works on paper

PRINT ROTATE REPEAT

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I’ve had four of the best weeks of my academic career exhibiting my research at the East Gallery, Norwich University of the Arts. I am incredibly grateful to everyone who visited, left comments in the book, messaged me directly and commented on the social media posts – it is a huge endorsement for my work to receive such positive feedback. I’ve also appreciated messages from further afield from those people unable to visit, responding to the images we’ve posted online. I thought it good to share the exhibition pictures, particularly for those unable to visit, but as a wonderful archive of the exhibition too.

For those who need a reminder, the research explores the potential to design and print pattern with limited artwork – one screen per four-colour design, testing the feasibility of constraints as opportunity to rewrite the design process, placing the designer at the centre of the process, in contrast to the fast-paced evolution of design that is adopting Artificial Intelligence as key creator.

I balance a traditional creative process with new thinking to establish the design language and print production methods. One design, one screen, four colours, four rotations = many configurations of design outcomes and increased efficiency.

East Gallery is the public-facing space of the university, with free entry to the exhibitions. Wide-ranging exhibitions are held here, managed and curated by Claire Allerton. Claire first visited my studio at home well over a year ago when we discussed the potential of a show but it’s been a long journey of designing and printing since then! I thoroughly enjoyed working with Claire to establish the conceptual and contextual direction of the research as well as in developing the narrative for the body of work that has been made over a three-year period alongside my role as Course Leader of BA (Hons) Textile Design. Claire and I worked with art technician Sam Cook to determine the design and installation of the exhibition. Despite a very busy time at the start of the academic year I was very hands-on with the installation of the work, which felt important for me. Decisions of specific placement of lengths evolved as we adjusted to the work in the gallery space.

I shall attempt to describe the exhibition visitor experience, and use beautiful photos from Denisa Ilie to show you environment.

The beautiful blue wall, (Pantone 299U) welcomed viewers to catch a glimpse of the design principles, and see the exhibition film featuring footage of me printing as well as me talking through the research. The exhibition entrance also included a fantastic essay by Claire, outlining the importance of this exhibition at this time.

These small hand-printed lengths illustrate the design premise and hinted at where the exhibition was heading. I kept to three primary colours (red, blue and yellow) and three primary geometric shapes (circle, square & triangle) for the design work included in this exhibition although year two of the project saw me testing my approach in relation to floral motifs. I tested design principles established by Lewis Foreman Day in his 1901 book, Pattern Design, and drew inspiration from Sonia Delaunay’s work with colour as shape for rhythmical outcomes.

The next space accessed by a short run of steps or a lift presented the work in progress, with design thinking, making, sampling and process displayed. A vitrine showcased a sketchbook, lino blocks and tools, as well as folded structural books that suggest designs in the built environment with small figures for scale. Two wall-mounted boards, one for motif and pattern, and the other colour and material, set the anticipation for the largest gallery space. The window vinyl featuring one of my designs, made an impact in this space, reflecting on surfaces and softening the light, as well as attracting plenty of attention from passers by.

This small book includes sequences of motifs evolving from one shape to another, exploring my previous practice and ongoing interest in visual communication and book arts. These sequences were included in the film as a stop-frame animation I had made at the beginning of the research and remain an important aspect of my design process, as well as the starting point for the design (evolve) featured on the windows.

The vitrine included lino blocks and sample printing, sketchbook pages and folded sequences of pattern alongside designs that didn’t push through to the final collection but explored vital aspects of the design process.

The colour and material board includes samples from my time at Ivo’s with Podge, and large-scale lino blocks that led to one of the final designs. I often play with colour using gouache paints first, so they are included as well as testing with oil-based relief printing inks for the lino printing. I tested pigment inks and dyes in my fabric printing on different cloth, so the colour matching and sampling is also included here. I chose clean graphic shapes in the final artwork for production, as I wanted the design language to be as neutral as possible, without the makers mark, despite initially using drawing and lino cutting in development work that did include those characteristics.

I loved seeing the visitors’ responses as they caught sight of the lengths. Eighteen vertically suspended lengths, hung in pairs, and one horizontally displayed with the screen I used to print it with are the culmination of the research so far. Visitors were able to walk amongst the lengths to view them close-up and be immersed in the pattern, looking through and across the space. I hand screen-printed each length myself and they were three and a half metres long and seventy centimetres wide – the physical experience of printing was very much associated to what I could do without relying on anyone else – it’s a good job I’m tall!

