The Creative Mind Behind Oat Studio
Photography Anne Stroud
Photography Collections From Him
MEET THE MAKER
A Reflection of Beauty in Artistry and Imperfection
After living between New Zealand, Brisbane & Melbourne, Canberra-based designer Sarah Annand rediscovered her creative rhythm on walks around Lake Burley Griffin. The city’s mid-century & brutalist forms soon became, photographs, sketches, paintings, and ultimately Oat Studio - her hand-painted, printed textiles & wall-coverings inspired by architecture & grounded in beautiful imperfection.
Softened concrete geometry lines, uneven stripes, light and intuitive colour define her work, inviting us to pause, look closer, and find unexpected softness in the structures around us.
Photography Anne Stroud
Photography Anne Stroud
“While the technical side of my design process is self-taught, my path has been shaped by colleagues and other makers who’ve shared and guided me. It takes a village, and with every collection I continue to learn”
Photography Collections From Him
Photography Anne Stroud
Photography Collections From Him
Photography Anne Stroud
Photography Collections From Him
‘Reflections’: A New Chapter
Sarahs latest collection, Reflections, takes her architectural inspiration further, blending research into textile history with a personal sense of colour and rhythm. Sarah photographed buildings at different times of day, studied vintage repeats, and played with scale to create patterns that feel both modern and familiar.
The collection’s hero design began as a zigzag painting of the National Portrait Gallery. Once digitised, the form softened into a wave, a shift she describes as a “happy accident.” Other pieces reinterpret Enrico Taglietti’s stacked concrete lines and John Andrews’ Toad Hall into layered, abstracted repeats.
Unlike her earlier, earth-toned works, Reflections introduces hints of burgundy, pink and green. These tones bring new energy while keeping her signature oatmeals and browns close at hand. Each design still carries her brushstrokes, traces of the moment they were made.
Photography Anne Stroud
Photography Anne Stroud
With a background in art history and experience in textile distribution, Sarah had long understood how design moves between form and material.
During walks around Lake Burley Griffin, she became captivated by the city’s mid-century and brutalist buildings. “Taking photos of Toad Hall and the National Portrait Gallery. I knew I wanted to start painting the buildings,” she says.
What began as quiet sketches evolved into Oat Studio, a practice where architecture meets the expressive softness of paint.
“While the technical side of my design process is self-taught, my path has been shaped by colleagues and other makers who’ve shared and guided me. It takes a village, and with every collection I continue to learn"” she says. “I painted with acrylics or watered-down acrylics, then put those artworks into a digital format and played with repeats. The stripes aren’t perfect and that’s what gives them character.” Her process celebrates small imperfections, giving each pattern a sense of warmth and movement.
“I work quite intuitively with colour,” she explains. “I’ll play with a pattern on screen, recolour it a few times, then get the swatches printed. If a colour surprises me, I might recolour the other designs to match. They’re not always perfectly aligned, but they sit together in a way that feels natural.”
Sarah embodies what we celebrate through Meet the Maker: a deep sense of craft, connection, and the beauty found in making by hand. Finding softness in structure where concrete forms meet brushstrokes and imperfection becomes part of the story. Her textiles reflect a love for architecture, light, and texture, each piece carrying traces of the artist’s hand and the moments that inspired it.
Canberra’s creative community quickly embraced her work. “It’s such a supportive place,” Sarah says. “There’s time here to create, to be with family, and to build something at your own pace.”
Working independently has made Sarah value connection as much as craft. Exploring collaborations and planning future collections inspired by the architecture of London, Antwerp and Paris, cities she has photographed and hopes to revisit through fabric.
At its heart, Oat Studio is about how art can be both thoughtful and tactile. Sarah’s work reminds us that design is most compelling when it feels honest and you can see the human hand behind it.
As our first Meet the Maker, Sarah sets the tone for what we hope to celebrate: thoughtful craftsmanship, genuine curiosity, and a quiet sense of beauty and stories that endures beyond trends. Her textiles invite us to slow down, look closer, and find comfort in the imperfect details that make something truly authentic.
Photography Anne Stroud
Photography Collections From Him
Photography Anne Stroud