Rich Text was a partnership between the Emerging Writers' Festival in 2007 and RMIT Gallery. It consisted of an exhibition of text, from which this book was produced.A gold and black book with Rich Text in cursive script on the frontemerging writers' festival, literary programming, the wheeler centre, rmit gallery, 2007

The 2007 Emerging Writers' Festival was programmed by Steve Grimwade and ran from Friday, 25 May to Sunday, 27 May 2007, at the Melbourne Town Hall, State Library Victoria and Federation Square. Special events in 2007 included: - Friday night launch featuring a keynote speech by Waleed Ali on issues key to emerging writers - The 48-Hour Play Generator - Scrabble - the best in wordplay – the Festival's Saturday night party - Independent Press and Zine Fair – all day Sunday in the Atrium - RMIT Gallery art/text exhibition from May 1 - Speed Dating for writers and editorsA collection of digital photographs, taken at various events associated with the 2007 Emerging Writers' Festival.2007 emerging writers' festival, steve grimwade, literary programming, the wheeler centre, emerging writers', literary, festival, melbourne

Artist Lindsay Edward and wife Jan built a house designed by Alistair Knox at 151 Old Eltham Road, Lower Plenty. See article on home designed by Alistair Knox for Lindsay Edward, teacher, at 151 Old Eltham Road, Lower Plenty. The home was originally featured on the cover of the January 1953 issue of Home Beautiful magazine and was revisited in the March 1969 issue. See registration record No. 01649. Lindsay Edward Biography: 1919: 26 August Lindsay Maurice Edward was born in Melbourne. 1937: 4 – 9 May Exhibition - Heidelberg art exhibition (SLV collection) 1939: Art student at the National Gallery of Victoria 1940: 7-14 October Exhibition Heidelberg art exhibition. (SLV collection) 1941: November - Exhibition Heidelberg Art Exhibition 1942: Lindsay was an art student living at this 14 Park Cres. Fairfield. Occupation Art student. He most likely painted this painting around this time. c.1942 – 1944: Enlistment for military service in World War 2 in Casino, NSW. 1944: Rank of Sergeant. 1944: Exhibition Seddon Galleries (Melbourne) 1945: Exhibition Seddon Galleries 1946: Exhibition Exhibition of Past Students of the National Gallery of Victoria 1947: Submitted “Self- portrait in the Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of NSW 1948: Lived in London for a year and married a fellow artist ? Knox. 1949: Returned from London 1949: Electoral Roll Residence– 16 Mount Street, Ivanhoe 1950: October Exhibition Stanley Coe Galleries, 435 Bourke Street, Melbourne 1951: 19 Nov. - 9 Dec. Exhibition An exhibition of present day art of Victoria Victorian 1951 Commemoration Committee in conjunction with the Victorian Artists' Society, 1951: (SLV Collection) 1953: October Exhibition Melbourne Contemporary Artists Exhibiton 1954: Exhibition Melbourne Contemporary Artists Exhibition 1958: Victorian artist and educator Lindsay Edward won the £500 prize for the wall decoration of the Queensland Library - . Edward was born in 1919 and had studied at the National Gallery of Victoria. In 1958 he was head of the painting section of the Royal Melbourne Technical College (now RMIT) and had only recently begun experimenting with mosaic. The Centennial mosaic covers a wall 68 feet (20.72 metres) in length and 14 feet (4.26 metres) high. In a Melbourne Age article in July 1958 Edward described the mural as ‘not a literal subject’ rather as ‘a basic formation of organic forms indicating growth and development’. 1960: Exhibition Eltham Art Show (SLV collection) 1963: Exhibition October 28-November 17 - Argus Gallery, 290 Latrobe Street, Melbourne and at Hassall's Roadside Gallery, Eltham and at Gallery A and at Russell Davis Art Gallery. (SLV Collection) 1963, 1967, 1977 and 1980: Electoral Rolls – Residence Old Eltham Road, Lower Plenty. Occupation Teacher 1966: Exhibition Art Show -Austin Hospital Appeal (Heidelberg) (SLV collection) 1970s: Head of Art Department RMIT where he established a fine art collection. 1982: Exhibition Bolitho Gallery Canberra http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116467780 1988: 28 July – Exhibition Recent Paintings Darwin Performing Arts Centre (SLV Collection) 1993: Exhibition Solander Gallery, Canberra 2007: January Died and is buried in Eltham Cemetery 2007: Obituary in Age Jun 2, 2007 - LINDSAY Edward's retirement as head of the fine art department at RMIT in August 1979 signalled the end of an important chapter in the art Sources: ART CONTEST. (1939, March 2). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 8. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12103185 ART EXHIBITION AT HEIDELBERG (1941, November 25). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 6. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8218682 ART EXHIBITIONS (1945, October 3). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 7. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205639922 EX-GALLERY STUDENTS' SHOW (1946, October 15). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 3. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22386440 https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/prizes/archibald/1947/ Art World Busy (1949, February 26). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 12. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22706197 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22781141 ART NOTES (1953, October 13). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206462733 Design, color in art show (1954, October 5). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 9. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23453359 https://artcollection.its.rmit.edu.au/?p=rmit-gallery-about Cinema (1993, October 7). The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), p. 7 (Good Times). Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127509819 Queensland Centenary Artwork (includes image) http://queenswharf.org/places/former-queensland-state-library-wall-decoration-and-sculpture/ Eltham Cemetery http://www.elthamcemetery.com/index.php/search oil on paper board 31.5 x 37.5 cm signed "Edward" lower rightInscribed on back "The Malt House Lindsay Edward 15 Park Cres Fairfield"fairfield, malt house, lindsay edward, home beautiful, home beautiful magazine, alistair knox

