Kristy Tull knows a lot about concrete. After trawling a junk shop one day, she came across a terracotta pot painted with a concrete-style finish. From this unremarkable encounter, her imagination was sparked. Kirsty was drawn to the raw look of the concrete, but wasn’t quite convinced the shape of the vessel really suited this faux surface texture. Creative by nature, she decided it might be worth having a go at making her own concrete vessels from scratch.
Endless experimentation soon followed, and there was a lot of mess in the beginning, but things were looking up – before too long, Kristy had become a self-taught concrete maker! ‘Next thing I know I’ve bought a concrete mixer and quit my day job. Who would’ve thought!’ she says!
Kristy eventually launched her homewares business, Fox & Ramona, in 2011. What started out as a fledgling operation became a full time job almost two years ago (prior to this, Kristy had worked as an architect’s assistant while studying interior design).
Kristy designs and makes most of her range by hand in her Williamstown studio, with the exception of the largest planters, which she has only recently started to outsource. She loves being hands on in the workshop. ‘Concrete is unpredictable and I love that,’ she says ‘I never quite know how each piece is going to look until it has cured and taken out of the mold’.
Fox and Ramona’s extensive range of products spans bold, graphic tableware, decorative vessels, handpainted pot plants and hanging planters. Never short of ideas for new products, patterns and colour ways, Kristy’s DREAM project, she says, would be a collaboration with her favourite local brand, Gorman. ‘That would be the highlight of my life. No exaggeration.’ she says!
Fox & Ramona’s range can be viewed here.