Rachael Howard
- Lecturer in Textile Design
- Email: r.howard2@bathspa.ac.uk
- Telephone: +44 (0)1225 876194
- School or Department: Bath School of Design
- Campus: Sion Hill
- Office: SH.T3.03
- Website:

Personal statement
Rachael has been a successful practising textile artist and designer since leaving the Royal College of Art in 1992, as one of the first postgraduate students of Embroidery.
Since then, she has become one of its most respected practitioners. Her graphic, lively sketches of everyday life typify her powers of observation and knack for catching the moment. She has pioneered a lively mix of embroidery and screen-printing techniques, using image, text and object to tell often autobiographical stories of the everyday.
Rachael regularly exhibits her work nationally and internationally. In 1998 she had her first monograph with Ruthin Craft Centre: a "phenomenally successful" show which toured nationally for 2 years. Its final destination was at the Geffrye Museum, London, where 32,500 people visited the show.
She is a committee member of the highly regarded 62 Group of Textile Artists; they have an active exhibiting program, which included a 2013 show in Tokyo, Japan.
Rachael has been involved in many public art commissions from cushions for benches in Newbury Library, to a wall-hanging for the Museum of Science and Industry in Berlin.
She has also worked as a freelance designer and illustrator for many companies including:
- Paul Smith
- Habitat
- Liberty and
- magazines such as Selvedge.
She has her own collections of ties and interior accessories which she sells at events such as the Crafts Council's Origin.
Rachael has been visiting lecturer at many universities and colleges in the UK and abroad including MMU, Goldsmiths and Central St Martins.
She has received a number of awards for her work and teaching. In 1997, she was shortlisted for the prestigious Jerwood Prize for Applied Arts.
She won the Artworks Award for Art in Education in 2003 and 2004, whilst artist in residence at Lauriston Primary School in her then home town of Hackney, London.
"One of our foremost narrative textile artists"
- Embroidery magazine
Academic qualifications
- MA Embroidery, Royal College of Art
- BA Hons (1st Class) Textiles Design specialising in Embroidery, Loughborough College of Art and Design
Professional memberships
- 62 Group of Textile Artists, Committee member
- Oxton Artists, Guest
Teaching specialism
- Printed and embroidered textiles
Research and academic outputs
Radical thread: 1962-2012
book
Howard, R and Millar, L (2011) Radical thread: 1962-2012. Direct Design Books, Kent. ISBN 9780957124202
Sketch it, stitch it / Draw it, print it
conference_item
Howard, R (2015) Sketch it, stitch it / Draw it, print it. In: Making Tomorrow: a 3-day Festival of Textiles, 7 - 9 March 2014, Cork, Ireland.
Artist's talk on Red Work
conference_item
Howard, R (2014) Artist's talk on Red Work. In: Red Work, Rachael Howard, 27 November 2014, Waterside Arts Centre, Manchester, UK.
Artist talk
conference_item
Howard, R (2014) Artist talk. In: Bluecoat Display Centre Artist Talks, 23 September 2014, Athenaeum Club, Liverpool, UK.
PSS workshop
conference_item
Howard, R (2014) PSS workshop. In: Making an Impact, 28 March 2014, PSS, Liverpool, UK.
62 Group NOW [group exhibition]
exhibition
Howard, R (2015) 62 Group NOW [group exhibition]. Upfront Gallery, Cumbria, UK, 14 March - 3 May 2015.
Red work [solo exhibition]
exhibition
Howard, R (2015) Red work [solo exhibition]. Williamson Art Gallery, Wirral UK, 14 February - 29 March 2015.
Craft goes pop [group exhibition]
exhibition
Howard, R (2015) Craft goes pop [group exhibition]. Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool UK, 23 January - 7 March 2015.
Red work [solo exhibition]
exhibition
Howard, R (2014) Red work [solo exhibition]. Waterside Arts Centre, Sale, Manchester, 11 October 2014 - 31 January 2015.
Ebb and flow 62 [group exhibition]
exhibition
Howard, R (2014) Ebb and flow 62 [group exhibition]. In: Ebb and Flow, Heritage Centre, Grimsby, UK, 9 September - 2 November 2014.
Found friends [solo exhibition]
exhibition
Howard, R (2014) Found friends [solo exhibition]. CIT Crawford College of Art, Cork, Ireland, 7 - 14 April 2014.
Music makers [group exhibition]
exhibition
Howard, R (2014) Music makers [group exhibition]. Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool, UK, 20 March - 3 May 2014.
British textile art exhibition 62@50
exhibition
Howard, R (2013) British textile art exhibition 62@50. Koyo Gallery, Showa Women’s University, Tokyo, 10 December 2013 - 25 January 2014.
Lost and found: an exhibition of new textiles [solo exhibition]
exhibition
Howard, R (2012) Lost and found: an exhibition of new textiles [solo exhibition]. National Trust Quarry Bank Mill, Cheshire, 1 April - 24 June 2012.
Rachael Howard: textiles
exhibition
Howard, R (2010) Rachael Howard: textiles. Weekend Gallery, Hastings, 22 May 2010 - 27 June 2010.