Sheila Catherine Bownas (4 March 1925 – 2007) was a British

textile design Textile design, also known as textile geometry, is the creative and technical process by which thread or yarn fibers are interlaced to form a piece of Textile, cloth or Textile, fabric, which is subsequently printed upon or otherwise adorned. Texti ...

er and

botanical illustrator Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species. They are generally meant to be scientifically descriptive about subjects depicted and are often found printed alongside a botanical description in boo ...

. Born in Linton, West Riding of Yorkshire (now in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

), Bownas attended

Skipton Girls' High School Skipton Girls' High School, founded in 1886 by the Petyt Trust, is an all-girls selective grammar school situated in Skipton, North Yorkshire, England. The school is a founding member of Northern Star Academies Trust, and leads Northern Lights ...

and Skipton Art School before being awarded a Yorkshire Senior County Art Scholarship to attend the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

. At the Slade Bownas won a first prize in 1948 as well as having three pictures included in the 1948

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, sc ...

. The following year she spend in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Italy studying history of art. After graduating in 1950 Bownas started a career in textile design as a freelance worker. Efforts to secure a permanent post failed probably due to sexism in the design industry; a rejection letter from Crown Wallpaper ended with the statement "With reference to your desire to obtain a position in our studio, the Director feels that should an appointment be made at all, a male designer would be preferable, considering our future policy." Her freelance customers included designs for Liberty's and

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

. In 1962 Bownas was commissioned by the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...

to produce a series of botanical studies for an exhibition. From this she accepted an offer from the

Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) is a scientific society for the study of flora, plant distribution and taxonomy relating to Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The society was founded as the Botani ...

to become one of the illustrators of the guidebook ''Sedges of the British Isles'' for which she produced over 1500 illustrations over six years. By the 1960s Bownas had returned to live in Linton where she remained for the rest of her life. She continued to freelance until the mid-1980s and continued to paint and draw until her death in 2007.

References

External links

Sheila Bownas: A Designer’s Life by Leeds Museums & GalleriesSheila Bownas: Pattern Designs by Leeds Museums & Galleries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bownas, Sheila Catherine 1925 births 2007 deaths People from Linton, North Yorkshire Textile designers British botanical illustrators Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art People educated at Skipton Girls' High School