Downing Collection

It was wonderful being able to look at a selection of pieces from the Downing Collection, part of the university's Special Collections, as it gave me the chance to see real fabrics from the period up close. I loved the enormous fabric book with prints from the late 1700s to the 1800s, as every single design was re-printed various times in different colourways and combinations, an amazing visual en mass. 

There was also some fabric sample books from the 1950s and 60s which were amazing to see as they were so different to what I had expected - often very garish bright colour ways, in unusually textured fabrics.

I really liked this print below as I thought that design-wise it was quite ambiguous, as although it was printed in the 1800s, I thought it looked very similar to some of the 50s prints I had been looking at with its geometric stylised lines and Lucienne Day style flowers. I think I would quite like to create prints that merge various time periods with fluidity, and yet still manage to look modern.