Bethan Laura Wood’s ink drawings become rugs for CC-Tapis

It started as a lockdown hobby: during the many months in confinement, London-based designer Bethan Laura Wood took to drawing her collection of succulents. Now, the simple ink drawings on white paper have been transformed by the skilled hands of CC-Tapis’ artisans into a collection of black and white rugs that recreate the designs in an almost abstract form.

Presented at the brand's Milanese showroom during Milan Design Week 2022 as well as at the fair, the ‘Euphorbia’ collection is part of CC-Tapis' growing series of creative collaborations with a diverse group of creatives that includes Patricia Urquiola, Sabine Marcelis, Garth Roberts and Apparatus, among many more.

Wood is a long-term and prolific contributor to the collections of CC-Tapis. Her new rugs are a faithful reproduction of her meditative, black and white drawings, depicting succulents, their curled, growing forms resembling ‘living calligraphy’. The series comprises a large rug and a smaller triptych, which interpret the original ink drawings with black wool on an undyed pile. 

‘When I moved into my flat around ten years ago, I started to collect unusual succulents and cacti on my window sill,’ recalls Wood. ‘Every time I found another interesting vintage ceramic vessel at the flea market, I then added a new plant to fill it. The Euphorbia Sipolisii f. Crestata is my favourite.’

Wood found herself inspired by the plants’ forms, and drawing them became a lockdown ritual: ‘I found it very meditative to sit and focus on this one thing,’ she says. ‘As I often do, I started in my smaller sketchbook, developing the confidence in the line style, then I would move up to the larger scale sketchbook.

‘I think the rugs are very true to the monotone, stripped-back ink on paper drawings,’ comments Wood. ‘I love how CC-Tapis worked with its artisans to develop a way to reflect the delicacy of the hand-drawn line.’