Rosemary Goodenough, fashion accessories designer and artist , shows us the most calming room in her Norfolk home- The Telegraph's Catalina Stogden talks with Rosemary Goodenough.
There is something incredibly calming about this room, a sense of solidity and time and place; it is my thinking space, somewhere I can leave work behind. I don’t answer the phone or have a television or computer in here. I can sit back and contemplate being a person, rather than a driven being, constantly on to the next thing.
I moved here four months ago with my husband. It is an odd place; we think it’s three houses which have been made into one. One is rather grand with a magnificent staircase with sea dragons carved into it, the rest decreasingly so. The oldest part of the building, an old Merchant’s House in Norfolk, dates back 500 years; the most recent to 1715.
There is a blocked-off doorway in this room, incredibly deep cornices and evidence of an old staircase. I thought there was damp behind the walls, but discovered panelling instead covered with wallpaper which, we have been advised, should be analysed by an expert from the Victoria & Albert museum. A far nicer thing to find than rot!
I never use brushes when I paint, only knives, rags or my hands. I like to feel materials, and you can’t get that with a brush. I once heard a fashion insider say about one of my works: “If this painting were a scarf, I would wear it.” And so it began. I now design fabrics based on my art
Chaise longue
My mother gave this to me 30 years ago and it was covered in faded old chintz. I had it recovered in denim and she was absolutely furious – although she got used to it. I like to mix styles and periods up. The fan is an anniversary present from my husband – he gives me a different one every year
Walls
These were originally covered in woodchip. We took it off to find the most amazing, original wooden planks, which are 500 years old. They were covered in five layers of wallpaper, the most recent of which dates from the 1840s. To preserve it we had it waxed and it seems almost like Spanish leather. Other parts look Etruscan red and arsenic green in colour
Paintings
I don’t like a neutral palette. These paintings are very subtle; I paired them against the bold background of the walls which is why they work. The watercolour (centre) is by Christine McArthur; the other by Alexander Goudie