The owner and creative force behind Anatomy Boutique is Emily Evans, anatomist, medical artist, author, publisher and senior demonstrator of anatomy at Cambridge University. Phew! If that’s not enough to be going on with there is even more to her skills – check them out on, Emily Evans Illustration.

This is such an unusual path for a homewares designer, so we asked Emily a few questions about the inspiration for her designs and why she decided to go into the design side of things:

Anatomy of Digestion Collection

As you can see from this delightful table display the range of black and white china (all based on the digestive system) mix and match well, and are all made by hand and hand gilded in Stoke on Trent.  Who would imagine it was possible to be inspired by teeth and then come up with this?

Anatomy of Digestion Collection

What inspired you to take your anatomy illustrations out of the context of academia and into homewares?

I had been a medical illustrator for about 12 years working from different shared creative spaces in London, and conversations with fellow ceramicists and interior designers in those spaces inspired me to try out some of my patterns and designs on homeware products. The histology plates began as an idea for an event that was just fun to do, I didn’t expect people to love them so much. I set up an online store pretty much to prove to my friends (after much encouragement from them) that no-one would be interested in this stuff… 4 years later, they’ve definitely proved me wrong! The response I gleaned from customers was so direct and rewarding compared to working for large publishers on anatomy books. The amount of interest in these pieces allowed me to educate people about anatomy through everyday objects – they seemed more accessible to people than academic texts. I teach the medical students anatomy at Cambridge University, and it’s often seen as quite elite. With my shop, I like the fact that my customers come from many different fields and backgrounds and what unites us is our interest in the beauty of anatomy.

Mexican Day of the Dead Sugar Skull Wallpaper- Emerald

Can you tell us a little bit more about the Mexican Day of the Dead Sugar Skull, and why you chose to feature it on your wallpaper?

About 5 years ago I went to Mexico for the first time and was blown away by their folkloric art and craft designs, though I felt frustrated that all the things I saw just wouldn’t work in my urban home, I wanted something elegant and luxurious. After obsessively drawing sugar skulls after I came back, a colleague in my work space asked what my designs were for, and I explained I had a dream of creating a teal and gold wallpaper after visiting Lord Leighton’s house and being intoxicated by the interior colour palate there. She was an interior designer for a Mexican bar chain, and she pitched the idea to them. They loved it and used the wallpaper for photo shoots for ELLE magazine in their bar. It ended up on social media and people were asking where can they get hold of it, so I decided to start manufacturing it. That summer, just by chance sugar skulls hit the UK and were everywhere. It remains our best selling product.

Mexican Day of the Dead Sugar Skull Wallpaper

Do you have any plans for further homewares collections?

We are launching a new wallpaper design incorporating the anatomical heart this autumn, and also a new china collection called ‘bruised but not broken’. I’m excited to see how people react to them as they’re quite emotive as designs. I think it’s important to be challenging with ideas, and push design forward, so I like using people’s preconceptions of anatomy to play with that line between beauty and awe to draw them in to another world – the interior world.

Anatomy of Digestion Plate- Arteries

I have to say I am in awe of Emily’s credentials , and then to be able to design such stunning homewares from scientific study is quite amazing. What do you think? Do teeth and arteries come to mind when you view this china?

Jacqui x

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Image Credit: Anatomy Boutique

This cute little cherub vase is perfect for upcycling and I wanted to give him a moody gold look for my mantelpiece either as a vase or for tea lights.  ‘Rub’n Buff’ wax metallic finish is perfect for this and is very quick and easy to use.  It comes in a good range of colours, with several golds to choose from, I used Antique Gold.

For the base coat I used Annie Sloane paint in primer red which is a lovely earthy red and goes wonderfully with gold.  Leave to dry for about half an hour, touching up any bits you may have missed.

Apply Rub’n Buff with either a small piece of sponge, cloth or your fingers – I do prefer to use my fingers but it is a messy business.  Squirt a tiny blob onto a piece of card and work from that so you don’t apply too much at a time.  One small tube goes a very long way.  Work very quickly and just wipe the gold over the raised surfaces of your object so that you get that distressed finish.  As with all distressed paint finishes try not to distribute the gold too evenly.

Leave to dry for a couple of hours then buff with a soft cloth for a lustrous finish and you have a completely new piece for only a few minutes work.  Try it the other way round with a coat of gold first then primer red and it looks like the gold has worn off the surface over time.

The taller cherub candlestick was a victim of my over enthusiastic dusting so I glued him back together and painted him using the same process but applying more gold, which gives him a more opulent look. Painting with gold in this way means you can add as much or as little as you like, depending what look you are trying to achieve.

 So what do you think? Have you got any tired, old objects that you think could do with a spruce up?

Jacqui x

Painting with Gold & Upcycling Old Objects- by Jacqui Brooks

Image Source: Audenza

Flowers are such a quick way to give your home styling that instant hit, that we all need sometimes, to refresh the senses.  And this book shows you how every conceivable container can be used from simple vintage glass bottles like this vintage style bottle vase, to the most magnificent urn.

Image Source: Audenza

I particularly love the green wooden steps with bird bud vases, perched precariously:

Image Source: Audenza

If you like these quirky bird vases, you will love these zebra vases.

Image Source: Audenza

Swan vases also feature in the book and are Amelia’s favourite- she has a burgeoning collection of them:

Image Source: Audenza

Hence why we sourced and now stock a stunning swan vase in two different colour ways, which are made in Stoke on Trent and are a modern take on a mid-century classic design.  They are just perfect for easily creating a striking floral arrangement.

Image Source: Audenza

I don’t feel so bad now about my large collection of vintage bottles, vases, jugs, urns etc.  They are home accessories, but with a purpose.  And, perhaps I need to be more adventurous and group my flower arrangements together to give more impact.  I will certainly experiment this winter with amaryllis bulbs planted in big glass containers (as shown in the book) as I always have a problem with them flopping over with the weight of the flower heads.  I have just purchase some amaryllis bulbs from Sarah Raven, so I will let you know how I get on!

Jacqui x