Student Profile – Textile Design, Rosemary Milner

Subtle and delicate designs decorating a range of wallpapers, fabrics and embroidery, all influenced by natural woodland imagery and historical narratives.

 

Name: Rosemary Milner

Age: 22

Home town: North Yorkshire

 

AVA: Where did you study?

RM: Leeds College of Art and Design.

 

AVA: What would you say was the most interesting or enjoyable part of the course you studied?

RM: The tutors were brilliant and the wide variety of facilities. In our college you learn how to use each and every piece of equipment and software, this helps to prepare you for work after the degree.

 

 

AVA: What was your most interesting or memorable experience during your course?

RM: The most interesting experience is learning all about how to create prints, whether it was hand produced or digital. Gesso was a particularly memorable technique, the end results are lovely but the stuff to create the effect smells truly awful.

 

AVA: What inspires your work?

RM: My work is inspired by lots of different things. I love rustic interiors, bric a brac shops and naturalistic influences. With the more conceptual aspects of my work the inspiration comes from old stories and narratives that I create myself. However with the more textile design pieces, old books and end paper designs are really inspirational.

 

 

AVA: Who is the biggest influence on your work and why?

RM: There are lots of artists and textile designers who influence my work. Mark Hearld (some of his prints available here) and Enid Marx (some of her print designs can be viewed here) are some of my favourites because of the old aesthetic and the beautiful textures which are created. However I also really enjoy embroiderers such as Susie Cowie and Tabitha Kyoko Moses because of the conceptual nature of the work and the delicacy created.

 

 

AVA: Which piece out of all of your work best represents your overall collection and why?

RM: The bespoke wallpaper drops (scrapbook looking ones) are the best representation of the whole collection because they hold the concept and narrative. Each element of the wallpapers can be seen throughout the collection and you can see clearly how I went from the bespoke wallpapers through to the more digitalised prints.

 

 

AVA: What kind of materials do you use in your work and why?

RM: I like to use a mixture of materials within my design work. I enjoy using age old methods such as copper etching, mono printing and screen printing to create the texture and aesthetic of old printing then transferring it to digital mediums to either create  a repeat or to create grounds to re-work into.

I also really enjoy sourcing materials such as old handkerchiefs and bits of lace to then re-work using etching and embroidery.

 

 

AVA: If you could describe your design style in five words what would they be?

RM: Narrative/ Conceptual, Memorabilia, Vintage, Print, Naturalistic  (very difficult to choose 5!)

 

AVA: What are you currently working on now you have graduated?

RM: I am just in the process of setting up my own business selling wallpapers and fabrics to Australia and Germany and America. It’s a very busy propect but it will be worth it in the end.

 

 

AVA: What are your hopes for your future career?

RM: I hope to set up my own business with the designs I have created during my degree and also establish my collection further.

 

 

If you would like to see more of Rosemary’s work, please visit her website. Rosemary is currently accepting commissions, as well as offers of further work in design and print studios.