‘Art should be about instinct. I don’t think people should pay a fortune for a squiggle and a dot’

Illustrator and fabric artist Pamula Furness talks to Julia Thorley about her instinctive approach to design and why no one should be afraid to give art a go.

Pamula Furness draws because she can’t help herself. She is constantly sketching ideas, many of which are destined to remain hidden in her personal collection, but she also likes to share her ideas in a variety of ways. She has never had any formal art training, but instead works purely by instinct to create images that are uniquely hers. 

“I’ve always enjoyed drawing pictures, but everything I do is off the cuff. I’ve not had any art training since I left school. I was about 14 when someone told me I could draw, which was amazing, but I didn’t pursue it in any formal way. My family used to say, ‘She likes to draw because it stops her skitting about.’ They used to tell me I lived on my nerves! It’s true that I do find it hard to sit still, so I will sometimes throw down a quick squiggle because I’m feeling fidgety and it helps me to calm down. Other times it’s more of a meditation and there’s nothing in my mind when I draw.” 

Pamula.

She makes no secret of the fact that she has had some unsettled times, one way and another, with a troubled personal life. Now, though, she is settled in Kettering for good and building a strong following for her various creative endeavours.

“Over the years, I’ve done all sorts of jobs, shop work, waitressing, book-keeping – I can’t remember everything I’ve done! One of the more unusual jobs I had was working as a wood machinist making frames for furniture. It was quite a novelty at the time for a girl to be doing that. I had insisted on taking metalwork at school, much to the annoyance of my teachers, and this led to an interest in woodwork and then to this job.” 

Pamula dismisses her pictures as ‘doodles’, but they are more complex and imaginative than that throwaway label implies. Her style is distinctive, with complex asymmetric designs, often featuring exaggerated eyes and fantastical figures and swirls.

“When I work now, I’m happy with the back of an envelope and a black biro. I have lots of pictures in my head. It’s a constant array of images, but I can’t get them from my brain, down my arm and out on to the page fast enough. I have books full of pictures and boxes of unfinished ideas. Sometimes I leave the designs in black, but I might go back and colour them in. I often work from my bed and keep a stack of brushes there. I water down inks or paints with water, coffee, wine, whatever is to hand.”

As well as the intricate work in her sketches, Pamula also creates beautiful tie-dye clothes, hangings and furnishings in a more free-flowing style. There has been a resurgence of interest in this design form not just with those who remember it from its heyday in the late 1960s, but also a new generation of people who love its quirkiness. 

“I dabbled with tie-dyeing in 1989/90 and had a shop for a while, but it’s only fairly recently that I’ve come back to it with intention. I’m loving working this way and pleased that so many people seem to like the end results. It’s not just hippy types and students, it’s anyone who wants a unique item or something just a little bit different. Children love tie-dye clothes, too, because they’re such great fun, and they’re popular with grandmas buying presents. Women buy the tops because they’re multicoloured and go with everything. They’re also flattering, because of their patterns and shading.”

One of Pamula’s tie-dye creations.

Pamula works with dyes that react with soda ash (unlike commercial home kits that rely on a reaction with salt), supplemented with watered-down fabric paint or screen print ink, as well as natural dyes such as onion skins and beetroot. As well as experimenting herself, she shares her enthusiasm in one-to-one and group workshops.

“Everyone should have a go at it. There’s really no limit to what can be dyed, but it must be a natural fabric that will accept the colour. I buy new t-shirts and underwear to work with, but also accumulate some stock from charity shops. People bring me their own things to dye, too, and that includes household furnishings as well as items of clothing. I’ve done everything from handkerchiefs and babygrows to tablecloths and double duvet covers. The biggest project I’ve done was a piece of fabric that was 60 inches wide and 10 yards long.”

Pamula has a regular pitch on Kettering’s Saturday market, trading as ‘Oddarty’ where customers often ask, ‘Did you do all this yourself?’ She confirms that she only sells things she has made, whether that is her tie-dye stock, her pictures or the tote bags and greetings cards she has made from her own designs. 

She is passionate that people should buy and create the art that they like, regardless of what anyone else thinks. 

“I want people to buy my pictures because they like them. I hate any kind of elitism. As I say, I have no formal training in art and don’t know much about art history, but I know that I love Dali and hate Picasso. I also quite like Beardsley, but really art should be about instinct. I don’t think people should pay a fortune for a squiggle and a dot.”

Another project that Pamula has in the pipeline is publishing a book that combines her images with her poetry. 

“I’ve had no formal training in writing either, but snippets dribble out of my mouth and sometimes make it onto the page. I write primarily for myself, and some of my poems are quite bleak, because there’s a lot going on in politics and the world in general that makes me angry, especially social injustice. My art is about prettifying life, but my poetry tends to be just the opposite. 

“I’d love to hold an exhibition to share all the things I do: the poetry, cards, pictures and fabric pieces. Ideally, I’d like my own studio where people could drop in and see me work, so if anyone knows a suitable space, perhaps they could let me know.”

You can see Pamula’s designs on Instagram: sparaxis3