Syrene’s holiday collaboration with Australian artist Stevie Michaels takes inspiration from that ‘take a dip’ feeling, featuring hand painted motifs of rising suns, shells and fish, drawing on the active ingredients in each of our products. Initially painted on linen with oil, with hues of citrus yellow, rust and serene washes of blue. Keeping in line with the joyous, summery ethos that both brand’s naturally embody.

Stevie Michaels is an Australian artist and designer whose European heritage and love of entertaining and dining with loved ones inspire her creativity. She shares with us her place of tranquility and how she embodies that ‘take a dip’ feeling.

What first came to mind when briefed on our limited edition Take A Dip kit packaging? What was your creative process and how would you describe your version of a ‘take a dip’ feeling?

My initial thought was to capture that unique holiday feeling, the one where you are your most relaxed carefree, revitalised version of yourself.  To me this is quite simply by the ocean, my vision was to create something unique and playful that evoked that glorious feeling and captured the Syrene essence.

I started sketching the idea of setting suns, crashing waves and sea creature motifs, taking inspiration from the active marine ingredients and overall fresh feeling of the Syrene skincare range. From there, the Take a dip print was created, Initially painted by hand with oil on linen, to create texture and warmth and transformed into a digital print on the Syrene signature aqua blue background.

There is a beautiful collection you have called ‘Sapore Di Mare’, which means taste of the sea in Italian. How did this inspire you to create the ceramics?  

The ‘Sapore Di Mare’ collection is inspired by my love of summer on the Italian coast. Taking inspiration from days filled with long lunches on a clifftop, with freshly caught seafood, wine and good company. 

The rich food culture and emphasis on family is something that really has inspired my work, carving out time to ‘break bread with loved ones and to enjoy life’s simple pleasures through entertaining.

What would a ‘serene’ moment look like for you?

Recharging in nature always brings me back to a serene place.

What active ingredients do you incorporate into your skincare? And why? 

I’m really loving beautiful hydrating actives at the moment, hyaluronic acid and niacin-amide are my two on rotation, being pregnant brings lots of skin changes and focusing on hydration has really made all the difference.

How important is self-care to you? Is this something you incorporate into your daily routine, if so, how?

It is extremely important to me, I’m an early bird and love to try to fit in self-care my morning routine, whether it’s a yoga class or beach walk followed by a coffee. I always feel so much more connected and ready to take on my day.

 Available at MECCA and here