Rachel Atkins
Design For Textiles BA Hons
Heriot Watt University
Graduates: 2025
Specialisms: Textiles - Print / Textiles for Interiors / Textile Innovation/Textile Art
My location: Galashiels, United Kingdom
Rachel Atkins
First Name: Rachel
Last Name: Atkins
University / College: Heriot Watt University
Course / Program: Design For Textiles BA Hons
Graduates: 2025
Specialisms: Textiles - Print / Textiles for Interiors / Textile Innovation/Textile Art
My Location: Galashiels, United Kingdom
About
I use a canvas as my vision board, where I aspire for personal development and growth. As a textile designer, specialising in print I wish to utilise my physical and digital skills to translate emotion and capture the journey I am currently on. Storytelling is an essential part of my creation, whether conveyed through textures, shapes or colour. Finding a unique avenue, where I can express my desire to explore large scale textural motifs, excites my curiosity and motivates me. Creative problem solving, visual experimentation and research drives my work and has made me into the designer I am today. Exploring new print and design methods, learning from unplanned mistakes, taking them all on board and learning from them has allowed me to innovative, quick thinking and resourceful.
“Grief and Grace” is a collection which explores the interpretation of accidental qualities and textures created in the print room into screen prints, I created wallpapers and fabrics that will evoke the presence and the memory of past loved ones. Drawing from my own experience of grief using butterflies and colour to symbolise emotion such as strength, love and how life does not end but continues after ones passing. I translated the qualities of a butterfly in a quite abstract way to create a series of designs that have a hand-crafted textural appearance yet sit together to form more figurative compositions. There is an exploration of interior applications such as lampshades and wallpapers, that combine both digital processes as well as hand drawn and screen-printed qualities.
Competitions
