For 50-years Joan Charnley created textiles for design houses across the country. Her first design was acquired by Sanderson in 1951, followed by ‘Beachcombers’ which is now in the V&A textile collection. In this new exhibition artist and curator Julian Bovis takes Joan’s 1950s sunflower design and redesigns it for the 21st century with a brand new range of fabrics and wallpapers.
“I remember seeing Joan’s sunflower design in her dining room and wondering why it took pride of place, but it wasn’t until after she died that we found out why. In the 1950s, whilst working as Vice Principle at Great Yarmouth School of Art, Joan had drawn the sunflower design to teach students how to create repeat textile patterns. So instead of just exhibiting her original work, we thought it would be a fitting tribute to her educational legacy to recreate a new range of Joan’s sunflower designs for the 21st century. Using digital design and contemporary print technology, each of the new designs feature Joan’s original sunflower but with a twist, using authentic 1950s colours and a vintage aesthetic. Each of the designs are available to buy as print-on-demand fabric or wallpaper, printed in Britain and available at the end of the exhibition.
Julian Bovis, Curator
JOAN CHARNLEY
Born in Southport in 1928, Joan studied Textiles at Manchester School of Art before becoming a lecturer in Textile Design at Great Yarmouth School of Art. In the 1960s she left teaching to work full-time as a textile designer and botanical artist. Joan died in 2016 and left her lifetime’s body of work to neighbours Julian Bovis and Nigel Durkan, who converted her home into The Weavers Factory in her honour.
Joan teaching Great Yarmouth students how to screenprint her ‘Sunflowers’ design, circa 1955.