Chapter One: The Man Who Taught Us to Look High and Look Low
- WilsonDesignCollective
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Looking Closely - and always wondering what might be waiting to be discovered Beyond the gate, nature had begun to make its own way A quiet place to pause, read and remember
Look High, Look Low: The Story Behind Our Woodland Friends Collection
"Look high and look low."
Those are the words we heard countless times growing up.
They came from our grandad.
He was the kind of man who found joy in the smallest of things.
Binoculars around his neck, shorts on whatever the weather, wandering through his wonderfully overgrown garden, pointing out birds we hadn't noticed, insects hidden amongst the long grass and tiny wild flowers most people walked straight past.
He taught us something we didn't fully understand as children.
That beauty isn't always the loudest thing in the landscape.
Sometimes you have to slow down long enough to notice it.
We didn't know then that those gentle lessons would quietly shape our lives.
Or that many years later they would become the very heart of our work.
A field scattered with daises, soft and familiar. 
Little girls in winter hats and coats, sitting amongst the grasses, picking flowers. A tiny world, busy with life.
Two Sisters Looking High and Low: Noticing the Little Details
People often ask what it's like being an identical twin.
The truth is, it's the only life we've ever known.
There has never been a moment when one of us hasn't been quietly woven into each other's story.
We finish each other's sentences.
We know when something isn't right before a word is spoken.
We laugh at the same things, notice the same details and somehow still ring each other at exactly the same moment.
Of course, we're different.
We each bring something unique.
But when we come together, we speak the same language.
Not just in words, but in ideas, creativity and instinct.
It has always been the way.
From childhood discoveries to a studio filled with ideas- together, as always The tools that turn an idea into something tangaibale Young artisrs, big ambbitions- and our first taste of our work in print: Degrees at the Doubel
Growing Up Surrounded By Creativity
Growing up, we were surrounded by creativity.
Printed textiles, colour, pattern and interiors fascinated us long before they became our careers.
We both went to Loughborough University before building wonderful careers in the design industry.
Caroline designed home textiles for brands including Next Home and George at Asda.
Louise worked with Harlequin, Anthology, Scion and continues to consult within the industry, especially working alongside Sanderson Design Group, helping create fabrics and wall coverings inspired by Britain's extraordinary design heritage.
Design was never just our job.
It was how we looked at the world.
We were always fascinated by how people lived.
How homes felt.
How colour could change a room.
How pattern could tell a story.
Looking back now, perhaps Wilson Design Collective was quietly beginning long before we realised it.
Where lines, shapes and ideas begin to find their place. 
Layers of colour, textures and possibility waiting to unfold. 
Drawings transformed into pattern, carrying the marks of the
Lessons We Didn't Know We Were Learning
There was another quiet influence growing up.
Our dad.
Living with health challenges meant our family understood from an early age that life doesn't always unfold as planned.
But if our dad taught us anything, it was resilience.
He taught us that strength isn't always loud.
Joy and sadness can exist side by side.
He never intended to teach us those lessons.
He simply lived them.
Looking back now, we realise they shaped us more than we could ever had imagined.
Because when life later asked difficult questions of our own family...
Those lessons were already there, waiting for us.
Three generations of memories held in a single moment- Mum beside us. Held close, surrounded by love, and already sharing a story. A family gathered together- and Grandad, with his camera always ready to look high and look low.
The Spring Morning Everything Changed
This is where the story becomes more personal.
Some memories never leave you.
They fade around the edges.
They stay exactly where you first placed them.
For us, it's a bright spring morning.
One phone call.
One driveway.
One moment that quietly divided our lives into two chapters.
Before.
After.
Where We Found Ourselves Again
During those years there was one place that never asked anything of us.
The countryside.
Long before there was a studio, there were walks.
Even after the flowers fade, their shapes remain. Open fields leading the eye towards the trees beyond. Gathering little pieces of the landscape along the way.
Almost every day, we meet with our dogs and head out on a woodland walk.
People often imagine creativity happens at an artist's desk.
Ours begins outdoors.
Those walks have become a ritual.
Sometimes we talk about life.
Sometimes about family.
Sometimes about work.
Often all three become tangled together before we've reached the first field.
We laugh.
We put the world to rights.
Sometimes we cry.
And sometimes we don't come up for breath.
There is one place we always slow down.
Light finding its way through the trees.
Nothing extraordinary.
Yet somehow...
Everything we need.
That place has quietly witnessed countless conversations.
Big decisions.
Tiny ideas.
Moments of doubt.
Moments of excitement.
If Wilson Design Collective had a boardroom...
It's there.
Because it reminds us to breathe.
To notice.
To look high.
And to look low.
Just as grandad had taught us.
Looking up, where branches meet and leaves become a tapestry overhead. looking closely, gathering inspiration, making connections. The traces that nature leaves behind.
Continue Our Story...
Grandad taught us to look high and look low.
We didn't realise then that we would carry those words with us for the rest of our lives.
He taught us to notice.
To pause.
To look again.
And perhaps that's why, years later, we found ourselves noticing beauty in places other people might have overlooked.
Old papers.
Forgotten patterns.
A scrap of paper.
A tiny fragment of texture.
Things that might have seemed insignificant on their own.
Until we began putting them together.
In our next chapter, we'll explore How Scraps Become Stories.
A Little Something To Take With You...
The next time you're out for a walk, pause for a moment.
Look high.
Look low.
Listen for the birds before you see them.
Notice the tiny wildflowers growing where no one else is looking.
There are stories everywhere, waiting to be found.
Perhaps that's what grandad was trying to teach us all along.
If Our Grandad's Story Has Stayed With You...
You might enjoy exploring the woodland friends who quietly inspired our very first collection.
Looking for Something Truly One of a Kind?
Just like the memories that inspired them, no two original collages are ever the same.
Every original has been created by hand using layers of carefully chosen papers, vintage textures and thoughtful details. Once it finds its forever home, that exact combination of papers, textures and details will never be recreated in quite the same way again.
If you'd like to own a piece of our story, discover our original collage artworks.
Thank You For Spending a Little Time With Us Today.
We hope this chapter encouraged you to slow down, notice something beautiful and perhaps look a little differently at the world around us.
Until next time...
With love,
Caroline and Louise
Twins with a Tale
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