Field and press is a brand.
it is the brand that I (Lara) have created to give identity to the things that I love and essentially to that which I am… two things which are not easily separated.
If you look at our work, you will see an obvious love for pressed flowers, beautiful paper, and all things bookish. We are drawn to a dark Victorian aesthetic, a reverence for the handwritten word, and the beauty of words used well. Sentimental, nostalgic, artisanal, and bespoke—these are the heartbeats of what we create.
Every brand is birthed from something, and Field & Press was birthed from a deep desire I had to express my creativity. But as is the way, creativity is never a linear activity – it invariably draws from a deep well, and is a fluid journey. Though I have no formal training in art, I realized at some point along this path that I wanted my creative expression to do one thing: shine a light on the work of the greatest Artist of all time.
To understand the well I draw from, it is worth going back a few years. My husband and I first had the idea that we might homeschool our children when our oldest son was in grade one, when it felt like we were completely absorbed in a life that was marked by heavy time constraints and high expectations. At some point, we just realised that we were somehow missing who our boy was amidst the rush and pressure of school life. And so we took him out. Whilst doing something countercultural comes with its own set of challenges, it was ultimately one of the best decisions we ever made. It taught us the invaluable weight of time, presence, and intentionality.
It is the same spirit that lives at the core of Field & Press. Our philosophy is inherently countercultural, and our encouragement to you is this; slow down just enough to notice that beauty is living in plain sight, literally everywhere. In a society consumed by self, instant gratification and a copy-paste existence, choosing to slow down, to pause—is a gentle act of defiance.
As Roald Dahl once said,
“And above all watch with glittering eyes the world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”
Ironically, building my own business has meant life is rarely slow. There are days I feel caught in a spiral, overwhelmed by the endless momentum of a growing to-do list. That is why I write… it is my accountability loop—a reminder to practice what I preach. It forces me to find those quiet moments of defiance, pausing to focus on a detail of beauty outside of myself and the chaos. I look for the things that steal my gaze, invite a deep breath, and demand a moment of deep appreciation.
And so I realise that Field & Press has become so much more than a brand. It is an open invitation to a shared journey. Thank you for walking with me.