I feel like I have been in a flurry of self promotion lately and looks like its continuing (whoops)!
I love the folks at Interiors Addict and all the good they do in the world helping folks make their homes beautiful. There is inspiration for making your nest special is endless.
They recently did an interview with me about my two series, La Vacanza Italiana and Jeune Fille En Fleurand its fabulous (eek).
To celebrate them spreading my print joy I am giving a 20% discount on all prints with code print love
The full story on Interiors Addict is HERE and you can start decorating in my shop HERE
I know many of you purchased the recent copy of Harpers Bazaar in Australia and have seen this shoot but I wanted to share this beautiful fairytale with those who haven’t.
People often ask me after 17 years of photography do I still love it or do I get excited and inspired? Well folks, the answer is YES, YES, YES!!
I had the chance to photograph Heidi for Gourmet Traveller last year and had an instant girl crush, I adored everything about her, her warm generous spirit, being so very present and her beautiful fashion.
So for me doing this Harpers shoot was like the night before Christmas, I knew Heidi would have all the elements that make photographs magic but she certainly exceeded my photographer’s dream.
There were her daughters (arrrrrr) you just wanted to hug them on first sight, the house, the calm, the clothes and of course the magic Heidi. And I had the good fortune to have the world’s best folk working with us, Eliza O’Hare and partner from Harpers, Veronique Marot and Loc Boyle and Kellie Hush and the team that put this magic together!
This shoot and the good times and memories will be in the memory bank of shoots for the rest of my times and I can’t express how fortunate I feel to have had the chance to spend a day with people so clear, warm, generous and loving as Heidi, her family and the creative team on the day.
In case you don’t believe, creative dreams do come true! You can follow Heidi Middleton on Instagram HERE
Sending love
Carla x
Ps: There were a lot of ladders involved and holding big cameras and balancing like a trapeze artist at the same time trying not to fall off..
You know it’s your lucky day when a gal like this beauty walks in the door.
The beautiful Linda Karlsson and I share a common love for Puglia, the lifestyle, the architecture, the people and the scrumptious beautiful food. And not to mention that she lives in paradise, on the beautiful Ibiza.
Gosh, there is so much to talk about we almost forgot to shoot! Like her heavenly villa on Ibiza that she rents out as a sanctuary so folks can escape to enjoy island life for a while in the prettiest setting, she has created. The sanctuary also hosts regular yoga retreats so if you love yoga you might like to check out the schedule and get super excited about booking a ticket to Ibiza.
She was a dreamboat to photograph, all I had to do was frame and shoot!
Hugest thanks to the wonderful Linda for sharing her beauty with us and the generosity for allowing me to share this shoot.
PS: If you are in Paris in July and feel like starring in your own Paris Film Noir shoot you can check them out HERE, you can get in touch with me at carla@carlacoulson.com to book.
Claire Lloyd and rescue dog Mavrula copyright Carla Coulson
Any of you who have been following along for a while know that I am nuts about the Mediterranean in particular Greece and Italy. Well, this summer I travelled to beautiful Lesvos and stayed in a very special Greek Island guesthouse owned by the fabulous designer Claire Lloyd and partner artist Matthew Usmar Lauder.
Felix passes the Iron bed made with antique linen copyright Carla Coulson
I knew I was going to love this place as I know Claire has a beautiful eye from all those years working as an art director in London and I adore her beautiful book My Greek Island Island Home. Throw into the mix Matthew’s divine art and his knack for creating individual pieces of furniture and objects from found and recycled products and it was sure to ignite something big inside of me.
Loungeroom from the front door copyright Carla Coulson
But as a photographer, I have learnt that the photos never do something really beautiful its true justice. It’s all those other dimensions that bring on the love rush, like the scent of jasmine, the exquisite view to the sea, the textures of floorboards under your bare feet, the sound of a homemade wind chime tinkling in the breeze.
You all know since the day I left Italy a piece of my heart has been hankering to go back to a simpler, slower way of living with a little vege garden out the back and to belong to a community. To belong to a community has been my lifelong ambition! I feel very fortunate to belong to a cyber community of wonderful people scattered around the world and for this, I will be forever grateful.