Kevin Parker was born in 1942 in Melbourne and studied Architecture at RMIT and from 1965-1990 worked as a freelance architectural illustrator. He continued this when he moved to Deddick in East Gippsland in 1991. In 2001 -2002 he began working on series of drawings about Mc Killops Bridge and environs for exhibition at Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale Victoria (Oct 2003). These drawings and prints feature McKillop's Bridge an the item is a compilation from a folder usually sold in the Slab Hut (Orbost Visitor Information Centre). A loose-leaf display book of copies of architectural style pencil drawings by Deddick artist, Kevin Parker. There is an introduction by Valerie Auer of Tubbut. The drawings are of McKillop's Bridge.parker-kevin drawings mckillop's-bridge display-book

Isabel Huntington was a painter, craft officer and craft worker. She studied at Ballarat High School, Ballarat Technical Art School (a division of the School of Mines) and RMIT, and was a member of the Victorian Artists' Society and the Contemporary Art Society. In 1945 she was appointed Director of Handcrafts for the Victorian Division of the Red Cross Society. Isabel Huntington had previously held the position of Supervisor of Handcrafts at Heidelberg Military Hospital for three and a half years. She was a member of the Arts and Crafts Society. Isabel Huntington had five 'one-man" shows, three in Melbourne, one in Ballarat and one in Hamilton, Victoria. Ursula Hoff (from the National Gallery Victoria) judged the 1965 Albury awards for watercolour, and religious paintings in oils, awarding the prize to Isabel Huntington. In the same year Isabel Huntington travelled to Europe. After returning from overseas she taught at Rosanna High School, Victoria. Isabel Huntington lived at Montmorency, Victoria, and was there at the time of her death. Born Isabel McCausland, she married Robert Huntington in 1931. women of note, isabel huntington, ballarat school of mines, ballarat high school, ballarat technical art school, royal melbourne institute of technology, rmit, victorian division of red cross, director of handcrafts, rosanna high school, montmorency, heidelberg military hospital, supervisor of handcrafts, art shows, melbourne, ballarat, hamilton, mccausland, robert huntington

