Cathy's Art Diary

Colourful exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum looking at the work that these sister designers did for Liberty in the 1960s and 70s to accompany their Liberty in Fashion exhibition. I keep coming across these designers and bought a sketch for a design by them at a show at the National Theatre a few years ago which proudly hangs opposite my bed. This show had a nice mix of display cabinet cabinets with archive material in, articles and ideas of influences alongside mood boards showing the material along with hand painted designs in a big patchwork display. I loved the sections which showed different colour ways for a pattern. I’m always amazed at how different a pattern can look in a different colour. Closes on 28 February 2016

Interesting   display at the fashion and Textile Museum looking at recent designs for textiles by Sarah Campbell. Sarah Campbell worked with her sister Susan Collier for many years but following her sister’s death in 2011 has begun a solo career. The display looked at how she develops her ideas showing inspirations, sketches, swatches and pictures of finished products on single display boards. I will look out for her designs for M&S bed linen as I have a small Collier Campbell study for material in my bedroom which I bought at a retrospective of their work at the National Theatre. It would seem appropriate to show it with some Sarah Campbell bed linen!

Lovely exhibition at the National Theatre showcasing the work of fabric designing sisters Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell. I would have said I had not heard of this company however as I looked round I realised how many of the designs were familiar and in fact might be covering my sofa! The exhibition features big design boards covering each of the 5 decades the company had been operating. There was also a wall of design sketches for sale. I admit I weakened and bought one! I wanted one called simple flowers but have had a phone call to say it has already gone so instead I’ve gone for a more simple one called ‘Damask’.