Beautiful bed linen and Matthew Lauders. Copyright Carla Coulson
So here in this exquisite house not only did Francesco and I have a chance to relax and enjoy the fabulous scented candles, the fridge stocked with Greek Yoghurt, local fruit and delicious local wine but we had the chance to taste what it would be like if we left our lives and went to live on a Greek Island.
There was nothing touristy about this experience. We were in a small hill village about 4kms from the sea in a part of Lesvos that has no tourist shops or noisy bars just the local tavernas and a rich daily life.
Matthew’s art, a found table and vintage Turkish runner copyright Carla Coulson
I loved heading down to the Platia which is in the centre of the village, a wonderful tavern sits under a 100 year old tree (they just had the party to celebrates its birthday) which is akin to the village outdoor lounge room. Everything happens here, you can drink coffee, play cards for the entire day if your desire, eat lunch or dinner, check your Instagram, or wile away the hours swapping stories with the locals.
And right next door was the vege garden of my dreams. I adored watching the man tending it dressed in white collecting the biggest zucchini flowers I had ever seen.
And going on long walks with Claire and the dogs and dropping into’s Matthews heavenly studio (blog post coming soon) to see what he was up to.
Traditional Wooden box to display treasured icons Copyright Carla Coulson
I have long been in love with Greece, Francesco and I have spent the past 6 years trying to find the most out of the way Islands, to get as faraway as possible from our busy lives in Paris to recharge with long days swimming and resting.
But this was the first time I felt like I actually was living there, when I dared to ask myself ‘what if..?”
Beautiful ceramic plates in the kitchen copyright Carla Coulson
What if we had the courage to walk away from the security? What if we could live a simpler life like the one like we had all those years ago in Florence? What would we do and how would we do it?
Francesco’s Hat on the kitchen chair and local woven rug Copyright Carla Coulson
What if we could give our cat a better life?? LOL!
Bedroom with antique French Linen sheets Copyright Carla Coulson
Together we explored the island, had long lunches down at Kalo Limani and long dinners where there were just the four of us, a setting sun and simple Greek fare of grilled calamari, fresh fish and local veges.
Matthew and Claire’s generosity has no limits, they took us to their favourite beaches, we ate in their favourite restaurants all over the island and showed us the wonderful co-operatives where local ladies make traditional products.
I adored popping down the road to see them, like we had all lived their forever, swapping ideas and advice on all things creative and practical and talking about our hopes and dreams.
Matthew’s studio in the centre of town is filled with his beautiful artwork and found treasures. It’s also filled with curious locals who can’t help sticking their heads in to see what was going on.
Collection of local plates in the hallway Copyright Carla Coulson
Lesvos is so close to Turkey we even jumped on the ferry for the day and went to Avyalik on bazaar day. It was a frenzy of photos and shopping before we took the evening ferry back.
View from the terrace to the sea copyright Carla Coulson
I wanted My Greek Island Home experience to go on forever!
Felix and Fluffy Boy catching up on a little sleep Copyright Carla Coulson
Oh and for a cat lover missing her baby, not a problem there were a couple of stand-ins to help out..
So to dearest Claire and Matthew the stay at your house was not only the loveliest experience yet to happen for us in Greece it was something bigger, it was a catalyst just like that Thai Takeway all those years ago in Darlinghurst that set me on a life of adventure and going after the things that really mattered to me in life.
Even though I have left my life once before it was beautiful reminder of what I hold dear. Thank-you for allowing me to see that again and experience your beautiful island and lives through your eyes.
The beautiful My Greek Island Home Guesthouse has its own lovely website and if you would like to rent the guesthouse you can get in touch with Claire and Matthew here
If you would like more Greek Island Inspiration please click here.
“True generosity is an offering; given freely and out of pure love. No strings attached. No expectations. Time and love are the most valuable possession you can share.” Suze Orman
Please share if you dream of another life or love beautiful homes!
If you want to know how you can live more wholeheartedly, reconnect to your joy, creativity and purpose, click on the image above to join the free training.