A poster printed by the RMIT in 2018, to promote an exhibition of works at the MTSV about the interelationships between labour, working life and artistic practice. BACKGROUND The Work of Art was an exhibition about labour, working life and artistic practice. The exhibition explored three aspects of art's relationship to work: (1) artworks about contemporary labour, (2) the labour of art-making itself and (3) the often precarious aspects of life as a working artist. Throughout the exhibition, different artists "worked" from the space of the gallery, revealing the layers of manual, emotional and intellectual labour involved in the work of art. CONTRIBUTION I was invited to develop the exhibition by the "Murphy Group", a group of researchers at RMIT. As the lead co-curator for the exhibition, I researched the history of artistic responses to working conditions. Through this process I identified a gap - while many artists have explored the conditions of labour and working life in their artworks, fewer have drawn attention to the working conditions of artists themselves. This became a key theme in the exhibition. The exhibition presented the work of nine contemporary Australian artists, including high profile and mid-career artists like Bindi Cole and Bek Conroy, alongside the work of emerging artists. In addition to the display of artworks throughout the space, five artists worked performatively, bringing to life the processes and manual labour involved in artmaking. A public forum extended the complex discussion on the relationship between art, work and labour. SIGNIFICANCE The works were presented in the context of a public space that has a strong relationship to contemporary labour - the Mission to Seafarers in Docklands. The Mission to Seafarers is a working mission that provides support to ship-workers. Presenting the works in this space created a real connection between the artworks and the lived experience of precarious labour. The exhibition reached a large audience including over 1000+ visitors in 10 days. It fostered a high engagement on social media and attracted media coverage including a feature in ArtsHub.A record of the ongoing involvement of the MTSV in art, and working with the art community by providing a suitable venue and display space.A3 size yellow paper promotional poster, double-sided. Three-quarters of the front of the poster is covered with the repeated line "Art, Labour & Working Life" in large font, to form ten rows. These rows are in outline form except for picked out words which are in entirely black characters and these cascade down, a row at a time, a word at a time, to form the same line ("Art, Labour & Working Life"). rmit, 2018, events, labour, working life, artistic practice, hiring event, cultural events, multimedia, nicholas walton-healey

David Armfield studied at the National Gallery School in the 1940s and turned to full time painting in 1965. RMIT printamking. He has won several art awards, including the Ramsay Prize - NGV School, the Redcliffe and in 1980 the Eltham Prize. Armfield is represented in the National Gallery collection, Art Gallery of NSW, Tasmanian Art Gallery, several regional art galleries across Australia as well as private collections. David Armfield first came to Eltham in the late 1903s on painting trips and used to camp on the banks of the Diamond Creed. He returned to Eltham in 1957 with his wife Joan who has subsequently become one of the district's potters, and built a mud brick house and studio in John Street on land adjoining Peter Glass. He has painted many landscapes in the district including intimate studies of the bush floor and the aftermath of bush fires.Oil on canvas painting depicting a Panton Hill bush scape.Signed: D. Armfield in lower right hand corner. Not dated.david armfield, eltham art prize, panton hill

David Armfield studied at the National Gallery School in the 1940s and turned to full time painting in 1965. RMIT printamking. He has won several art awards, including the Ramsay Prize - NGV School, the Redcliffe and in 1980 the Eltham Prize. Armfield is represented in the National Gallery collection, Art Gallery of NSW, Tasmanian Art Gallery, several regional art galleries across Australia as well as private collections. David Armfield first came to Eltham in the late 1903s on painting trips and used to camp on the banks of the Diamond Creed. He returned to Eltham in 1957 with his wife Joan who has subsequently become one of the district's potters, and built a mud brick house and studio in John Street on land adjoining Peter Glass. He has painted many landscapes in the district including intimate studies of the bush floor and the aftermath of bush fires. Painting: oil on canvas. Depicting the desolate aftermath of a bushfire in Eltham. Trees are bare and burnt, foreground is sparse, whilst background is fiery red.david armfield, eltham, bushfire

