Artist Highlight: Becca Who

We caught up with the lovely Becca Who to chat about all things floral and the Arts and Crafts movement. You can read the piece below, or shop her collection here.

Let’s start off with a little bit about your background. Where are you from originally? Is that where you are based now?

Lancashire born and bred, I’ve always lived around here – apart from my years spent studying in Manchester. My home town of Burnley is mostly known as a small mill town, but we’re actually 80% rural and my home studio looks out across the surrounding hills.

How do you draw inspiration from the place that you’re in?

My designs often centre around nature, including much wildlife and florals. I take inspiration from enjoying the outdoors in the beautifully bleak and wild Lancashire landscape – atmospheric woodlands and moors steeped in history and folklore. I love being out in our landscape through the changing moods of the weather and seasons. Mum to two boys, we often head out as a family and have a blast mountain biking, exploring, sailing, hiking and camping. I love to take my sketchbook outdoors too - although not so much in the rain, of which we get a lot! I also enjoy the local historic houses such as Towneley Hall and Gawthorpe Hall - beautiful museums loved for their art and textile collections – as well as vintage shops and collector’s markets for finding unexpected treasures.

When and how did you become interested in illustration and design?

As a young child, I was completely fascinated by book illustrations. Many of the books I loved were illustrated by some of the talents of the Golden Age of illustration – Grimm’s Fairytales, illustrated by Arthur Rackham, would captivate me for hours. Works by illustrators from this period have always fascinated me with their richness of detail and colour. The sense of intrigue from staring at these intricate artworks has always stayed with me as something that I love to evoke in my own creations.

What’s your earliest memory related to art?

My earliest memory of creating art is from when I was about 4 years old – summer days sat on the pavement outside of our home creating colourful and elaborate chalk drawings which would sprawl down the street and even up the walls of our house. From a young age, I would get lost in my imagination and I loved to include small unexpected details in my drawings for people to discover!

First museum visit or first artwork that really caused an impact on you?

As a teenager, I visited an exhibition of Derek Jarman’s last paintings, ‘Evil Queen’, at The Whitworth in Manchester - this had a huge effect on me, stirring an awakening to the emotional power of visual language. Jarman’s paintings depicted his courageous confrontation of his own mortality as he dealt with his HIV status, homophobia in the media and their manipulation of the AIDS epidemic. Having enjoyed art throughout school, I’d been taught to focus on the skills of perspective, form, tonal values etc., but Jarman’s paintings represented a whole other dimension to art. Discovering just what powerful tools of profound expression the use of colour and abstract marks can be, spurred me on to explore my own creativity more freely and intuitively.

We love your opulent and decadent style, where do you draw your biggest inspiration from?

I’ve always loved the Arts & Crafts movement of William Morris and Art Nouveau, artists such as Aubrey Beardsley, Edmund Dulac and Gustav Klimt. I love that the boundaries between ‘Fine Art’ and ‘Design’ were so fluid during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries – a premise which speaks to me as I create designs borne out of a love of art. The organic lines and decorative style of these movements inspire me to aim to create rich designs of elegant composition, expressing the natural world in a very ornamental way.

Over the years, I have gathered diverse inspirations; A love of Maximalism, alongside fascinations with surrealism and psychedelia, all bring elements of inspiration to my work. I love to embrace the unexpected and I enjoy the originality which comes from combining our own unique inspirations.

Being passionate about art and the benefits it brings to us, it’s always my aim to bring more art into our lives. From initially creating works of art to be enjoyed on the wall, I have since taken my artistic approach into design for fabric, wallpapers and homeware, encouraging people to invest in creative, timeless design for their interiors. This ‘slow movement’ of buying things to last is important to me as an intrinsic part of being considerate of our environment and reducing our impact on the planet.

Where did you go to school and what did you study? Did you study textile design?

I’ve studied various aspects of Art and Design, from Textiles to Fine Art and Art History. My higher education was to specialise in Graphic Design, in Manchester, which was my introduction to working digitally. Combining a love of fine art and traditional methods of ink drawing with current technology and techniques of digital painting, has lent itself well to my design approach. I really enjoy applying traditional painting techniques using digital tools – and this way of working allows me flexibility and freedom which is very useful in the design process.

What is a typical day in the life of Becca Who?

I’d say that no two days are the same – but they do all start with the hectic school run! Once back home and in the calm of my studio, I usually handle emails and order processing first. The rest of my day depends on what I’m working on, but usually includes chatting with customers about their ideas for uses of my designs; It’s fabulous to be a part of people bringing colours and patterns that they love into their interiors through my artwork.

I regularly offer new designs which means doing product photography, editing images, website updates and marketing campaigns. Often I head out to see other local businesses with whom I work, whether it be my Dressmaker or the Upholsterers – fabulous, hard working people who share my values for creativity and quality! Social Media brings a lot of eyes to my work and I love engaging with my Instagram followers every day too, seeing what creative things they’re up to and sharing lots of the furniture and interiors created with my designs.

I’m always busy, always creating and I really love what I do. My favourite days are those where I spend time creating artwork for new designs; Music on, cuppa tea and off I go. If I can sit in the garden creating, all the better!

What are your passions outside of the studio?

I love getting out into nature in all weathers doing various activities. I like mountain biking and enjoy long, challenging trails through forests! I recently learned to Windsurf, overcoming some fears of it – I think it’s important that my boys grow up seeing their Mum facing challenges and pushing herself!

I also enjoy visiting art exhibitions and I love interior styling in my home, but my favourite thing is still producing artwork – It doesn’t feel like working when I’m creating designs and so often my ‘work’ extends into my weekends too.

Do you have any exciting upcoming projects for 2022?

Always plenty on the horizon! I’m especially excited to be launching my first full collection of Wallpapers this season and I’m looking forward to seeing them in customers’ homes.

Quick Fire Questions:

Favourite book? Currently obsessed with ‘The Art Of Tim Burton’, a compilation of 40 years of artistry.

Butterflies or animal print? Animal print – every time!

Hot weather or cold weather? Given that I love jewel tones and darker palettes, layering my favourite clothes into one outfit, winter home cooking, snow, a roaring fire ..and Christmas! – I’d have to say cold weather. I do live in Lancashire after all!

Name three songs currently on heavy rotation in your studio when it is time to get to work.

Following her amazing Kitchen Discos during lockdown, I’m still playing a lot of Sophie Ellis Bextor! 3 songs currently?

‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ – Sophie Ellis Bextor - For when I need to get moving and tidying up in the studio!

‘White Rabbit’ - Jefferson Airplane - A favourite which usually features on my drawing days.

‘Angel’ - Massive Attack – Anything by Massive Attack gets me into creative mode!

Browse the full collection here.