MAXINE GORDON meets the north Yorkshire narrowboat artist behind the latest spring collection at Barbour

CATH KIDSTON and Emma Bridgewater are household names on account of their trademark designs – and now another British woman is snapping at their kitten heels.

Yorkshire’s Julie Dodsworth is building a reputation as a designer of note for her pretty floral patterns. She has 22 “collaborations” to date, with her work appearing on everything from notepads and soaps to fine china and crystal.

Her latest hook-up marks her first foray into the world of fashion – and what an entrance to make: arm in arm with Barbour.

Julie has come up with five new designs that feature in around 70 pieces in the new collection for spring. Her signature florals are evident inside jackets and coats, but also on wellies, bags and scarves as well as fashion wear such as cardis, T-shirts and blouses. There’s even an umbrella range featuring her pretty flowers, inspired by the British countryside.

It’s easy to spot Julie when we meet in York to check out the arrival of the collection at Fenwick’s department store in Coppergate. She’s dressed head to toe in Barbour, her pretty designs displayed on the turned up sleeves of her waterproof.

“I love it,” she says, arms outreached like a child showing off her new party frock. “The first time I saw the collection was at the Barbour photoshoot and I was just overwhelmed. And I wanted to try it all on.”

Barbour is obviously pleased with the results as well: it has signed up Julie to design an autumn/winter collection and another range for spring 2015.

Not bad for a coal miner’s daughter from Denby Dale who left school at 16 and has never taken an art class in her life.

Julie began painting just five years ago when she bought an old narrow boat, Calamity Jane, with her husband Simon, which is moored in Northampton.

Julie is a trained florist and the couple run a successful plant display business in Boroughbridge. The company’s clients are national, and the couple wanted a base down south, and loved the idea of a narrow boat.

Julie began painting it, copying other narrow boat styles, and following the traditions of folk art. She then started painting old tin watering cans and wooden chairs. She realised she loved it, and was rather good at it. But it was her daughter Beth, who pointed out its commercial potential telling Julie “this stuff is so on trend just now, you should sell it”.

Julie didn’t fancy making and manufacturing pieces herself, so ventured down the licensing route – finding companies to take her designs to use on their own products.

Barbour is not the first top British brand to work with her – she has designed china for Churchill and pieces Dartington crystal.

All three big brands fell in love with the heritage aspect of her designs, explains Julie.

But even finding her signature vintage style was a case of luck.

“When I started painting the boat, I bought all the colours but it looked a bit garish. I went to an old boat rally and saw a boat just decorated in three colours. And that was the key to it. That’s when it started to look like the heritage-vintage design that I was trying to achieve.”

At first Julie limited her palette to just three colours – red, green and gold, but later added blue to give her a bit more flexibility.

“I knew from then that whatever colours I mixed from them would work,” she says.

Painting is still very much a hobby. She does all her work from the narrow boat, taking inspiration from what she sees from the towpath.

“I paint all year round, in all weathers. If you wait for a good day, you wait forever. I love painting in the mornings and evenings. The very best light is at four or five in the morning when the day is going to be a scorcher and there is mist on the water, but you still have that cool of the morning. It is so quiet and the colours are so soft. That really is the perfect day.”

Julie believes her “ordinariness” has helped her succeed in her fledging design business, which only formally launched 24 months ago.

“The manufacturers thought it was extraordinary that I was an ordinary lady who painted on an old narrow boat at the weekend,” she says.

An ordinary lady who’s proved she’s something special.

Find out more at Juliedodsworth.com