Imagine a town that has survived for hundreds of years on making beautiful hand-made ceramics. Add a twist of Southern Italian charm, workshops dug into soft stone to form grottos (grottaglie – that’s where the name comes from) and hundreds of artisans turning clay into pots, jugs, plates, cups, saucers, statues and other works of art – then you would have Grottaglie.
I discovered Grottaglie a couple of summers ago when Francesco and I were at the beach and it became too crowded so we decided to head inland for lunch (no Italian in their right mind would do this in August) but this is one of our tricks to finding something magical and real.
And that is exactly what happened. We found the magical Grottaglie.. I could hardly wait to finish lunch to start snooping around the hundreds of ceramic workshops.
So when I started planning the Caravan Travel Photography Workshop I started to think of all the things I loved about Puglia and Grottaglie sprang to mind.
I decided to include the things I would do if I was to shoot a story on a region, include the things that I love, that visually excite me and I knew would make for interesting pics.
Collection of antique water jugs Mimmo Vestita Ceramics
So back I went to Grottaglie and with the help of Francesca Frisa we toured many beautiful workshops and met many great artisans.
hand painted plates in the workshop of Giuseppe Patronelli
Grottaglie has been inhabited since the Paleolithic age and is just up the rode from one of the first Greek settlements in Italy, Taranto.
The local stone is called tufo In Italian and is soft enough to be able to dig into. Since Medieval times there have been caves dug around what is now the castle and slowly they were taken over and used as ceramic workshops.
But on any given day you can turn up in Grottaglie and walk the area known as the Quartier dell Ceramiche and go from one workshop to the next and see artisans turning clay, painting, dipping statues in white and creating every imaginable statue possible.
Whilst walking from workshop to workshop with Francesca she told me about Mimmo Vestita who had an incredible Mediterranean garden right in the middle of town and who recently whilst renovating the garden had discovered the floor of a Roman Villa and a byzantine crypt.
I had co-incidently seen his garden and crypt in the beautiful magazine Cote Sud and begged to have a look.
Ancient wine pots in the Mediterranean garden of Casa Vestita
It was a garden like I had never seen before. So beautiful in it’s simplicity and it’s devotion to the Mediterranean climate, plants and his collection of over 4000 pieces of ceramic.
Mimmo Vestita in his splendid Mediterranean garden Casa Vestita
Mimmo generously opened his garden to the ‘Caravaners’ and kindly showed us the floor of the Roman Villa his renovator found whilst restoring the garden.
Whilst restoring another part of the garden and pulling away broken debris and trees the gardener found a carved column. They called in the archaeological society and together they went on a magical mystery tour and found a true treasure the underground crypt.
Grottaglie’s Mediterranean garden in front of the castle entrance.
If you are in Puglia don’t miss a visit to beautiful Grottaglie. She’s real, she’s artistic, she hasn’t been trussed up for the tourists and there are many wonderful photos to be had.
The fabulous Ceramics Museum has a collection of ceramics from the beginning of time, it’s a journey through history and habits, of simplicity, decoration and form and…. it’s free.
A giant round of applause to the all the artisans who gave their time and talent to us, who allowed us into their bottega’s to see how they work, create and maintain an ancient tradition. True southern hospitality at it’s most generous. I look forward to showing the participants work soon.
This is a private Mediterranean garden and the best one I have seen to date. Mimmo Vestita, the owner has a ceramics workshop up the road and not long ago unearthed a Byzantine Crypt underneath his garden and the floor of a Roman Villa. He opens the garden to the public for a small fee in August from 6pm to 10pm and regularly has exhibitions of some of his 4000 pieces of antique ceramics. DON’T MISS IT!! Follow on Facebook here.
Mimmo’s bottega is up a little set of stairs and removed from the street but worth sourcing out. He sells beautiful objects for the home, vases and water jugs.
This is the local tourist office and one of the most helpful in Italy. This should be your first stop when you arrive in Grottaglie to gather information on what you are looking for and where to eat!
“Each has his own happiness in his hands, as the artist handles the rude clay he seeks to reshape it into a figure; yet is is the same with this art as with all others: only the capacity for it is innate; art itself must be learned and painstaking”. Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
If you want to know how you can live more wholeheartedly, reconnect to your joy, creativity and purpose, download my Free Workbook above.
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