At some point in about February / March we discussed the height of the ceiling in the gallery and how many lengths I may be able print. We agree on between four and six lengths for the exhibition – that somehow evolved to include nineteen, and others I have printed are not included. I’ve printed over one hundred metres of cloth in the last few months.

The pairs of screen-printed lengths were hung together and one sat over the other, to connect the individual to the collective statement. We agreed we wanted honesty in the hanging system Sam devised, and I’m pleased with the results. The folded edges along the lengths rather than stitched hems maintained focus on the patterned cloth rather than suggesting a resolved item for interiors, for example. As the viewer walked through the space it was possible to see several iterations of designs represented, as single or multiple-coloured variations on the them of each design. There are seven pattern designs across the nineteen screen-printed heavy-weight linen lengths.

I had to devise my own registration method for some of the design, as I couldn’t rely on traditional registration furniture on the print tables when I rotated the screens. This would not necessarily have been clear to the novice, but the system of quarter circles appeared on three patterns where the motifs appeared to float above the background. All screen registration was carried out by eye. It was fun to discuss the complexities of the design and print process in a very well attended public talk one Wednesday lunch time and hopefully I can share the exhibition film in due course.

Claire decided it was a good idea to evidence the printing process by including one screen over the length it created, with the step of printing each colour visible. I really liked this idea and it was very well received too. Thanks Sam for sorting the technicalities of the hanging! Glimpses of the design could be seen as we traveled through the space.

In this main gallery space, we included two more vitrines that build the narrative and transparency of the creative process, again with sketchbook pages and lino, alongside printed samples on paper and cloth. Weaving and the notion of construction and deconstruction of pattern was evidenced not only in the vitrine but also endorsed by the eight framed works on paper, PLAY, see below. These screen-printed and constructed works provide further opportunities for experimentation on the notion of themes and variations in their composition, an idea I return to often.

The visitors could see how one lino block informed the next one, and how the design evolved across paper and fabric before resolving as the series of printed lengths.

The vinyl window treatment made an impact, inside and out, with beautiful shadows and reflections throughout the day and night.

I’ve written previously about the publication, with an essay by Victoria Mitchell, another brilliant record of the research and exhibition. It has been so well-received we had to do a mid-show reprint!

The publication is a beautiful record of the research, designed by Paul Kuzemczak and including an essay by Victoria Mitchell. I’m grateful for this opportunity and the efforts of the immediate exhibition team in making this be the success it has become.

Thank you Claire, Sam, Victoria, Paul and Denisa, and the brilliant textiles technicians Neil, Yasmine, David and Eddie, who have been so incredibly supportive and generous with their time and knowledge throughout!

Image credits: Denisa Ilie

Print Rotate Repeat – the show is open!

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I’m still buzzing from the opening night of my solo show at the East Gallery, Norwich University of the Arts last Thursday. With nearly two hundred guests the gallery was busy and the feedback brilliant! I didn’t take any photos on the night but here’s a few I’ve taken since.

The white vinyl can be seen from up and down the road and I’ve received lovely comments about it – some not wanting it to go after the exhibition! It throws gorgeous shadows on to the gallery walls and floors which emphasise the power of pattern.
Visitors have commented on how nice it is to see the workings in the sketchbooks as well as the more completed lengths, and although I don’t often show the work in progress it is very important to this exhibition to evidence the planning and workings out!

We have a motif / pattern board and one for colour, which really communicates the testing and development across the three year project, both with paper and cloth.

There are two separate environments for this exhibition, designed by the curator Claire Allerton at the East Gallery, Norwich University of the Arts. She’s done a brilliant job in designing the narrative of this substantial body of work.

The show is on until the 24th October, Tuesdays – Saturdays, midday opening. Look out for the windows – you can’t miss them!

London Pattern Day: Paint! Pattern! Print!

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Having visited the Women in Print, 150 years of Liberty textiles at the William Morris Gallery, I headed to Liberty to see the latest fabrics and bought myself a Merchant & Mills pattern and Liberty Tana Lawn printed fabric as a holiday project, which I can proudly share I have completed and am waiting for warmer weather to show it off!

The primary reason for visiting London at the end of last month was to attend the Private View of the exhibition: Paint! Pattern! Print – The Textiles of Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell at the Fashion and Textile Museum, so I headed to Bermondsey, near London Bridge for the evening. Thanks Sarah for the invite! On arrival at the museum we were greeted by Sarah and much to my amusement she presented me with a pink takeaway fork from her pocket – for my fork collection!

