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The vast body of pattern designs discovered in an old drawer in a Yorkshire Dales’ studio after the death of artist Sheila Bownas in 2007 were as unknown to her family as they were to the art and design world. Arts Development Officer Chelsea Cefai has spent the past four years finding out more. By Jo-ann FortunepatternSpotting a

The discovery of the Sheila Bownas archive

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Previous pages: Portrait of Sheila Bownas; ‘Loretta’ by Sheila Bownas; ‘Herman’ by Sheila Bownas; ‘Pip’ by Sheila Bownas; ‘Gilbert’ by Sheila Bownas; ‘Lori’ by Sheila Bownas; Unnamed design by Sheila Bownas, yet to be released; Left: Chelsea Cefai at homeAll photographs copyright Chelsea Cefai

Sheila grew up in Yorkshire, attending Skipton Art School from 1941 to 1946 and then gaining a

county art scholarship to study at London’s Slade School of Art, where she won several prizes. Although she gained early recognition for her paintings, with five of them accepted at The Royal Academy of Arts, Sheila was drawn to surface pattern design for textiles and wallpapers as a more comfortable alternative to selling her paintings. Living in London during the late 1950s and ’60s, Sheila worked on numerous commissions for some of the most established wallpaper and textile manufacturers.

In 2008, while looking for abstract prints to break up the white kitchen walls of her Victorian home, Chelsea came across Sheila’s designs at auction and bought up the collection of more than 200 works.

She tells me “It was a spur of the moment thing. I didn’t think about what I would do with them, but as I worked within a collections department I knew how important it was to keep the designs together – I couldn’t bear the thought of them being spilt up, as they say so much about Sheila and the time in which she lived.”

It was this quest to discover more about the artist that led Chelsea to eventually quit her job at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum to focus her attention on bringing Sheila’s designs back to life through limited edition reproductions and carefully considered collaborations.

The 210 prints, which include commissions for Marks and Spencer, Liberty of London and Crown Wallpaper,

have been meticulously catalogued by year and pattern and now live in tissued archive boxes in Chelsea’s home studio. So far just 22 of the colourful 1950s, ’60s and ’70s designs have made their way into the public domain, with each creative decision taken with the designer at front of mind.

“I try to imagine what Sheila was like, as I want to faithfully and sympathetically restore the collection in a way she would have approved of,” says Chelsea, with the sincerity and passion that underlines every aspect of this all-encompassing project. “I think about who she would have wanted to work with and make sure that the collaborators understand what Sheila was about.”

Chelsea chooses which prints to release based on current interior design trends. “I take out a few at a time, lay them side by side, look at them for a few days and then change them around. I want to create little families of prints that work together.”

To date, Chelsea and her husband, who helps out with the business side of things, have formed close working relationships with the Glasgow School of Art, who produce fabric by the metre, cushions and pads for Bertoia chairs, and a local graphics company for the limited edition prints.

When we speak, Chelsea has just returned from Birmingham, where she met with lampshade designer Zoe Darlington to discuss a new Sheila Bownas range. “We’re working on some heavily fringed shades and another range more geared towards mid-century style”. And towards the latter part of the year people will be able to buy linen fabrics in eight designs courtesy of Classic Textiles,