British Decorative Artist - Trudi Edmunds G.C.C.I

Founded the Innipooh Basket Company in July 2004

Now in our 6th year of trading & still surviving the economic down turn!

Here is a little history of how the Innipooh Basket Company began:

Trudi gained a BTEC National Diploma in General Art & Design after 2 years study at the Ipswich School of Art – High Street Annex & the letters G.C.G.I after her name, on graduation from the City & Guilds of London Art School, with excellent tuition from Sir Roger & Lady Flavia de Grey and a plethora of professional artists, designers, craftsmen, conservators & restorers.

Trudi then worked with one of her tutors in Conservation & Restoration of Victorian Decorative Interiors and set up Millefiore Decorative Arts - Majoring in making 24ct Gold Leaf Mirrors & decorative glass panels for doors, windows and walls, which she now makes to private commission. Trudi also works in Interior Design and Styling.

Whilst studying at C&G Trudi was given a hand woven bag made by her friend Melanie Kirk, Trudi embellished the bag by adding silk flowers, butterflies and a drawstring lining for security & everywhere she went with the bag people would comment on how gorgeous it was & asked where they could buy one. Being busy with other work at that time, nothing further came of this until..

Ten years later whilst on holiday in India, Trudi met fellow artisan Parvathi Manivasagam living in a one room shack in Mahaballipuram, Tamil Nadu, South East India, who is an expert weaver, Trudi commissioned Parvathi to make a bag similar to hers, which Parvathi gladly did, then she made another & another & another and so the Innipooh Basket Company was born!

Trudi designs the products and chooses the colours & Parvathi hand weaves the basket bodies from colourful polypropylene strips, Parvathi is paid a very fair wage for her part, which helps put food on the banana leaf, provide her children with a decent education & keep a roof over thier heads - they now live in a house with 3 rooms, running water & a WC!

Trudi hand finishes the Innipooh products by securing the original plastic handles, adding feet & embellishments: such as leather handles, hand made & artificial flowers, ribbons etc - in her studio in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk and then exhibits the products around the UK, at various Art & Craft Fairs, wholesales to retail outlets and visits schools & clubs giving talks about this not for profit business too. See the P&P Plus other stuff page for more information on Trudi's talks.

Oh and finally - Wondering what Innipooh means?

Well the word comes from the Sanskrit/Tamil word 'Inipu' which translates into English as 'Sweet thing' -  It is what Trudi's friends in India call her - Liking this Trudi then morphed Inipu in to Innipooh - Westernised but still meaning the same thing 'sweet' which is what everyone agrees the bags & baskets Trudi & Parvathi produce definately are!!