I first met Sarah in London about ten years ago, having got in touch with her via Twitter when that was a nice place to be! Someone had the nerve to copy some of Sarah’s work, so I reached out to offer my sympathy and we decided to meet up the next time I was in London. As an academic I was in the capital for New Designers, the graduate showcase at the Business Design Centre, so we arranged to meet. We spent well over an hour putting the world of pattern in its place and we have stayed in touch ever since, with Sarah judging student awards for me, and joining me on an industry panel I was chairing at New Designers in 2023, having been kind enough to allow me to feature her work in my book, Repeat Printed Pattern for Interiors, published by Bloomsbury in 2023. I was delighted to see this book stocked at the Fashion and Textile Museum – thanks to the Liberty team for taking the picture of me and my book!

On entering the exhibition it was a complete feast for the eyes … with pattern and colour everywhere, appearing from around corners, up above and room after room. This was a true dive into the archives of Collier Campbell textiles over decades of working together, two sisters and a shared vision for joyous textiles. The exhibition included a wide range of items designed by Susan and Sarah, from the drawing and painting tools, to loose sketches and scaled painted designs on paper to lengths of printed fabrics, interior products and dresses. There were examples of Sarah’s more recent collaborations with Magpie and West Elm, alongside press cuttings featuring both Susan and Sarah at home and wielding paint brushes.

As a child growing up in the 1980s the look of home textiles, if not Laura Ashley, was likely to be Collier Campbell. With bolder and colourful brush marks suggesting the joy of Les Fauves artists, Matisse and Derain, rather than the Victorian Gothic tight sprigs Laura Ashley celebrated. I remember visiting the exhibition at London’s National Theatre in 2011, celebrating fifty years of sisters Susan and Sarah designing in 2011, shortly after Susan died. I recall loving the energy in the painting and bold use of colours.

In this current exhibition, as is the legacy of the archives, the patterns are rhythmic in their flow and scale; musical in spirit. Motifs are often geometrics, florals and birds, and famously designs such as Cote d’Azure, evoke summer scenes in Europe as the sisters worked to deadlines only imagining the holiday season. It was wonderful to see the paperwork for this piece, having included it in my book, Repeat … that features an interview with Sarah and images of key pieces by Collier Campbell.

A design new to me that I really enjoyed seeing was Dancing Squares, from 1990 for American company UTICA (Stevens). This huge length of hand printed paper over two and a half metres long features painted squares evolving from dark to light up the design (right hand image below). The design on the left, again one I wasn’t familiar with, was a huge collage of a table of food and drink, in warm reds and oranges complemented by blue and turquoise.

The florals and bird designs were full of life, with painted textures and pattern. It was also good to see the colour chips on the sides of some designs to guide the printers for production, as well as notes for the artworks and printers. The designs have depth as Susan and Sarah played with backgrounds and foregrounds as equal importance. Display cabinets showcased works on paper and coordinating designs alongside their hero prints as large statements on the wall and hanging as lengths.

Everyone was friendly. I chatted to several people during the evening as we shared our joy of the work on show and the speeches by the curator as well as Sarah celebrated the pure joy that pattern, colour and creativity can provide. I was excited to have the opportunity to talk to Zandra Rhodes, the founder of the museum, and who continues to inspire us all, including the students I teach at Norwich.

I have only shared some of the many photographs I took on the evening, but I strongly recommend the show to anyone who loves printed pattern. It is the perfect tonic for the times we are living in, and a beautiful reminder of the joy to be found in painted and printed pattern! Congratulations to Sarah and the curatorial team of Teresa Collenette and Dennis  Nothdruft at the Fashion and Textile Museum.

I sat on the train back to Norwich with my heart filled with excitement for the world of pattern I belong in, energised to support the next generation of designers I am working with at Norwich over the coming months. It was a day of celebrating Sarah and her sister Susan, having seen so many of their designs in the two exhibitions I visited – what a truly impressive legacy to be inspired by!

draw, design, cut & print

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I’m currently working on some large scale lino blocks to print floral patterns as part of my continuing pattern research. At the same time I’m also teaching our BA2 group how to create repeating printed patterns, so it’s always nice when there is some parallels between what I’m up to and what the students are doing.

I have been returning to my sketchbook of floral drawings I made from my trip to the Italian Alps, and exploring them again with new paper cutouts as I think about overprinting and block rotation. I’ve not proofed the plate yet, but here’s some work in progress images from the studio.

