Jane Walker is the founder of Bailey Hills Print+Wool, designing and producing quality printed wools and fabrics from Leicestershire. Jane’s fabrics are designed to be used within interiors and are created using hand-screen printing techniques and the digital printing of wool. She is the daughter of an architect, and even has mill-owning ancestors, all of which has compelled her to explore the possibilities of printing wool with her bold designs. So we are proud to bring you the Designer Insights of Jane Walker.
Image Credits: 1) Axminster Carpets – Simply Natural Stripe wool mix carpet, 2) Pinch Design – Noelle settee, 3) Mark Alexander – Mohair Velvet upholstery fabric, 4) Bailey Hills – Digitally printed boiled wool jersey cushion, 5) Pure Lana – Merino wool throws
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1) In your own words describe your unique style and creative aesthetic?
I have been exploring the creative & technical possibilities of printing onto wool cloth for interior applications since 2010. My prints range from simple bold geometrics to colourful feature prints.
2) When starting a new project, what is your creative process?
Hand drawn imagery exploring a theme or subject leads eventually to using computer software to help with scale and repeat designs. I draw from life or my own photographs.
3) Out of the creative people you have worked with, who is it that you respect and admire the most?
I’ve worked on my own so far but I’d love to collaborate with UK wool carpet & fabric companies in the future. I admire designers able to work in different fields of product design. My mother, an architect, introduced me to the work of William Morris and Terence Conran. I was an admirer of Ettore Sottsass and Philippe Starck in the 1980s, now it is Patricia Urquiola and more recently Lee Broom.
4) When looking for inspiration is there a particular thing you do to get inspired?
Inspired by architecture, exhibitions or holiday destinations, I’m drawn to colour, texture, theatrical styling. I try to focus on one element to develop and then this takes me somewhere else!
5) What has brought you to this point in your career? And what is your advice for people looking to follow in your footsteps?
Originally a commercial interior designer for over 20 years, working with different materials on bar & restaurant, office & retail fit-out projects, I retrained as a Printed Textile Designer. Choose something no-one else is doing, get informed about your material or process, network, practise, work hard, stay determined after disappointments.
