India Flint is a world renowned textile artist from Australia, famous for her discovery of the eucalyptus leaf eco-printing technique. She travels the world (or whirled as she prefers to spell it!) exhibiting and teaching about sustainable fabric dyeing options which venerate rather than exploit our Earth.

The image above illustrates so many things that I love about her work. She kindly allowed me to photograph the amazing apron she was wearing during a workshop I attended at Big Cat Textiles in Newburgh, Scotland last August.

Apart from the fact that an apron is already a garment evocative of seemingly slower, gentler times passed (how many of us regularly need to wear an apron these days?) this particular example expresses so much about India's philosophy on textiles and life.

According to India, this apron will be a life-long creation that she started 15 years ago. It has been infused with...