Dive into the creative process behind the new wallpaper installation in the Queen's Building commissioned by Arts and Culture, University of Exeter. Find out how Bee Watson, founder of Wild Hive Paper Flowers, approached this vibrant commission as she breaks down the full creative journey.

Being commissioned to design a wallpaper inspired by the University grounds was an incredible brief. I was a student here at Streatham Campus over 10 years ago. I still clearly remember attending the Open Day and being completely taken with how beautiful the location was. A lot has changed here since then however so much of the landscaping has just become even more established and even more spectacular. My very first lecture was in Queen's building and it was a lovely full-circle moment to be invited back here as an artist to design something for this space. In this blog, I’ll walk you through the process that led to the creation of the wallpaper – from concept through to installation.

1.

The project started in early April 2022 with a site tour with Drew from University of Exeter Grounds Team to identify flowers and gain an understanding of what would be coming into bloom over the coming months. I made a shortlist of flowers I wanted to study and made a plan to revisit the campus when they would be out.

2.

Mid May I spent a day studying, photographing and sketching Rhododendrons, Wisteria, Azalea, Camelias and Ferns in and around Reed Hall to gather all the details I needed to be able to design a paper flower template. Having access to the live flowers to measure the petals, and leaves and make annotations about any other relevant details means I can create more realistic paper flowers than I can from working from images alone.

3.

When I got back to the studio a process of trial and error began to finalise the template. I work using a specialist heavy grade crepe paper to create lifelike petals to scale. The paper has a 30% stretch in it, so to create the template I reduce the sketches down to compensate for the give in the material.

4.

Once all the elements of the flower are drawn up into a final template I can start making. Paper flowers are crafted from the inside out; I start with the stigma and stamens before adding petals, sepals, buds and leaves.

5.

Every part of the flower is made using a range of techniques to shape and stretch the crepe paper. Details are added to the stamen and petals using a mix of felt tips, cornflour paste and pastels. The blooms are assembled using hot glue, wire and paper floral tape.

6.

I specialise in turning flower designs into DIY craft kits and workshops that are suitable for beginners. As part of this project, we wanted to offer staff and students the opportunity to make their own paper flowers. This craft is a beautiful, mindful activity that invites us to spend a few hours offline, immersed in something creative that connects us to nature and the changing seasons. We ran two Paper Azalea workshops where we talked about the project, where the flowers were located on campus and the benefits of crafting for wellbeing.

9.

These motifs could then be transformed into a digital tile which is formatted to create a seamless repeat pattern. I spent a few days working up different concepts before landing on the idea of arranging the motifs in a format that reflected the steep banks of greenery and pops of floral colour that greet staff, students and visitors as they walk up through Streatham Campus. I really liked the idea of the final piece having a strong connection to the physical grounds and creating something that could be enjoyed all year round once the flowers had gone over.

10.

I sent sample designs to the printers and met with the Arts and Culture team to see what they looked like in place and receive feedback on the concept. This was really useful and I made some revisions to the final design before calculating how much wallpaper was needed and ordering the custom rolls.

11.

A week later we received the rolls of wallpaper through the post and saw the artwork at scale for the first time. The University Decorating Team installed the wallpaper in mid-July and it can be found on display in Queens Building. The wallpaper will be in place for the academic year 2022/23 and you can find the flowers that inspired the design in bloom from late April through to May on Streatham Campus. A huge thanks to everyone involved in this process.

Bee Watson

Find out more about the Wild Hive wallpaper installation here