"A first glance over the block-printed fabric works of the Folly Cove Collective might make you think of William Morris, but look closer at the subject matter and you’ll find altogether more modern imagery. Baked bean suppers, square dancing, local architecture and skiing feature in the pattern designs – scenes drawn directly from the artists’ lives, making the works at once timeless and a unique window into a fascinating era and niche of society."
"...The designers of the grassroots collective were all women, and mostly had no previous artistic training, except for their leader Virginia Lee Burton Demetrios. Virginia studied printmaking as a teen, under printmaker Robert Hestwood, attended California School of Fine Arts, and became a published author and illustrator before she founded the Folly Cove Designers in 1941. She set out to create a group that gave women artistic training, creative independence and community, inviting her friends and neighbours to join, and teaching them techniques that Elena says “allowed even artistic novices to achieve incredible designs”. This included encouraging them to 'draw what they knew' and sketching their subjects over and over again, until their 'made them their own'." - Jenny Brewer
Article: Unearthing the Pioneering Print Designs of the All-Women Folly Cove Collective
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