Walking the Block

Jane Weir

ISBN-13 978-1-906285-19-7

HB £16.99

Phyllis Barron (1890-1964) and Dorothy Larcher (1884-1952) met in the Brook Street Gallery shortly after the First World War and went on to form a lifelong partnership, during which they designed and made a range of handblock printed textiles using predominantly natural dyes. Their work was exhibited in respected Arts and Crafts Galleries such as The Three Shields Gallery in Kensington Church Street, The Little Gallery run by Muriel Rose, The New Hand Workers Gallery, The Mayor Gallery and the Red Rose Gallery in Manchester.

They were commercially successful attracting commissions from wealthy private individuals, including Coco Chanel, the Duke of Westminster, the architect Detmar Blow, as well as public institutions like Girton College, Cambridge and Winchester Cathedral. Their design skills emerged after early training as painters; Phyllis Barron at the Slade and Dorothy Larcher at the Hornsey School of Art. Initially Phyllis Barron was influenced by French peasant textiles and Dorothy Larcher, finding herself stranded in India for the duration of the First World War, discovered the art of Indian block printed textiles from villagers. They rediscovered the use of natural dye techniques, with a specific interest in Indigo.

Phyllis Barron’s influences brought bold abstract design and pattern to block printed textiles, reflecting the Vorticists, whereas Dorothy Larcher imbued a naturalistic style to their printed stuffs. They experimented with blocks cut from a variety of woods, as well as lino and often used found objects such as kitchen utensils to make prints. Their recovery and development of natural dying techniques brought a range of intense and subtle colour to their work. Their hand made blocks ‘walked’ over a wide range of cloths including linen, hand-woven Indian cotton, Chinese silk, Rodier woollens, chiffon, crepe de chine, velvet and organdie. Their prints were used in furnishing textiles, as well as clothes and accessories such as dresses, scarves and stoles. This book is a poetic representation of their creative partnership and lives together, set alongside many of the textiles and the creative environments in which they worked.