Welcome to this bonus episode of Pattern Portraits celebrating 150 Years of LIBERTY with author and historian Kassia St Clair.

Geek out with us about Liberty as Lauren Godfrey chats with Kassia St Clair about 'Liberty' as an adjective, getting lost in summer garden florals and Oscar Wilde’s hot take on the icon that is Liberty.

Kassia St Clair is the UK’s best selling historian under 40, selling hundreds of thousands of books globally, you might know her best for her brilliant book The Secret Lives of Colour in which she profiles the remarkable untold histories of pigments, inks and hues through time or perhaps her sumptuous book, The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History, telling of the depths to which our lives are intertwined with fabric and textiles, a topic I’m particularly passionate about here at Pattern Portraits!

In celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Liberty, Kassia has written a stunning new book titled ‘LIBERTY - Design, Pattern, Colour’, presenting the very latest examples of Liberty Design alongside prints, drawings and samples from the company’s outstanding archive, telling an inspiring, century long story of manufacturing quality and design excellence.

In Kassia’s characteristically poetic and lyrical style, she brings to life the stories of well loved and brand new Liberty patterns alike, told through chapters marking the key pillars of Liberty design, the book is a full colour celebration of one of the most unique and remarkable design houses of our time. Launching on 15th May 2025, the book is published by Thames and Hudson and is widely available to buy now!

Kassia has chosen a wonderful cross section of Liberty patterns that feature in the book and span the lifetime of Liberty from the late 19th Century design ‘Hera’, via classic Liberty floral ‘Betsy’ (1933), to two very different designs from the sixties; Althea McNish’s undulating ‘Hula Hula’ and Bernard Nevill’s geometric ‘Corbusier’ and finally bang up to date with illustrator Hattie Stewart’s playful ‘Hattie Park’ from 2022.

You can see all of Kassia’s patterns and more on instagram @patternportraitspodcast

‘Maybe Betsy’ - The PATTERN PORTRAIT print artwork to accompany Kassia’s interview and featuring the patterns we discuss is available to buy now at www.laurengodfrey.co.uk

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Welcome to this BONUS episode of Pattern Portraits on the occasion of Bethan Laura Wood’s solo exhibition at The Design Museum in London!

Step into the wiggle world of designer Bethan Laura Wood as she chats with Lauren Godfrey about hidden versus mirrored repeats, the similarities between kaleidoscopes and iPhones and pattern in three dimensions.

Known for her joyful and maximalist approach to design, Bethan Laura Wood has turned her hand to furniture, lighting, rugs and even handbags. Enhancing all she does with a friendly wiggle, a playful pattern and an immaculate eye for colour.

Bethan has collaborated with many companies including Hermes, Perrier-Jouet champagne and fine porcelain manufacturers, Rosenthal. She has work in collections worldwide including at the V&A and The Design Museum in London.

Bethan has chosen a veritable party of patterns including an Otomi embroidery from Mexico, a quilt from Pakistan, a book matched section of veneer made by Bethan, a vibrant Luntaya Acheik from Myanmar and a metallic zig zag pattern (origin unknown).

You can see all of Bethan’s patterns and more on instagram @patternportraitspodcast

‘The Wiggle World’ - The PATTERN PORTRAIT print artwork to accompany Bethan’s interview and featuring the patterns we discuss is available to buy now at www.laurengodfrey.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Episode 17 of Pattern Portraits!

Lauren Godfrey chats with artist David Batchelor, about the legacy of the Bauhaus, gilding tortoises and pattern as a cardinal sin.

David Batchelor is an artist well known for his sculptural and light based work that explores his experience of colour within a modern urban environment, and historical conceptions of colour within Western culture. David has exhibited worldwide with recent solo exhibitions in Sao Paolo, London and Edinburgh. He has delivered large scale commissions for London St Pancras Station and Art on the Underground. His book Chromophobia was published in 2000 and is a staple of art school reading lists worldwide.

David’s work delights in colour and shape, playing with the edges, the reflections and the shadows, drawing attention to the underside, the reverse or the back of a sculptural form, testing and flexing the parameters of our relationship to colour and the myriad ways we experience it.

David and I met earlier this year when I was tasked with making a series of beaded works on his behalf for his solo exhibition at Cecilia Brunson Projects in London. Though I was already a fan of his work, upon visiting his studio I discovered a cocoon of colour and a party of patterned references beyond what I could have imagined. We bonded over a shared love of colour charts for zips and getting giddy about chains dripping with perspex swatches!

David has chosen a delicious selection of patterns with a global reach including a Mondrian painting (Composition with Grid IX) from 1919, an Anni Albers work on paper from 1967, a 1965 quilt by Sue Willie Seltzer of the Gee’s Bend quilt makers and a Zulu beadwork date unknown.

You can see all of David’s patterns and more on instagram @patternportraitspodcast

‘Purple Punctuation’ - The PATTERN PORTRAIT print artwork to accompany David’s interview and featuring the patterns we discuss is available to buy now at www.laurengodfrey.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.