Summer Show: Surface Pattern and Textiles

Surface Pattern and Textiles

A contemporary watercolour showing a burst of flowers and leaves in browns, yellows and blues.

Developing Individual Design Identities

The Surface Pattern and Textiles programme team would like to congratulate the Class of 2024 on their beautiful Degree Show and final collections. 

We have enjoyed getting to know them over the last few years, and watching their confidence grow, their skills develop, and their individual design identities emerge. Highlights for this group include incredible Live Projects with Mini Moderns and Biophilic Living Swansea. They have proven themselves to be versatile and talented surface pattern and textiles designers and we cannot wait to see what they go on to do as graduates. 

Good luck, Class of 24! 

Class of '24

About Us

Anna Eynon

The Water’s Edge celebrates the importance and beauty of British Wetlands, with a strong focus on the abundance of life within the ecosystems. The project explores both home interiors and public space, using the same narrative and imagery but for different applications. 

The Water’s Edge consists of a collection of fabrics and wallpapers for home interiors and furnishings, as well as a three-dimensional stitched wallpaper for public spaces with the intention to immerse us within nature. Both collections aim to reconnect humans with nature and bring happiness inside of our spaces.   

Three-dimensional stitched wallpaper showing flowers, leaves, birds and insects.

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Caryl Bulman

My project draws inspiration from my rural upbringing on a countryside farm, fostering a deep connection with nature. I seek to create a conversation between print and quilt, demonstrating my versatility as a maker across various mediums. 

Tailored for interior textiles, my collection encompasses bed coverings, curtains, cushions, and wallpapers ideal for country homes. By uniting the tactile warmth of naturally dyed fabrics with the captivating visual textures of print, I aim to encapsulate the richness of rural landscapes. Through my creations, I aim to inspire others to cultivate an appreciation for their surroundings. 

A printed design of brown on cream showing trees, bushes and fences.

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Charlotte Keiller

For my final major project, I drew inspiration from the captivating allure of the oceans and the mesmerising depths of the North Atlantic Ocean, immersing myself in its vibrant hues and captivating forms. Through my artistic exploration, I meticulously crafted a captivating collection of mixed media textiles wall hangings. This piece showcases an array of diverse textile techniques and processes, resulting in a multitude of textures that pay homage to the oceans enchanting beauty.

Rag rug with an abstract design using material in shades of blue.

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Emily Phillips

I am a designer and maker from Somerset, which is surrounded by natural beauty and is the main source of inspiration for my project ‘Enchanting Garden’. This collection is a celebration of the beautiful parks and gardens found throughout Britain, including Hestercombe gardens and The Newt in Somerset, extenuated through colour, texture and illustration.

There is a prominence of hand-printing throughout my collection, weaving craftsmanship with modern day creativity. My work is about embracing the tangible beauty of the hand-made, the subtle variations and imperfections that make every piece unique. I hope to leave a lasting impression through storytelling and curating beautiful pieces.  

Various patterned wallpapers showing plants, flowers, and neoclassical pavilions reminsicent of eighteenth-century landscape architecture.

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Isobel Maloney

My project aims to capture mutual feelings of nostalgia and joyful memories. I have been inspired by photos I found of my childhood garden, and it encouraged me to explore memorable places. Most people are likely to have fond recollections of day trips to the pier, spending time at the arcade and picnics at the park. I have produced a series of scarves and prints suitable for a ‘Spring/Summer 25’ fashion collection. I hope that the work I have produced captures this in a fun and playful way, sparking happy memories and creating a talking point for others to share their nostalgic childhood stories.   

Part of a scarf dyed pale peach, green, yellow and pink and showing dice, an ornate pillar, sweets, and a slot machine..

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Jessica Jones

The theme of my personal project is to discover and show a variety of different types of florals and plants found around Britain. I have created two unique collections consisting of some of Britain’s most beautiful native flowers. I will be painting contrasts from the most perfect homegrown rose from an English cottage garden to the smallest wildflower hidden away in a forest. All of these natural forms contribute to what’s so special about the wildlife in the UK. 

Samples of fabric patterned with images of roses.

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Jojo Bishop

‘Wandering’ is an interiors collection centred on our connection to the surrounding local landscape, from windswept beaches to dense forests. Each piece is naturally dyed with foraged and gathered plant material and screen-printed in experimental processes involving iron, copper, and soda ash. The sensitivity of the dyes are emboldened with strong, defined prints, influenced by Scandinavian and Japanese design. 

Accompanying the collection is a ‘Colour Library’, showcasing the sumptuous range of hues achieved throughout the project. I chose to embed a sustainable approach into my practice, proposing alternative strategies that can contribute to a greener, more eco-friendly industry.  

Fabric samples in low-key greens, pinks, and yellows.

