I first met Mohit at a trade show in Delhi.
It's one of the biggest arts and crafts fairs in India, and it felt like a good place to start — India is such an enormous, culturally rich country, so this seemed like the perfect starting point. Mohit had a small stand, hung with the most beautiful paper light shades, and we just had such a nice conversation. He seemed so open and relaxed, we warmed to him immediately.
On that same trip, we went to Jaipur to visit Mohit’s workshop. It was a smaller factory then and what I remember most is how happy everyone there looked. It was such a nice place to work — and I think that shows in every piece they make. Now, seven years later, Mohit’s business has grown enormously. They've moved to a bigger site and employ around four hundred artisans, yet importantly, it still has exactly the same feeling. I thoroughly enjoy every single time I go back.
The first thing we made together
The paper light shades came first — and when I look at the early versions now, I'm struck by how far they've come. We've added a heat-lamination layer to make them more sturdy. The rings are more robust. The magnets are stronger. I designed a new box, which has been upgraded again just this past year so it's now sturdy enough to post out in. The installation instructions have been improved. It has very much been a two-way process, and I think that's exactly why the relationship works — Mohit and his team invest in making things better just as much as we do.
Mixing colours with Nishant
One of the most satisfying parts of my job is spending time with Nishant, who handles all the colour work at the workshop. I always arrive with colours in mind, and then we get as close to those as possible together. It sounds straightforward, but the colour mixing process is more complex than you'd expect. Colour looks very different wet than when dried and the tone of the paper affects the result too. We often go through a couple of iterations, print the screen, assess it and adjust. It takes time.
But it's one of those processes where the time is part of the pleasure. What I've loved is discovering that my colour combinations have a uniqueness that excites and inspires the team there. I think that's why the collaboration has produced so many of our best sellers.
How working in India changed my practice
Working directly with artisans always teaches me something about the process, about where to push and where the limitations are. But India did something more specific for me. I became (and still am) so drawn into the look of block printing — the way the pattern sits, the slight imperfections, the unmistakeable handmade quality of it — that I started linocutting my own designs so that when they're screen-printed, they still carry that block-print feeling. That shift in my practice came entirely from spending time with our partner workshops in India. It's one of the clearest examples I can point to of a collaboration fundamentally changing how I work.
When things went wrong
The delays this past year caused by shipping disruption through the Middle East were significant. Stock that should have arrived months earlier was stuck. What I found through that experience was that the relationship we've built over seven years is exactly what gets you through something like that. Mohit and his team were supportive in a way that only comes from real trust on both sides and I'm enormously grateful to them for that.
The evening of the barbecue
One of my most memorable experiences with the team in Jaipur is the evening some of the artisans stayed behind after work to cook together.
Nishant — who turns out to be an extraordinary chef as well as a colourist — made paneer curry. There were rotis cooked on an open flame, with what I would describe as a heroic quantity of ghee and Indian sweets aplenty of course. We set up tables and chairs outside the workshop, laid with paper napkins they'd printed themselves. There were lights strung up to add to the atmosphere and as if by design, the enormous new wedding venue that had been recently built opposite was having its very first event that same night — so we had this booming, beautiful Indian music filling the whole evening.
I've had some wonderful evenings and that one is near the top.
What I should say, actually, is that this isn't unusual — it's just the nature of visiting. The lunches at that workshop are some of the best meals I've ever eaten. Some of the team bring dishes in cooked by their wives, while others are prepared fresh by the people employed specifically to cook for everyone. I always let them know to expect me at lunchtime! We go out for dinner in the evenings too — one year I brought my husband and our son, who was two years old at the time. Mohit took us to see the old forts on the outskirts of Jaipur. Maxi was up until almost midnight that night, absolutely stuffed full of Indian sweets, having the time of his life.
What the artisans understand
Something I feel it’s important to share, is that all the artisans who make AARVEN products do genuinely understand where those products go. On the factory floor, there are often postcards pinned up — from customers, from stockists, from places their work has ended up. I've sat with the artisans themselves and folded light shades alongside them and shown them photographs of how they look in people's homes.
There is a real relationship at every level, from management to the people doing the making — and that's rarer than you might think in larger workshops. It's part of why we've stayed with Mohit for seven years and hope to be there for seven more.
What I'd like you to know
If you've bought one of our paper light shades or decorations, or if you're thinking about it: these pieces are made by truly passionate people. Experts in paper craft and printing who care deeply about what they make. I personally design everything and when customers share photographs of their light shades on social media, I see those photos — me, the founder, at my studio, seeing your home. It makes me smile every time and when I'm in Jaipur next, I'll tell them.