PLAY prints on show

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I am really pleased to have had two of my most recent works on paper selected to be included in the Print Cromer exhibition this summer, with the Private View on 19th July. This new body of work has been developed as part of my academic practice at Norwich University of the Arts where I have been exploring pattern structures and repeat blocks. I have explored new pattern iterations by rotating the screens to add additional colours of the same artwork, thereby building greater complexity from limited design information. In an age where digital design and the use of Artificial Intelligence provides limitless opportunities, I want to explore the fundamentals of pattern creation to generate new possibilities that are led by the designer, ensuring the creative path is transparent.

The theme of the exhibition is PLAY, and as a result the palette I created feels full of summer carnivals and fairgrounds. The overprinting of inks with differing levels of transparency provides a building of depth and subtlety of harmonious colour.

I created a number of one, two, three and four-colour prints initially, that featured the screen rotation in adding the colours. I then cut strips of the prints and with further rotation of the strips, interwove them into one base print that had been sliced to enable the slotting. I enjoyed bringing back an element of paper engineering from my book art practice into these new pieces.

In designing each piece, I considered the placement of motifs and relationships of colour. The collection provides variation within a collective identity and belonging. Some pieces feature only triangular motifs, while most incorporate the circular and rectangular elements too. My research utilises design thinking by Lewis Foreman Day, and his distribution of elements. This approach results in scattered focal motifs that work across repeating patterns. Although this is not a feature of my new work, I recognise the placement considerations are also useful in this work too.

A number of these pieces will be for sale during the show.

playing with print

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I’ve been enjoying some studio time to explore my print research as works on paper with the hope of exhibiting the work. I enjoy paper engineering and construction (that’ll be the book artist in me!) and have previously tested paper manipulation in relation to this current pattern research. I tend to work in this way, creating drawings or prints to exhibit / sell alongside forming pattern ideas, and it has been useful to see the evolution of the sampling in this way here too.

These new artworks utilise my screens of geometric artwork practically exploring research into motif distribution in printed pattern thinking formalised by Lewis Foreman Day in his book Pattern Design, published in 1901. Having printed the artwork in the first colour, I rotate the screen by 90-degrees and print the second colour, turning the artwork / screen up to four times for maximum complexity. To add a further dimension, I’ve been constructing works on paper that utilise several iterations of the prints to build new compositions by weaving and slotting strips of the printed papers in differing combinations of the four colours in the palette, providing the coherency across the series, and an injection of the spirit of summer fairgrounds through the colour and geometric visual language.

There are two screens of artwork used in this collection, therefore two series of original artwork (PLAY – circles and PLAY – triangles) and I shall continue to evolve the body of work over the coming months. I’d love to know your thoughts on this new work!

Electric Dreams at Tate Modern

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I visited the Electric Dreams exhibition on at Tate Modern, London, until 1st June 2025 and thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition that ranged from 2D artworks, sound, kinetic sculpture, light projections and installations, featuring international artists and groups. Mathematical systems and rules, machine-controlled movement as well as material and pattern play resulted in a fascinating show I thoroughly recommend.

The exhibition was described as ‘art and technology before the internet’ and included C20th items from the Pop Art era through to early computing and video work. Our perception and senses were being challenged in many ways as we experienced the installations and artefacts. Some exhibits performed constantly, others, often featuring movement or light were timed, so I worked my way back and forth between the rooms to ensure I’d seen all I could in performance mode. The current trend for immersive gallery experiences were put in to context in this exhibition.

Left to right: Atsuko Tanaka (pic 1 & 2), Francois Morellet

Left to right / top to bottom: Otto Pine, Julio Le Parc, Martha Boto, Alberto Biasi, Analivia Cordeiro

installation: Carlos Cruz-Diez

Left to right: Mariana Apollonia, Lucia Di Luciano

new collection launch: KATE FARLEY x WINDOW FILM COMPANY                    

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I’m excited to be finally bringing this collection of surface designs to market in collaboration with the Window Film Company. The inspiration for the patterns has stemmed from my fascination with geometric designs, taking the basic ingredients of triangles, circles and squares as my starting point.

I’ve been exploring geometric pattern structures in relation to design principles established by Lewis F. Day at the turn of the Twentieth century, exploring the equal distribution of motifs within a repeating tile to alter the visual rhythm within two-dimensional surface designs. I have also explored expectation and disruption within the repeat tiles. On establishing an apparent small-scale repeat, I play with unexpected shifts in the placement of motifs to disrupt the rhythm, challenging the sense of order. This work belongs to my ongoing practical pattern research as Associate Professor in Design at Norwich University of the Arts.

