A basket of dreams for different times

The first time I met Lara Tilbrook she was carrying an orphaned baby kangaroo in a pouch across her chest. The small creature was receiving the same love and affection, it seemed, that one might normally direct to a child. I quickly learnt that this level of attention and care that Lara displayed was far from limited to the joey in her arms.

Many people have extraordinary life journeys and stories to tell, but the dramatic contrast between the world Lara has chosen on Kangaroo Island and her previous one in the concrete, fast-paced jungle of London paints a colourful picture of a woman connected to the environment around her, who isn’t afraid of adventure. Lara was pulled to the other side of the world in the ‘90s after obtaining a Bachelor of Design in Jewellery and Metalsmithing at the University of South Australia. She backpacked through Africa before setting her sights on Notting Hill. Remarkably, within a few short years, she had made a name for herself, offering a bespoke service for wedding and engagement rings, and other adornments. She went on to design for several iconic London retailers including Paul Smith, Marks & Spencers and British Homestores.

Success built on success and soon enough, she found herself in Primrose Hill; she became one of the founding directors and designers of the internationally-renowned boutique, Sweet Pea Fine Jewellery. The studio employed ten staff and had more than 200 stockists across the United Kingdom, the United States, Europe and Asia. She travelled regularly, visiting Paris, New York and even Tokyo to sell newly-designed collections; she also ventured through parts of Europe and India to source precious stones and materials for her distinctive, delicate work.

They were heady years – her pieces were featured in Russian, French and German Vogue magazines and bought by A-list celebrities, including Jennifer Lopez, Lulu, Gwen Stephani and Janet Jackson. ‘I loved it as a young woman,’ she says. ‘Fashion was an avenue where I could make a good living and it was exciting to be part of that world. But after adorning celebrities for some years, it all began to feel like a facade and I started to question the purpose of it. I began to realise the importance of having a basket of dreams for different times, and the different time had come.’

After living in Notting Hill for more than a decade, there was a growing hunger for nature, trees and the Australian bush. So, in 2008, Lara sold her business in London and made the decision to invest in the environment. Childhood memories of Cape Forbin and Snug Cove on Kangaroo Island lured her back to the land and when she found 400 acres of pristine, high rainfall bush – with no man-made structure as far as the eye could see – she had found her place for the next stage of her life.

While her location has changed, Lara is still a busy woman. She’s a director, apiarist, organic grower, small batch maker, package designer and stylist. And that’s just under her label of Bush Organics KI. As a goldsmith and jewellery designer, she continues to make exquisite contemporary collections and creates bespoke commissions. She is also an environmental activist and conservationist. What is astonishing and rare is that she brings these disparate sectors of her life together, weaving them into a cohesive whole – the result has been nothing short of outstanding.

As an activist, Lara has been a driving force behind a revegetation project at Stokes and Vivonne Bays, pushing to stop sand dune erosion and provide a screen for beach-nesting birds. She designed the “Help a Hoodie” signage, to raise public awareness of the vulnerability of these birds, and co-authored a book “Our Life on the Beach”, which linked to murals on the public toilets at Stokes Bay.

In 2012, Lara was awarded a Highly Commended award in the Waterhouse Art Prize for a collar made from the leaves of Banksia ornata, in loving memory of the banksias that had died from an infestation of phytophthora, a water-based mould that causes disease and death to a wide range of native plants, damaging natural ecosystems. She was awarded two “Caring for Country’ grants to conduct workshops undertaking treatment trials on phytophthora infestations, but hit a bureaucratic brick-wall and was barred from carrying out the trials on public lands, as it was against government policy. Instead, the trials were conducted on private land; the bureaucratic brick-wall even triggered a question in Parliament. I’m also quickly learning that Lara does not readily take no for an answer.

Her latest project is with a group called “Land for Wildlife KI”, which is undertaking remote surveillance of the noctural KI Dunnart. This little sooty grey marsupial is elusive and no-one knows how many are left on the Island, although it’s thought the population could be as small as 500.

Bush Organics is a growing business – growing in the sense that it is thriving, but also because everything that goes into the products is grown or produced by Lara and her family (with the exception of the eucalyptus oil from Emu Ridge). The bees on Lara’s property produce the finest premium cold-pressed leptospermum honey; the propolis is harvested for special salve, as well as the wax for candles. Herbs and flowers such as calendula, rosemary and thyme are grown by Lara to supplement her skin care range. The labels are her own designs, and she tells me that distributing to selected stockists harks back to the practical skills she developed during her days in London.

Also connecting to those days, she continues to design and make highly original wearable ornamentation, created from natural products. Collars crafted from carefully selected native foliage embellished with 18 carat gold and semi-precious stones are designed to convey a message about the environment, as well as well as a sense of beauty and theatre. “My artwork is about giving the environment a pedestal and a sense of worth,’ she says. ‘I frame them and present them in a way that I hope people will understand these are the things that need to be treasured and protected.’ A purse she made from feral cat fur featuring a goanna claw contains an 18-carat gold frame. It is both beautiful and disconcerting at the same time and certainly something that provokes thought and reaction. ‘Through my work, I am hoping to educate people; to get them to understand that the health of our natural environment is so crucial to our own health and wellbeing.

Lara still loves making jewellery for people, even though her latest works are a step removed from the Primrose Hill aesthetic. It is more likely to feature re-worked precious metals and strong Australian, natural themes. No longer travelling between Paris and London, Lara tells me she is happy moving between her remote paradise on the Island and the Fleurieu Arthouse in McLaren Vale, where she maintains a studio and sells her products. ‘These days I am happy under a tree, exploring in our valley and walking alongside the ocean,’ she says. ‘I take pride in producing the best honey I can, creating treasures that last a lifetime, and I love to make art pieces to present issues that can bring about change.’

The time has come for the basket of dreams to be filled with a sense of personal achievement and satisfaction. Although, with Lara’s talents and energy, there is a strong sense of future dreams yet to be fulfilled.

Story by Winnie Pelz. Photography by Sean McGowan.