I finally got around to visiting the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow last week to learn more about Morris' life and craft. The gallery was impressive and even won Art Fund Prize for Museum of the Year 2013. There are roughly 10,00 objects in the museum, organised thematically to make understanding his work easier. For example, there are gallery about his early life, the arts and craft movement, skills and practices and so on, making it very easy to find exactly what I wanted to know.
For this trip, I booked in advance a research visit, which gave me access to the learning and research centre on the top floor. This allowed me to work with the museum staff to get the ideal books and materials for my project. Looking through the books and documents was extremely helpful, as I studied what influenced Morris, books he had written himself and even what plants he added to his patterns, and grew in his garden at the Red House.
