'Create Your Own Scene, Baby!', Project Report- Nichola Taylorson

For my project report I am going to talk about the historical side of wallpaper and what I learnt on my visits to both Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester, and Temple Newsam House in Leeds. I will then talk about the traditional wall-covering theme, Hortus Botanicus, which I chose as my theme for my project and what aspects of it inspired me. I will also discuss how the context of my work fits this theme. I am then going to talk about how this project has helped me in developing my own style, and I will finish off by summing up how successful this project has been for me.

On my visit to Whitworth Art Gallery I saw wallpapers and wall-coverings dating from the 17th century to the present day. There were a number of late 19th century pieces by well known designers like William Morris, Voysey and Crane. I also visited Temple Newsam, which is famous for its collection of historic wallpapers, from the 17th century through to the 19th century. The history of wallpapers has been based mostly on pieces in archives and museum collections. Very old pieces of wallpaper have been sourced from old historical buildings where they were preserved. Wallpaper has mainly been thought of as a background rather than foreground apart from Toile du Jouy wallpapers that tend to be made a focal point of a room. The choice of Wallpapers would usually indicate the function of a room, and also the status of a person. However wallpaper today has become much more of a fashion statement, which shows off some ones taste rather than their wealth. William Morris recognised the importance of wallpapers and says, “Whatever you have in your rooms think first of the walls for they are that which makes your house and home, and if you do not make some sacrifices in their favour you will find your chambers have a kind of makeshift, lodging-house look about them.” (http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/prints_books/features/Wallpaper/intro/index)
On my visit to Temple Newsam House, each room was beautifully decorated with lavish wallpapers, lovely rich colours and textures


Temple Newsam house was obviously owned by wealthy people, however wallpapers have not always been associated with the upper classes. In the early 19th century, wallpaper was seen as luxurious and elegant, subsequently in the 19th century wallpapers became more popular and increasingly cheaper so became a standard decoration in working class homes, and became less fashionable in wealthier households.

I noticed on both my visits to Temple Newsam, and Whitworth Gallery, many of the wallpapers commonly incorporated floral patterns and designs. Designers and artists have always relied on the decorative aspects of flowers and foliage, as they offer enormous pattern potential. The floral design has occurred in many types of wallpaper from very early years. I was greatly influenced on both of my visits and inspired by the wallpapers, so I decided I wanted to do Hortus Botanicus, florals, nature and organics, as my theme for my project. My trip to temple Newsam made a big impact on me. I loved all the wallpapers in the lavishly decorated rooms, the colours and designs were beautiful. I also took a visit to kings Road in London, and I went to get wallpaper samples in Designers Guild and Osbourne and Little. I have been greatly inspired by some of the wallpapers and the designers. Nina Campbell
designs for Osbourne and Little and her patterns and motifs have been very influential, her very ornate and delicate style for flowers and foliage has made me realise the style of her work is what I really like when it comes to designing. Some samples of Nina Campbell’s wallpaper.

Other designers which have also stimulated me are the likes of Neisha Crosland and Cole&Son. Their wallpapers also are delicate and ornate, with use of flowers as their motifs. Neisha Crosland has a rather abstract approach to her designs where as Cole&Son’s designs are quite contemporary with a quirky element. These designers have also been very influential in the development of my project, and in creating the images for my screen prints. The market for wallpapers has moved on and has become more fashionable, people tend to choose wallpaper to make a feature wall, rather than as decoration for the interior of a room. Their style of designs, are highly popular in the current market for wallpapers.

For this project I have learnt some new techniques which really work for me, and are helping me in developing my own style. Gesso is one that I have really taken to, which has the design concept of making something look old and rustic, by applying a white substance over your image (which is backed by a piece of wood) that hardens when dry and sanding away areas where you wish your image to show through, leaving the piece to look weathered and old. I found this technique very effective, I made a number of different motifs using photocopies of some of my own drawings and adding dried petals, which created a background and texture to the pieces. I used samples of Nina Campbell’s wallpaper and made the new look old. Here are some of my examples.

I also found the flocking and foiling workshop very beneficial for my project, these techniques are commonly used for wallpapers, and I feel having the chance to experiment with these methods has really helped me in developing my own style. Foiling I found the most successful for me and my work, as I liked the delicate shiny texture. Foiling works by screen printing your image (onto whatever surface you want to foil onto) with foil glue, and placing your foil on top of the screen printed image then heating over with an iron, your image is then transferred in the foil. I found the foiling technique worked really well onto my gesso pieces. Here are my pieces.

In conclusion I have found this project thoroughly stimulating and enjoyable. I really benefited from both my visits to Whitworth Art Gallery and Temple Newsam House. I found it extremely interesting to learn more about the history of wallpapers and where they were sourced from. The beautifully decorated rooms with their luxurious wallpapers at Temple Newsam really inspired me, and helped me towards my ideas for my screen print designs.

I chose the theme Hortus Botanicus for my project. I decided on this theme as I thoroughly enjoy designing with flowers as they offer enormous pattern potential. I find flowers a very versatile and interesting object to work with, and I feel I have effectively achieved some successful designs.
For my research there were a few designers that stood out for me and were greatly influential. Nina Campbell, Neisha Crosland and Cole&Son, I found their style of designing very influential and helped me in the development of my own style for my project. I used some samples of Nina Campbell’s wallpapers as backgrounds for my gesso pieces, and I found them very complimenting.

This project really helped me with learning new skills and printing techniques. I really got to grips with screen printing and mastered the process. Before this project I had not yet properly experimented with screen printing, so this project really helped me in improving my ability. I extremely enjoyed this method of printing, and found it a very good way to produce quite a number of prints quickly and effectively. I am pleased with my final screen prints and have combined some of my images and printed some interesting motifs.

Another technique that I have learnt, which I think has really helped in the development of my own style for this project is the process of gesso. I really took to this method and produced a number of pieces. My design concept for my gesso pieces was to make the new look old. My pieces where I used samples of Nina Campbell’s wallpapers as a background and sanded away at the gesso on top, this made the wallpaper not appear as new and fresh but as old and rustic. I really love this technique, and I am very pleased to have learnt a new skill. Another technique that I incorporated into my gesso pieces was foiling. I foiled three of my images from my screen onto some of my gesso pieces. I am really happy with the effect of this as I feel it lifted my pieces and gave them another dimension.

Overall I am very pleased with the outcome of my wall covering project. I feel it has greatly helped me in the development of my own style and has given me the confidence in practicing with new methods and techniques of printmaking and pattern designing. If I was to make improvements to my project I would have made sure I did a bit more observational drawing at the beginning, I would have had more to work from for my design ideas. I also would have experimented with some flock and foil onto my A3 prints. However I feel they are just as effective without. This project has taught me a lot of new skills and I feel I have learnt a great deal.