Farr too little about Colleen
At True Up, I found this screenprint called Water Meadow, designed in 1964 by Colleen Farr for Heals.
Despite having taught textile design at the Central School of Art and Design in London for 20 years, and having designed prolifically for Libertys, Heals, Tootal and others, I couldn’t find many images of her designs online, but I did find a couple of pieces of Water Meadow for sale at Donna Flower.
Someone else I’d love to find out more about is Helen de Leeuw. She was a South African textile designer from Pretoria, working in the 60s and 70s. People often mention her name to me, but I’ve never seen any of her work. If anyone reading this blog has any leads, please let me know.
Jesse
Intriguing! I found references to people who studied under Helen de Leeuw… I hope more info surfaces.
thebrooklynist
that fabric has the feel of paper cutouts. reminded me of your stuff!
lesley
oh i love that. the orange/pink/red is so vibrant, i love that combination, and with the neutral stems it's so striking.
orange you lucky!
Love the Water Meadow. Lovely.Love the warm grey and the pinks and oranges…wish I could help with the Helen De Leeuw quest…
Anja F. C.
Interestingly about Helen de Leeuw, I met her when she owned an Interior Design shop in Hyde Park in Johannesburg and had a gallery supporting the local artists, especially ceramics.
Anairam
HdL had a shop in Pretoria in the 70's – the first interior/lifestyle shop I knew – it was amazing, with beautiful ceramics, candles, glassware, cushions, etc. As far as I know she died a couple of years ago in Glencairn, CT.
L'Atelier
very intriguing! you made me curios and am keen to find out more about them… if you find out more let us know
Kim
I couldn't find anything else on the internet either, but pulled out my copy of 20th Century Pattern Design by Lesley Jackson — it says she freelanced for Liberty in the 50s but was then hired full-time to set up a design studio for them. She also worked for Bernard Wardle and the WPM in the 1960s. I'd really like to see more of her work too!
Pam Williams
Having found mention of Colleen Farr and her Water Meadow design on your site, i wondered fi anyone would be interested to konw that I have 3 new and unused pieces of this fabric. Mine are in a more natural colourway of grass green, grey and lime, but haver the same vibrancy as the orange colourway pictured here.
The pieces passed to me when my mother-in-law died and were left over for curtains she made for my husband rather a long time ago. There are 3 lengths. I’m putting the first on ebay shortly. It is the full 50 inches (127 cm) wide and 65 inches (165 cm )long. Although the fabric is new and unused, it had storage marks on it, so I have laundered the piece. The remaining lengths are a matching pair (in as much as the patteren matches across the selvedge), slightly longer than the first.
If anyone is interested I could email photos to them. Let me know!
Pam Williams
skinnylaminx
Hi Pam
Thanks for getting in touch. I’m sure you can tell that I’m a total sucker for vintage fabrics, so I’m first in the queue to see pics of the pieces you have. Would you be able to send me a photo or two? I may well end up being the one who buys it, but if not, it would be a great follow-up post to the one you commented on.
Best wishes, Heather
Pam Williams
Hi Heather,
I’m sorry for being such a wuss, but I’m having great difficulty in finding how to email you with photos….help, please!
Kind regards
Pam
skinnylaminx
Hi Pam Completely my fault – so sorry. I’m at heather@skinnylaminx.com. Heather
Amanda Lead
Any luck on Helen de Leeuw ? As a child I remember walking up the hill from our house in Craighall to Hyde Park centre, and spending hours in her shop. Her signature was a tumble-seed design fabric and she had lots of those large dried tumbling-seed things in her shop. I would love to see those designs again. I am now an Architect and live in Durban.
skinnylaminx
Hi Amanda I’m afraid I’ve found nothing more about Helen de Leeuw. There’s loads of room for a book on SA design from that era to be published, I think – but some serious research would have to be done first. Thanks for your comment.