Recent visit to the Whitworth Art Gallery - Lucienne Day and Barbara Brown

I recently had a mini trip to Manchester and was fortunate enough to visit one of my favourite art galleries, the Whitworth Art Gallery. I studied in Manchester in the late 80s so used to visit here often, however, I'd not been back to visit it for over 20 years and boy had it changed! I entered using the main front entrance to discover a superb entrance hall with two very impressive, stylish shops either side selling a range of very tasteful books, carefully chosen handmade objects, jewellery, ceramics, textiles and stationery.

I'd heard about the contemporary extension the gallery had recently had so was excited to see for myself.I was not disappointed! If I lived in Manchester, this would be one of my favourite cafes! I loved all the glass and how you could choose to sit in or out but still feel surrounded by greenery and trees.

The other reason I was pleased to have visited the gallery was to see two of my favourite textile designers - Lucienne Day and Barbara Brown. I used to collect fabric from the 50s and 60s and had numerous examples by both these designers. It was fabulous to be up close again to some of these and to see them presented in such a beautiful gallery. It brought back fond memories of my student days - I used to also collect Midwinter china and had the Barbara Brown coffee set shown here. Worth a visit.