David Armfield: David Armfield studied at the National Gallery School in the 1940s and turned to full time painting in 1965. RMIT printamking. He won several art awards, including the Ramsay Prize - NGV School, the Redcliffe and in 1980 the Eltham Prize. Armfield is represented in the National Gallery collection, Art Gallery of NSW, Tasmanian Art Gallery, several regional art galleries across Australia as well as private collections. David Armfield first came to Eltham in the late 1930s on painting trips and used to camp on the banks of Diamond Creed. He returned to Eltham in 1957 with his wife Joan who has subsequently become one of the district's potters, and built a mud brick house and studio in John Street on land adjoining Peter Glass. He has painted many landscapes in the district including intimate studies of the bush floor and the aftermath of bush fires.Ceramic stoneware. Reduction fired, dolomite glaze, wax resist decoration over iron. Decorated/painted by David Armfield. Cast by Joan Armfield.

Isobel Clement has been practising since the 1980's. She completed her post graduate diploma at Phillip Institute (RMIT) in 1990. She paints, draws and uses installation for creative discourse. She has had more than ten solo exhibitions. Her work is included in collections such as National Gallery of Australia, the Australian Print Workshop Archive, Art Bank Australia and The Bundanon Trust. She has been shortlisted for the contemporary painting prize, the Bayside Art Award, on three occasions in recent years and was the winner of the Nillumbik Prize in 2009.Isobel Clement is a local artist who won the 2008 Nillumbik Prize. Painted in monochrome the artwork depicts two vases (with decorative edges) and two cups on a table in a row. Each of the four objects are slightly different in scale and shape and parallel to the picture plane. N/Astill life, nillumbik prize, painting, monochrome, vases, cups

Jan Senbergs was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1939 and came to Australia when he was ten. Senbergs’ work has been characterised by a simple and bold aesthetic. From lush landscapes to barren urban spaces, his body of work signifies an artist who has continually experimented with shape, form and motif, a fundamental humanist vision, a finely-honed sense of the absurd, and a rigorous studio practice spanning printmaking, drawing and painting. Senbergs is Baldessin's exact contemporary. He was also born in Europe and fled his homeland because of the war, arriving in Melbourne in 1950. Like George, Senbergs also worked at the RMIT and in 1973 represented Australia at the Bienal de Sao Paulo. Senbergs first met George when he was living in St. Kilda. George asked if he could screen print his 'Argus' catalogue for a show at the gallery in the Argus building. George Baldessin (1939-1978) was born in San Biagio di Callalta, in the Veneto in Northern Italy and arrived in Australia ten years later. A printmaker and sculptor he built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971. The bluestone studio was hand built by George, his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George.'New Jersey - rust belt' is one of eight prints in the 'Baldessin & Friends commemorative folio. The folio was conceived by Tess Edwards as a fundraising initiative in celebration of the The Baldessin Press & Studio's fifteen year anniversary, and as a way to honour George Baldessin's memory. The Baldessin Press & Studio is a not-for-profit organisation created in memory of the late George Baldessin (1939-1978), whose original studio is now open to the public for creative use and as a practical legacy to living artists. The Studio is located in St Andrews, Nillumbik. The folio is a unique coming together of seven very different and acclaimed artists who are connected by their friendship to the missing eighth member, George Baldessin. This print finds its' origins in the time Senbergs spent at Harvard in America in 1989-90. In the context of Baldessin it explores an industrial urban surreal vision that was common to both artist. The image captures the life force of the city revealing the keen and observant eye of Jan Senbergs. Similar in sensibility to his large scale charcoal drawings of the 1990s, the artwork is not only a record of what the artist sees, but of what interest him. By following the movement of each line the viewer can witness the artist's eye travelling through, over and around each element of the urban landscape. The scale is deceptive with the image bled to the full-size of the sheet of paper like a microcosm of a much bigger whole. sugar lift etching of an urban (cityscape - New Jersey) scene - bridges, roads, buildings, in thick black brushstrokes. The image is busy; full of energy and movement. A bleed print in which the paper barely contains the city scape. In pencil (handwritten): top centre: left '14/25' (edition); centre 'New Jersey-Rustbelt' (title); right 'Jan Senbergs' (signature); print, sugarlift etching, urban landscape, ekphrasis2018, new jersey, line, rust belt

