Sheila Bownas Exhibition

Rugby Art Gallery and Museum: 25th June to 3rd September, 2016
by Kay Lockie

A feature on Woman’s Hour about an exhibition of fabric and wallpaper designs by artist Sheila Bownas, caught the attention of cqgb member, Brenda Thomas, who shared a link on the Yahoo site. I followed the link, and was interested enough to drive up the M1 to Rugby to visit this exhibition.
If you haven’t heard of Sheila Bownas, don’t feel bad, you’re not alone. Sheila, although a talented artist and a prolific designer, was relatively unknown during her lifetime. She died in 2007, and a collection of her paintings and designs came onto the market and was bought at auction by Chelsea Cefai, an employee at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum. Chelsea was looking for a painting for her home, but acquired approximately 210 paintings and designs. Fascinated by this collection and recognising its importance, she started delving into the history of it, and determined to bring it to the attention of the public and give Sheila’s work the recognition it deserves.
Sheila was born in the Yorkshire Dales in 1925. An obvious talent for art won her a WRCC Junior Art Scholarship in 1941. After 4 years at Skipton Art School, she went on to study at the Slade School of Art in London, during which time she had 5 paintings accepted and exhibited by the Royal Academy. Her post-graduate studies took her to Florence for a year.

Sheila would have been 17 when she produced this ‘homework’ piece showing her early talent

Initially, inspiration came from the village she was brought up in, Linton

Images of children fishing in the river Wharfe, probably something Sheila did as a child.

As well as producing botanical illustrations for the Natural History Museum and the Botanical Society of the British Isles, Sheila Bownas produced many designs for wallpaper and fabrics, so why is she not as famous as, say, Lucienne Day? Well, although Sheila’s designs were sold to manufacturers such as Liberty, Marks and Spencer, and Crown, she did not have a high profile, and having sold the designs she lost control over them and her name was not associated with them. In fact, we don’t even know which designs of the 50s, 60s and 70s are Sheila’s! She had meetings with John Lewis and Bernard Ashley, Laura Ashley’s husband, but we don’t know what came of those meetings. The collection bought by Chelsea consists of the designs that were not sold, so these lovely paintings and designs have never been seen.
An unearthed document shows that Sheila did apply to get a secure staff job. An excerpt from a letter dated October 1959 reads ‘With reference to your desire to obtain a position in our studio, the director feels that should an appointment be made at all, a male designer would be preferable’. So Sheila continued to be invisible despite being a commercially successful designer.
Sheila worked through three decades, adapting her designs to the style of the day.

A design from the 50s based on ‘Wally’ dogs that sat on the mantelpiece of her Linton home in the Yorkshire Dales.

Another 50s design​

Chelsea Cefai, as well as exhibiting these designs, is selling them to local artisans who are producing various crafts with them. To commemorate what would have been Sheila’s 90th birthday, Chelsea launched the ‘West Riding’ collection with furniture and lighting, and works in porcelain and fabric. She is determined that these lovely designs will be given a second chance to shine.

1960s design

1970s designs.

Students from a local art college used fabric, specially printed with chosen designs, to make these impressive shift dresses.

Embroidery by Zoe Gilbertson based on a 1970s design.