Meeting Frances Koston in May 2003 after a gap of years, she presented me with a clutch of postcards bearing beautifully printed images of early hand-tinted Japanese photographs. Just last month she came up with a collection of greeting cards of century-old textile prints, again originating in Japan. Talk about coals to Newcastle!
British-born Frances was a textile designer when she met Dutchman Peter van den Brink. "I moved to Utrecht in 1992; our daughter Josephine was born the following year. When she was 2, I returned to London and began working for Peter's company, Catch Publishing.
There are many kinds of families, and this trio straddles the distance between Holland and the U.K. with consummate ease. (Peter commutes to work in Holland during the week.) Now it's late March and they are about to head off on a Caribbean cruise en famille.