Springmount Pottery is located in Creswick, Victoria, and produces and sells works designed by its owner, Tina Banitska, who also owns the Convent Gallery in Daylesford. Banitska came to Australia with her family from Greece in 1956. She trained at RMIT and Franklin State College, before taking over Doug Alexander's Springmount Pottery when he moved to Tharwa in 1976. Retaining the pottery name, she developed it as a workshop, employing throwers and decorators to make works to her design, and initially selling these through the Springmount Pottery Gallery on Main Street, Ballarat. The pottery now operates with its own gallery onsite. Banitska's initial interest in ash glazes is continued in the Pottery's ashware line and there has also been a wide range of other Springmount designs. Works are signed with a painted 'Springmount' often split over two lines.A hand thrown, glazed and decorated plate with attached bowl for dip.ceramics, springmount pottery, tina banitska, australian studio ceramics

The Polish born artist, designer and filmmaker, Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski (1922-1944), who arrived in Melbourne in 1949 on the 'Fairsea', a ship carrying displaced persons from Europe and the Baltic States. He sought employment in architectural and design practices, and also enrolled in classes at the National Gallery School. From 1952 until 1953 Ostoja-Kotkowski had a brief, but productive, period working as a designer in the Prestige Fabric Design Studio in Melbourne. Ann Carew, 2017The textile design has aesthetic significance as an example of the early Australian work of noted emigre artist, designer and filmmaker, Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski, and it has historical significance for its association with the Prestige's Textile Design Studio, and the studio's art director, Gerhard Herbst. Small sample of pale green rayon fabric with a bold, repeating geometric pattern printed in black and white.emigre, polish, design, textile design, rmit design archives

architecture

Page layout for Costume of Australia book, by Marion Fletcher.Page layout features sketch of twe 1870s , including bodice detail of the second dress: 1. Day Dress c.1873, from the National Gallery of Victoria; 2. Afternoon or Dinner Gown, 1877, from the National Trust of Australia (Victoria).Inscribed in blue pencil, bottom left: '64% in grey ink, bottom left: 'P2' in blue ink, bottom left: '<-----------------------164mm--------------------------->/ OUP 102[cricled]'; bottom left [running horizontally]: <---------------------187.5mm----------ink, paper

Scrapbook containing examples of design work and photographs. Includes photograph of interior of Church of St James, Malvern (B Joyce architect; Kral may have designed lights and pews); Gallery A letterhead, catalogues etc: John Jansson; Robert K Skerritt Pty Ltd; Claude Kawchitch & Associates; Martin Adams; Total Design Group (George Kral, Bernard Joyce, Derek Hooper); Trevor Huggard; Forum, Southern Cross Hotel; Centroswiss; photographs of Kral with Clement Meadmore; Esquire Caf�, Canberra; Caprice Restaurant, Collins Street, 1957; Frederica Melbourne,1958; Nylon Spinners stand, Royal Melbourne Show,1959; ACI stand, Exhibition Building,1958; Department of Trade Show, Japan 1962 (with B Joyce); APPM display; International Exhibition of Advertising; Building Industries Fair, Melbourne; Packaging Industries Fair, Sydney,1957; Spencer Motors stand at Motor Show 1958; unidentified designs; 17 drawings of logos.ink, cardboard

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.