The William Morris Collection

'A Very English Pregnancy' - available for purchase.

'Pride & Prejudice' - available for purchase

As a little girl, CJ suffered from night time anxiety and bad dreams - perhaps the downside of a naturally creative imagination and sensitive nature.

Laying alone in her bed at night, she would trace the patterns of the wallpaper with her fingertips in the soft glow of her nightlight, taking comfort in the repetitive patterns of blossoms and buds that covered her wall.

She first became aware of the beautiful wallpaper and fabric designs of William Morris and his contemporaries of the British Arts & Crafts Movement around the age of five or six, during a sleepover at a neighbour’s house.

“I was particularly nervous being away from home and my mum, but in the same way some people count sheep or have other little bedtime rituals to get drowsy, I would look to the patterns I could see around me.

Despite feeling lonely and afraid, I would allow my mind to get lost in the detail of Morris’s intricate designs, the flow of one leaf to the next, the curve of a stem; counting the petals or the tiny stamens of each flower. The rhythm, flow and harmony of his pattern work was something I found restful and almost meditative to gaze at.”

The beauty of nature, presented in such complex, detailed, yet reassuringly repetitive patterns represented something reliable and sustainable - an indefinable connection to the Kentish countryside where CJ grew up, an infinity for craftsmanship from a bygone age; an appreciation for order and rhythm in the carefully constructed designs - not in the rigid or stifling sense, but the balance of things. Beauty and detail and colour just enough to be enriching and stimulating, but never too much as to be overwhelming or restrictive.

Morris and his Victorian artisan contemporaries felt like home, like ‘the good bits’ of England, the effort worth making.

“My mother, also an artist, would sit and paint for hours, herself getting lost in the minute details of a clump of clover, a curling strand of ivy, dew drops on moss growing up an old tree.

I in turn would sit beside her at the dining room table, pen or paintbrush in hand. The pair of us sat either in silence or listening to beautiful music, creating side by side, detail upon detail.”

As an adult CJ returned to this place of creative comfort, this time using the human body as canvas, the work of Morris and his Victorian contemporaries as her inspiration.

The challenge of recreating either existing well-known and beloved patterns or creating brand new designs of her own in a similar style is greatly increased by the move to a non-uniform three dimensional state. Each piece in the collection is unique and takes many weeks to create.

“Translating a work designed for a flat panel of fabric or paper onto the undulating curves of the nude body appeals to me, has a beauty and even a wry humour to it.

An artist friend once referred to the collection as ‘Erotica by Stealth’ - because even if the human body can still be seen as somewhat shocking in some circles, the inclusion of the familiar and comforting hand-painted pattern work harking back to one of the most outwardly prudish times in English history seems to smooth the way for acceptance of this alternative canvas.

The William Morris Collection has been welcomed into stately homes and even castles and has drawn commissions from private collectors from every conceivable background. Most proudly, we were commissioned by Michael Parry, Archivist at Morris & Co and author of ‘Morris & Co: A Revolution in Decoration’ to create ‘Burden of Love’ for his home.”

Masters & Munn’s Morris-inspired collection was featured on BBC's 'Show Me the Monet', where the first piece in the collection, 'Wearing William', won CJ Munn a place in the final of the BBC's search for the most exciting new art talent in Britain, resulting in her being invited to exhibit at the Henry Moore Gallery in London.

The Collection was also featured in the Sky Arts series 'Objects of Desire', where the artists were interviewed about their inspiration; and their work shown alongside some of the other most desirable objects in the world today.

The William Morris Collection is a series of unique gypsum based lifecast sculptures (although we can offer a range of other material options) all intricately hand-painted and finished in a mixture of acrylics, emulsions, guache, pastel pencil and UV stable inks sealed with a traditional milk glaze for a subtle lustre.

They range in price from £3000-£5000 for a wall hung torso or around £2500-£3000 for a framed face.

Purchase Enquiry

Although many of the pieces shown in this gallery have already been sold we do have a few pieces ready for purchase, including the beautiful ‘May’ and ‘Eve’, and we welcome new commissions inspired either by existing (out-of-copyright) fabric or wallpaper designs or we can create a brand new design for you taking inspiration from flora and fauna of special significance to you and your loved ones.

In this way, you can select the colour palette and level of detail to suit your room exactly, to represent a family crest, your wedding flowers, plants that represent where you grew up, or any number of personal elements. Please get in touch using the details at the bottom of the page to discuss your ideas or questions.

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