Education

Moore is well known in the art world for his contribution to modern sculpture, but few people realise that at the close of the Second World War he also made a large number of textile designs and fabrics.

Upon arrival at the workshop the participants were given a short simple exercise to get them thinking about colour and grouping shapes to form repeat patterns. They had to choose from a variety of coloured backgrounds and then select shapes in two contrasting colours to form a possible textile design. We then proceeded to the exhibition Henry Moore Textiles to look at the pieces Moore created and discussed his collaboration with the textile designer Zika Ascher in the 1940s.

After returning to the Aisled Barn, participants chose from a selection of bags, cushion covers, silk squares, silk ties and canvases to which they applied their own unique design, through a variety of methods including block printing, hand painting, appliqué and tracing. They were encouraged to consider Moore’s textiles and his use of bold colours, simple shapes and pattern repeat. Some had gathered found objects to generate ideas, others used wallpaper, symbols and silhouettes as a starting point to create their textile piece.