ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
KENT ARTIST PROFILE
ROWAN & WILLOW
TAKING INSPIRATION FROM THE BEAUTY OF THE KENTISH COUNTRYSIDE, SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST DEBBIE KENT CREATES UNIQUE DECOUPAGE CREATIONS, FROM UPCYCLED PRE-LOVED TREASURES TO INTRICATE BESPOKE DECOR. BLENDING CREATIVITY, PASSION AND CONSIDERED CRAFT, DEBBIE HAS HONED HER SIGNATURE STYLE IN THIS CHERISHED ARTFORM TO PRODUCE WORKS THAT ARE BOTH MEANINGFUL AND BEAUTIFUL.
Debbie, please tell us about your artistic journey to date. As a self-taught decoupage artist, I absolutely love creating with this artform. Having worked in a corporate setting for over 30 years, I always enjoyed crafting to relax. I tried a few different hobbies along the way, but was drawn to working with natural materials and stumbled upon decoupage. It just felt like the right fit and I found it very therapeutic.
Lots of practice and experimenting has helped me to hone and develop my own style. During Covid, I decided to try selling my work, which I did originally through Etsy before discovering that Instagram was perfect for offering custom orders and ready-to-post pieces while allowing me to work at my own pace. Attention to detail is important to me and I’ m definitely a perfectionist, so certain pieces can be very time consuming but a real labour of love.
What is decoupage? What first drew you towards it as a medium? Decoupage comes from the French word découper which means‘ to cut’. It’ s the art of decorating objects with paper and tissue using glue. By experimenting and developing my own techniques, I realised that through mixing elements from different paper napkins I could achieve my own unique designs. French ancestry on my mum’ s side may also account for my passion for it, too!
What inspires you? How does Kent inspire your work? I have a great love of nature and the countryside, drawing much inspiration from walks down lanes full of wildflower hedgerows, through woodlands and meadows both here in Kent and on Dartmoor where my husband and I love to holiday. We’ re not far from Whitstable and we love the artsy vibe there, so there’ s always inspiration to be found from other artists and makers, which I interpret in my own way using decoupage or clay.
Many of your pieces give new life to pre-loved items. Is sustainability an important part of your creative process? I can’ t resist a vintage shop or charity shop to source something I can work on as an upcycle project for a quirky one-off piece. Using natural and sustainable materials is important to me. I’ ve upcycled many donated items too- wine boxes are turned into something beautiful to use as a gift for celebrations, planks of wood are sawn to create freestanding décor, beads from broken jewellery embellish a hanging decoration and packaging is reused to ship my items- nothing goes to waste.
What’ s next? Any exciting plans? While I love to create as much as I can, I’ m also in demand helping my elderly parents
and being nanny to our two gorgeous grandsons, so getting the balance right is key to juggling everything. As a result, I have no big plans other than to continue to create pieces that people love and enjoy. I’ ve recently come together with Kate at Bracken and Bloom for a little seasonal collaboration and loved creating a festive collection for her beautiful florist and gift shop shepherd’ s hut. My husband and I are planning a trip to Canada in 2027, so I’ m sure I’ ll find more inspiration there!
Where can we find / purchase your work? You can find my work through my Instagram account; please direct message for custom orders, or at Bracken and Bloom in Ashford.
rowanandwillow
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