Designers We Love: Euodia Roets

WORDS Malibongwe Tyilo

Watercolour artist and designer Euodia (pronounced O-D-Ja) Roets’s label Touchee Feelee continues to grow and fascinate us. We decided to chat to her about her latest designs.

Please share a bit of your process with us, from the moment an idea hits to the item reaching the shelves.

It all starts with a watercolour painting in my loose paint style. The painting then gets professionally scanned, printed and cured onto a natural fibre fabric. From there it goes to the seamstress who works her magic, and then it gets labelled and packaged in my studio. Once the product is finished, it’s photographed by my very talented husband, Louw, prior to being distributed to shops and customers around the world. 

The more painful – and most fun – part of production would be the curation process. Most of my paintings never become cushions or any other product. I believe, in order to make 50 good cushions, you need to design 150. Some collections, like the Doll Portraits definitely stand out and fall under the ‘art’ category rather than ‘homeware’, although the line between art and homeware is completely blurred for me.

Since you started your brand in 2012, how has your work changed and evolved?

I’m more focused on the artwork now. I realised that painting is what I enjoy most. When I started, I tried to make as many products as I could come up with and ended up with almost 40 completely different products! I misunderstood my niche and what makes me different. This was quite an expensive lesson.

What is your absolute favourite item from your range?

That would be the ‘Seafoam’ cushion. 

If you had to recommend five interchangeable or easy-to-update decor items every home should have, what would they be?

1. Scatter cushions are the easiest, of course

2. Paint one wall in a room in a darker colour

3. Lay down a very large rug

4. Put up large-scale artworks, or a collection of small art pieces – always professionally framed (shop around for affordable framers, they do exist).

5. Change light fittings

Who are some of your favourite artists?

I’m inspired by illustrator Daniel Egneus, photographer Claudia Wycisk and the renowned Gustav Klimt. Klimt was a brilliant textile artist, something that few people know. His collection of silk scarves, created at the Wiener Werkstätte, is available from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s store. Selected designs are also available from Stable in Loop Street, Cape Town and from Weylandts, nationwide.

Any future plans we should know about?

I send out a ‘90% pictures’ newsletter every two weeks. Any new ranges are always introduced there first. Personal accessories is something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, so that might be in the pipeline… 

For more information about the Touchee Feelee range, visit toucheefeelee.net.