Out of Office is a home for creative living. Explore our upcoming creative experiences and programming here. Creative Ways of Living: Carlota SimóFrom Fine Arts in London to wildflowers, natural plant dyeing and quilting as an act of motherhood and care in rural Catalonia.
Welcome to Creative Ways of Living — a monthly series where we’re widening our aperture around more creative (and gratifying!) ways of living and working. Ways that allow us to build our identities around all of the vibrant – and varied! – parts of ourselves, and explore different paths, where life feels alive, inspiring and energizing.
Could you please introduce yourself? How did you enter the artistic world? What’s your background? I entered the art world at a young age. My parents encouraged me to travel abroad, so I moved to London to study Fine Arts, specialising in sculpture. After seven years, I moved back home to Barcelona, where I continued developing my sculptural practice while living in the mountains. After becoming a mother, my practice changed — almost by necessity, as people say. I wanted to create around my child and make him part of the process. At the same time, living in the countryside led me to develop an interest in medicinal plants and their properties. During the Covid pandemic, we returned to England to stay with my in-laws for the summer, and somehow the art of natural plant dyeing and quilting found me. It was a very organic process and a beautiful encounter. Dyeing and sewing feels deeply connected to motherhood and the act of caring. I love every step involved in the process: the time it allows for reflection, the slowness of making, and the way it forces you to slow down and truly spend time with creation. Dyeing and sewing feels deeply connected to motherhood and the act of caring. There’s something really beautiful about slowing down to dye fabric with plants. What do you think that experience gives people that they didn’t know they were looking for? I think working slowly with plants and fabric reconnects people with a different sense of time — one that many of us have lost. We are so used to immediacy and constant stimulation that the act of waiting, observing, and caring for a process can feel almost unfamiliar. Natural dyeing asks you to pay attention. You cannot completely control the outcome; you have to collaborate with the material, the plants, the weather, the water. I think people often discover a sense of calm, presence, and connection through that process, even if they weren’t consciously searching for it.
There is also something very ancestral and intimate about transforming plants into colour with your own hands. It reminds people that creativity does not always need to be productive or perfect — it can simply be a way of relating to the world, to others, and to yourself more gently.
You’ve rooted yourself in rural Catalonia. How much does where you live shape what you make? I would say it shapes my work completely. It was when I first moved to the countryside — first in the south of Spain — that I began gardening and learning about wild plants. Growing my own vegetables gave me a real understanding of what it means to produce your own food: to wait for it, care for it, and tend to it over time. Wild plants, though, are my greatest fascination. There is something very special about waiting for a flower to return the following year — going back to the same spot where you know it will grow, and feeling that sense of excitement and recognition when it appears again. Living in the countryside has taught me to be deeply attuned to the seasons and their rhythms, and that awareness naturally shapes the way I create and the pace at which I work. 
Carlota foraging flowers and plants
What does “creative living” mean to you? For me, creative living is a way of looking at life and paying attention to the small details in everything around us — from the first flowers blossoming in spring and their scent, to the random objects you might find in a city that unexpectedly inspire you. It’s also about sharing time with others through making: spending time with friends and creating together as a way of being together, rather than simply consuming. It can be just as simple as creating at home with my children, using whatever materials we have available to us. For me, creating is a form of communication and also an act of resistance.
What does a good day look like for you — and how did you arrive at that rhythm? I wouldn’t say I’ve fully achieved the rhythm I aspire to yet. Sometimes it can be challenging to juggle all the different roles in my life at once. A good day for me can be one where I wake up with a clear idea for a new project and am able to dedicate myself to it without distractions — really taking the time to immerse myself in the process. But it can also be something much simpler: dropping my children off at school, going for a walk before heading to work, and feeling connected to the pace of the day and the season. I think I’m still learning how to create a rhythm that allows space for both creativity and care, but perhaps that search is also part of the process. 
You’re an artist, a mother, a gardener, a teacher... How do you hold all of those identities? Do you even separate them? I don’t think I separate them completely anymore. Over time, I’ve realised they constantly nourish and influence one another. Motherhood changed my relationship to time, care, and making. Gardening taught me patience, observation, and trust in natural rhythms. Giving workshops creates moments of exchange and shared learning that also feed my own practice. And art somehow holds all of these experiences together. Of course, balancing everything can sometimes feel overwhelming, but I’ve stopped seeing these roles as separate worlds. They are all part of the same way of living and relating to others. What are you curious about right now, and what inspires you — in your work, or just in life? I’m curious about learning more about my own practice, one which has started only with the birth of my first son 7 years ago, but that obviously because of motherhood, has had to stop several times. And what I’m more excited about at the moment is working with people that inspire me, creating together and the possibilities that it brings. I truly believe creating in communion is the future, which is why I started a master's in cultural management, to learn more about participatory art. Do you have any rituals that you do daily or weekly that ground you and inspire you? My main ritual is going for a walk in the woods after I drop my children off at school. We are very lucky because their school is surrounded by a forest, so it gives me a moment of calm and connection before starting the day. I’ve also created my own plant-collecting calendar, which I regularly check to see what is growing and what can be gathered throughout the seasons. It helps me stay attuned to nature’s rhythms and creates a deeper awareness of time, place, and seasonality in my daily life.
What should people do after visiting one of your classes? What are the best things to do nearby? I would definitely recommend going for a walk in Can Busquets, a nearby forest that forms part of Collserola Natural Park. There’s a small waterfall and a river running through it, and it’s a beautiful place to reconnect with nature after a workshop. Another favourite option is spending some time in the square in La Floresta and having a plato del día at La Floresteca. It’s a perfect place to go with children because the square is pedestrian-friendly, and there’s also a small little house with free books where you can browse while waiting for your food. I would also recommend joining one of the dance classes at Curious Garden. It’s something I do every week, and for me it feels like pure medicine. 🌼 If you want to dive deeper into Carlota’s orbit, visit her in her garden studio outside of Barcelona and join one of her natural dyeing workshops. Alice Katter is the Founder of out of office network. Originally from Austria, Alice is a global citizen, having worked and lived in Vienna, London, and NYC. In between, she has spent months investigating life in Mexico, California, Italy, Barcelona, to name a few. She has a background in psychology, brand, and marketing and over the past years has been focusing on workplace connection, community and culture design for creative networks and companies such as Dropbox, Adobe and kyu collective. She believes in the power of fostering a culture that is not only driven but also leaves room for exploration, play, and living life to its fullest. These beliefs led her to launch Out of Office Network in 2019, and publish her book “Reimagining our Nature of Work” in 2023.
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