The six designs each have their own identity and yet belong together like siblings in a family, with shared features of geometric motifs and formal compositions throughout this collection. Some of the designs started their life as self-initiated physiotherapy back in 2020 / 21 following abdominal surgery and my subsequent recovery. The design challenge, to make small-scale lino blocks of repeating patterns to print by hand, provided me with small physical and mental tasks to focus on between the naps. I had hoped some of the designs would one day be leaving my studio, and I’m pleased and proud to share them now.

Designing for window film requires consideration of motif, shape and pattern construction without the aid of colour, requiring an absolute focus on negative and positive shapes. I enjoy working within design limitations in relation to production requirements and technical specifications, believing the challenges become design opportunities. I spent some time testing the various scale of patterns across the collection, including a micro pattern (Step), through to a much larger scaled pattern (Triangulate), considering window sizes in both domestic and commercial spaces in relation to the motif sizes. 

I’ve worked with the very patient Steve at the Window Film Company for all my designs available on film, including the large-scale bespoke design for Birmingham Airport back in 2017. Previous designs from my Construct collection available from the Window Film Company won a House Beautiful award in 2018 too!

Steve worked with me to sample some of the early versions of these designs generated as digital scans from lino prints initially, but I didn’t like the visual quality in the translation of the prints. The original artworks for this collection were generated using collage and screen printing alongside the lino prints as I prefer designing with a physical relationship to image creation. After further consideration I opted to create each of the designs as vector-based files for production, providing sharp graphic quality to the patterns. 

Mike at Window Film Co. was also fundamental in getting this collection established, off the computer, on to window film and ready for sale. Our conversations focused on understanding my design identity in relation to previous work. He ensured the designs felt authentic to me, while building on the existing designs I already license to the company. 

It’s always exciting to receive a delivery of samples, and I’ve had a few of those over the last few months. The final product is very different to a digital file, so it is important to inspect the artwork as film installed on the window, checking the scale of repeat as well as any discrepancies in the artwork – you must have sharp eyes for detail! With final decisions made and sampling approved, as well as the small matter of naming the designs, we have been able to sign off the artwork, and launch the six designs in the collection: Circulate, Diamonds, Shift, Triangulate, Step, Pairings

Thanks to everyone at the Window Film Company!

The designs are available to order here

screen time!

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After the lovely summer I’ve been back printing in the studio, with some lino blocks on the go as well as two new screens I’ve had exposed as part of my pattern research. I’ve been exploring the rotation of the artwork as well as folding the prints to determine visual narratives.

I tend to not worry too much about colour palettes in this sampling phase, particularly as I’m focusing on the pattern building but also considering a range of material substrates for future outcomes. I appreciate this gives me freedom to test colours, some more successfully than others. After several days at the computer screen it can be a complete relief to spend time at another type of screen!

drawing, looking and seeing

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I’ve recently returned from a lovely family holiday, traveling by train from Norfolk to London and via Paris through France to the south and on in to Italy, up into the foothills of the Alps via Turin … and back again. I made lots of small sketchbooks so I could have one close at hand at all times, with a selection of pens and pencils. I’ve always enjoyed drawing from trains, preferably sitting backwards, looking, identifying shapes and details, then hastily capturing what I saw in a few lines.

It’s a great exercise to keep the hand, brain and eyes in check, and although I have previously used this sort of drawing for my design work – including my degree Final Major Project back in 1997 – I only really do it now as a good activity to check in with the view and focus on the places, stations and landscapes I journey between, and as exercise for keeping my drawing practice fit and healthy. A gable-end of a barn, a cluster of trees or mountain horizons can be documented and it’s amazing how these drawings are then able to capture and remind me of the journey years later.

Here are some of the drawing from the trains. I sometimes get a bit more detail down if we sit in the station for a few minutes, and I jot the station name down for interest.

I also managed to do a small amount of drawing while sat in cafes or sheltering from sun while other family members were up to something else. They take a few minutes each, so still pretty quick observations. It’s clear my interest in pattern comes in to how I see the world. Rhythms of windows and balconies, railings, ornamental buildings….

I also made a couple of sketchbooks using tracing paper as I was interested to see how I worked with the transparent pages as the drawings built. I quite like the results and reminds me of how I plan lino blocks and screen prints with the layers of tracing paper.

It was definitely good to spend time drawing and I’m thinking of revisiting some in the studio, no pressure, just a few ideas. I hope you like them, let me know if / how you make drawings from trains!