored Spirits range. Start your Tailored journey here.
