Louise Atkinson is a visual artist, researcher and facilitator whose practice explores the intersections of contemporary art and heritage to make historic collections relevant to contemporary audiences. Currently a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Leeds, her practice-based PhD examined how artists work creatively with museum practices of collecting, archiving and curation.
Louise combines historical research with artistic methods including drawing, collage, textiles, repeat pattern design and digital media. A key strand of her work focuses on wallpaper as a lens for exploring overlooked histories, and her contributions to this field were recognised through the 2024 Merryl Huxtable Bursary from the Wallpaper History Society.
Recent projects include If Walls Could Talk at Harewood House and the Wellcome-funded research project, Cripping Breath, for which she will be designing a wallpaper to be shown at the Florence Nightingale Museum, London in 2027.
Louise Atkinson, Heterotopia
While their visions differed, Morris through socialism and Watts through philanthropy, both saw art as a way of shaping collective life. - Louise Atkinson
While their visions differed, Morris through socialism and Watts through philanthropy, both saw art as a way of shaping collective life.
- Louise Atkinson
“William Morris’s belief that art could help create a better society remains relevant today. Heterotopia draws on this idea through an imagined collaboration between May Morris and Mary Seton Watts, two women committed to social change.
“While their visions differed, Morris through socialism and Watts through philanthropy, both saw art as a way of shaping collective life. The title Heterotopia reflects this difference, suggesting that utopias are messy and multiple. Like Morris, I am interested in how art can help us imagine alternatives, while recognising that everyone has their own vision of how a better world might look.”
Shropshire-based artist Julia Timmins creates highly detailed wood engravings inspired by the countryside surrounding her studio. Profoundly influenced by the natural world, she uses traditional tools and techniques to create keenly observed prints that invite viewers to explore the wonders of the planet through her eyes.
Julia trained as a jeweller and spent many years as a jewellery designer and production director in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. The precision, craftsmanship and attention to detail developed through jewellery inform every aspect of her printmaking. An elected member and Chair of the Society of Wood Engravers, Julia exhibits throughout the UK and overseas; her work is held in public and private collections internationally.
Specialising in wood engraving, Julia engraves fine lines into end-grain hardwood blocks before inking and printing them by hand or on an antique Albion press. Her work celebrates the intricate details, unique textures, wonder and enduring beauty of the natural world.
Julia Timmins, Wagtails and Wisteria
“William Morris has been an enduring source of inspiration for me since I first encountered his work. Like so many others, I have deeply admired the beauty, craftsmanship and generosity of his designs. His ability to find richness in the natural world, plants, flowers, birds and the changing textures of the landscape, continues to resonate deeply with my own practice. I can see his influence in my love of pattern, intricate detail and the expressive possibilities of traditional making. In my wood engravings and drypoint prints, I aim to celebrate a similar sense of wonder, transforming closely observed elements of nature.”
Elizabeth Bessant is an award-winning artist based in London. She began her career as a silkscreen printmaker in the 1980s, and regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, galleries across the UK, and in New York, Los Angeles and Paris. In 1990 she was listed in Who’s Who in International Art. Her journey has taken her through 28 years as a couture designer where fashion became her medium of expression, dressing society women, couture brides and celebrities. In 2020 Elizabeth returned to her artist roots and in 2022 appeared on Sky Arts “Landscape Artist of the Year”. Her latest bird paintings have received critical acclaim, being selected for the Federation of British Artists Annual Exhibition, and the Society of Graphic Fine Art’s 105th Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London. Her recent work celebrates the vivid beauty of exotic birds. Drawing upon the historical use of birds in textile and homeware design, she has juxtaposed realistic avian imagery with the fantastical elements often found in home decor. In 2018 Elizabeth was elected a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, recognising her contribution to the arts over many years.
“William Morris has been a significant influence on my practice through his belief that art should enrich everyday life and celebrate the beauty of the natural world. My current paintings are inspired by time spent at my mother's bird sanctuary in Wales, where I developed a deep appreciation for the vivid beauty and character of exotic birds. This early inspiration has culminated in my latest collection of paintings, where I explore the relationship between nature and ornament. Morris's philosophy of uniting art, craft, and daily life resonates strongly with my work, celebrating both the intricate beauty of the natural world and the enduring tradition of bringing that beauty into the home.”
After studying at Camberwell Art School, Central Saint Martins and Edinburgh College of Art, Claire embarked on a career as a designer, taking in, along the way, a stint at Country Living magazine, several years in film and advertising, and then bringing up her four children.
She has always loved textiles, and the stories that go with them, seeking them out wherever she goes, whether in an Indian market a Greek museum or from dealers across the UK. When it came to decorating her own home, her degree in textile design inspired her to create her own wallpaper collection www.claireworthington.com which she now sells in the UK and US. Alongside her wallpaper, she has continued to make her own work, and in recent years has turned increasingly to collage, a growing interest that led her to join a collage course in India taught by the wonderful Mark Hearld. The course deepened her appreciation for what collage could do, and this small body of work is the result.
The inspiration for this series came from a collection of drawings commissioned by Joan Gideon Loten, the Dutch governor-general of what was then Ceylon, who employed the artist Pieter de Bevere to paint the birds and animals of Sri Lanka. To Loten, everything must have seemed impossibly new and exotic. Claire has tried to capture something of that same wonder, starting with real birds and embellishing them into fabulous creatures of her own invention. For the foliage, she looked closely at the leaves and flowers found on palampores, textiles made in India for the European market in the eighteenth century. She hopes you like her version of paradise.
“There was a time when the name William Morris brought only one image to mind: my granny's sofa. That instant recognition is itself telling — it's a measure of how deeply his designs have embedded themselves in our visual culture, still ubiquitous more than 130 years after his death, and a testament to both his extraordinary skill and his enduring influence over generations of artists and designers who followed him.
“For me, that influence runs through craft, colour and pattern — the very facets that define block printing that I so love. I have always admired Morris's treatment of foliage, and his particular gift for conjuring texture and depth using flat, printed colour. One of my first wallpaper designs, Arbutus — named for the strawberry tree — was my own modern take on his famous Strawberry Thief.”
Celia creates work infused with the colour and vitality of the natural world. Abstract motifs are juxtaposed with figurative characters, her expressive depictions of birds, insects, farm animals and flora are enriched by the interplay of pattern and design, the real and the fictive. Watercolour is her main medium but she also paints in acrylic and oils. She is also a printmaker specialising in linocuts.
Celia has also written several Illustrated Guides including An Illustrated Country Year and its companion edition An Illustrated Coastal Year published in August 2015. This year sees the publication of an updated book about chickens - Keeping Chickens - due out in August.
She is a member of various local art groups and has won national prizes including the 2026 Dry Red Press Award at the Royal Watercolour Society Open Exhibition in London.
“As an artist I have always admired the beauty, rhythm and craftmanship of William Morris’s patterns. When I first married in 1972 I filled our house with several of his designs on curtains and loose covers, and they became the background of our family life.
“Morris’s celebration of nature, colour and design continues to influence me and inspires my own creative journey. His flowing lines, intricate detail and harmonious use of colour have shaped the way I approach my own art.
“His work continues to inspire my creativity and reminds me that art can be both meaningful and timeless.”