Ray de Soleil is a creative studio, producing handmade patterns and designs for wallpaper, fabric (coming soon) and other bits of home decor. Manufactured in the UK, each production technique has been carefully selected to retain the subtle imperfections and character achieved by handprinting.
 
Setup by Louise Parker, Ray de Soleil is the product of post pandemic fomo and seizing the chance to start a business before anything else stood in her way. 
 
The name Ray de Soleil was pinched from a French friend of mine who said that my patterns were a ‘rayeur de soleil’, meaning ray of sunshine. Having spent many years living in France, what she said resonated with my inner Frenchy, and what I hope to bring into people’s homes - nature, character, colour, pattern, joy and even some silliness. 
 
A long-term obsession with pattern has been secretly driving my enthusiasm for making since I was at school and a maths teacher told me off for covering my books in geometric doodles. Since then I have been seeking the perfect outlet - I’ve tried tile making, spoon carving, lino printing, upholstery… the list goes on! My phone is filled with pictures of anything that I think I can turn into a repeat pattern one day. Between lockdowns I was lucky enough for my husband to take us on a one-day printmaking course, to celebrate our anniversary, and I discovered woodblock printing - something I could continue to do on the kitchen table in between meetings at my day job, and within the confines of the house. Learning to create patterns with blocks became my meditation. Recently a bad bout of trigger finger has led me to experimenting with lots of different ways of printing, from 3D printing my blocks to potato cutting; as long as I can avoid injury and finish with a handmade pattern I’m happy.  
 
My first collection, The Footpath, is a series of designs that stem from what I see day-to-day - the beautiful West Sussex countryside - each being a simplified version of a rural element, from barbed wire to wild pansies.