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Luca Hawkins

Gothic Architecture was most popular between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, being described by many as flamboyant and expressive. The style has strong symbolism and key features such as gargoyles and statues, as well as grand stained-glass windows, often featuring trefoil or quatrefoil formations. Inspired by the symmetry and grand scale of the buildings, along with the geometric perfection, my aim is to translate “gothic” into a range of wallpapers and wood pieces. The collection will take on the key elements and symbolism of gothic, using a gothic-inspired palette of dark reds, purples, and blues.  

A geometric pattern of circles within circles coloured in burgundy, blue, and gold; four white trefoils occupy the centre of each group of circles.

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Niamh Morgan

‘Signs of Spring’ is an interior collection comprised of sophisticated wallpapers and material samples that will rejuvenate and complement living spaces with an indulgence of colour, meticulously arranged to highlight the multiplicity of techniques used.

To provide an instructive approach, I documented organic components through the studying of a plant’s life, striving to depict their future development through a translucent material. During my winter recordings at Aberglasney Gardens, I discovered an array of perennials, particularly hellebores and their wide-ranging foliage, which created a joyful ambiance and an indication of an emerging spring sequence, inspiring my collection. 

Buff-coloured wallpaper with drawings of hellebores in silver, some of which shatter into white framents towards the top of the work

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Safiyyah Altaf

Wonder through the abundant interiors and lifestyle collection ‘Earthly Delights’ where esoteric florals as told by the beautiful mind of Sherezade in the epic tale of the 1001 Nights come to life through sensuous textiles. Paying homage to storytelling, fate, and the pursuit of earthly delights.

‘Earthly Delights’ is presented as a colourful, mystical collection through the virtue of screenprint, hand dyed cloth and embroidery. The romantic designs aim to encapsulate the ephemeral moments of nature where luscious imagery with gentle celestial hints note to a wider spiritual and earthly narrative in which we are all connected.

An illustrated design with a bird at the centre surrounded by cherries and framed by an elongated hexagon picked out in light green diamonds; stylised flowers with long petals and stamens fill the edges.

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Shakira Shaikh

‘Skin cures and remedies’ draws inspiration from my childhood, where my parents grew medicinal and herbal plants in our garden and kitchen. I vividly recall using the aloe vera plant to soothe sunburn by extracting its gel substance from the leaf. This experience sparked my curiosity about the healing properties of other plants that could potentially treat various skin conditions such as eczema, bites, and wounds.

For my final collection, I am focusing on creating garden interiors using materials such as metal and wood. I am interested in using the work as an educational opportunity as well as a design opportunity. 

A metal frame supporting small plants in its top corner; the crossbars of the frame support the outlines of metal bottles and containers as if they were shelves in a kitchen.

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Solene Parker

‘The Town of Hullabaloo’ is a project about an imagined place expressed through architecture, figures, and objects from different countries around the world, creating a town of merging cultures. This eclectic interiors collection highlights different parts of the town and characters that live within it. I’ve deliberately chosen cultural artefacts and aspects of architecture that aren’t normally placed together, trying to find patterns with surprising juxtapositions.

I am a global citizen having lived all over the world. These designs reflect objects and places that I’ve seen and, in some ways, relates to my own global experience and portrays my journey, which has sometimes felt part of communities and sometimes disconnected. 

This sample of patterned fabric in design is reminiscent of traditional Chinese painting and porcelain, but the figures it depicts – pierrots, an Inuit woman, a man in European early modern dress playing a horn – are diverse.

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Sophie Larcombe

My interior collection was inspired by the blooming florals, foliage and gold detailing featured within porcelain pottery from South Wales, found in museums. The pottery decorated throughout history has an abundance of floral blooms and a rich colour palette documented across various porcelain forms. 

I was captivated by the type of florals used and explored the decorative repeat prints found within the objects which inspired my collection. I have used both cloth and wallpaper to bring my collection to life, using my initial ink/watercolour motifs to portray the strong pigmentation from flowers but also looking at the blends found in nature. 

Pink wallpaper patterned with red flowers and pale green and turquoise leaves.

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Susan Down

An urge to reconnect with nature inspires this floral story, taking inspiration from renowned botanical gardens. ‘The Botanist’ explores nature’s fleeting moments of growth and change. The newness of vibrant wild florals incorporated with faded blooms imbues a sense of permanence and lasting beauty amidst the evolving cycle of nature. This influence is reflected in the motifs, patterns, and colour palette of the collection.

Within my practice, I explore the integration of watercolours, inks and paint media with digital method. These resulting paintings explore concepts of nature, at the edge of abstraction. This collection focuses on fashion, lifestyle accessories, and textiles, bringing the allure of florals to fabrics.   

A contemporary watercolour showing a burst of flowers and leaves in browns, yellows and blues.

See the full design