The artist Nicola Brown lives in the wilds.

At least that is how it feels as you recheck directions and along precarious country roads and farmer’s lanes, beyond the string of villages that mark the journey .

An ‘american’ post box, half hidden in a hedge, signals success is at hand. The lane crunches beneath the tyres. Finally you run out of road and there nestled in a blanket of fields lies a simple and charming farmhouse. Its vista hidden by the ghostly mists of winter or illuminated by summer’s fields of gold.

Inside, a loving reclamation is infused with a natural warmth that draws the eye through a warren of rooms. Tradition, history and a heartfelt personal vision are ingrained in the walls and the wood.

Nicola makes beautiful printed scarves, artistic felted sculptures and exquisite printed cushions. All have a simple natural provenance.

She uses leaves, onion skins and berries. These are her printing blocks and colour sources – collected from local hedges or distant roads – used in a process that ensures that each item is unique, an original.

One such piece – a cushion – was created using blackberry from the lane leading to the artist’s house and eucalyptus leaves gathered in the shadow of the Little Sugarloaf in Co. Wicklow.

Nicola’s way is nature’s way.