Grace Furneaux Wood

She married Leslie Furneaux Wood on 24th March 1932. They had 3 children Michael (b.1936), Monica (b.1939) and Anthony (b.1941). Her family was always the centre of her world and her children recall quick sketches on scraps of paper in unexpected places, a jam jar of water for her brushes on the kitchen table and a glorious wash of colour on the paper. Pictures ready for an exhibition had red 'not for sale' stickers on them as her children said “you can’t sell that as we love it!”

In 1948 Grace and Leslie started a venture in their home called the Walsingham Press and Studio. The printing press was in the recess under the stairs and we remember trays and trays of typeface. Leslie worked every evening after his full-time job producing letter headings and illustrations for their clients. This is when they began to produce their own cards which Grace designed. This continued for many years.

Grace enjoyed writing poetry and stories. In 1950 she wrote and illustrated a children’s book entitled ‘Holidays Ahoy’, which was inspired by family holidays to Devon to visit grandparents. A publisher was very keen for Grace to travel around the UK to do a series of books in this format, but unfortunately because she had children at home, she was unable to take up the offer.

Grace attended the John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design for a course in Mosaics which she found fascinating.

In 1965 the foundation stone was laid for a new church in Clayhall, Essex. A temporary home was found in a disused Nissen hut which had been used during the war. It was in a deplorable state with a leaking roof, so Grace spent many months in her wellies painting murals! She painted the wall behind the altar, a beautiful Nativity scene, and a further mural at Easter. These were so acclaimed that she was offered and happily accepted the commission to make 14 Stations of the Cross for the new church.

The completion of the church which was named St John Vianney was opened in 1964. The mosaic designs for the Stations of the Cross were set in cement in the shape of a Celtic cross. These were a fixture on the end of our kitchen table for a long time!

Grace had a deep faith and much of her work is of a religious nature.

She was proud to be a member of SIAC (The International Society of Christian Artists).

When Monica, aged 17, started teaching, Grace designed a poster advertising the school which was displayed on all the stations of the London Underground.

Grace’s work ranged from private commissions for portraits and illustrations to an elaborate Venetian mural in a hotel restaurant.

Although her work was mostly figurative, she was very versatile and loved painting landscapes. This was especially evident when Grace and Leslie moved to a harbour house in Devon with changing tides and bobbing boats as a perpetual inspiration! A few years later Monica also moved to Devon.

In many ways Grace’s talents came to a wonderful fruition when she became involved in theatre work through Monica’s School of Classical Ballet in Exeter. She produced a wealth of imaginative designs for costumes and stage sets for productions. Being meticulously researched the costumes were always authentic to the period in every detail. When the designs were displayed on the walls of the Studio there was immense excitement when the pupils, arriving for class, crowded round to see what they would be wearing.

The stage sets for the performances at the Barnfield Theatre were very challenging and physically demanding. These were painted on hardboard panels on the floor of the studio and assembled at the theatre. It must have been hard to get the perspective right but when they were put in place, they were perfect. Leslie was always interested and willingly involved.

As well as her prolific artwork Grace was also a gifted and knowledgeable musician. She grew up in a musical family and had piano tuition from a young age. She accompanied Monica’s Ballet classes from the earliest days (1956) and continuing after the move to Devon. She was greatly loved and appreciated by all the pupils through the years. An abrupt end came when she suffered a sudden and severe heart attack which she fortunately survived but had to give up playing for classes.

Grace found delight in researching the music for Monica’s full length ‘story’ ballets. This involved finding the right composer for the chosen story and the period in which it was set. When this was decided, the appropriate pieces of music had to be found to create the score. This entailed hours of listening and learning the music over many months. When this was completed, the amazing collaboration began with frequent and lengthy choreographic sessions. Both Grace and Monica found this the most intense but extremely joyful part of the process. They frequently worked all day until the children came back from school who were often ‘hijacked’ to be a ‘body’ to help Monica work out some complex patterns.

A backcloth for a studio performance of ‘Dance is Life, Life is Dance’ in July 1992 was to be Grace’s final artwork (right). During the Summer Grace became very ill and had to be admitted to hospital. Just five months after Grace and Leslie’s 60th Wedding Anniversary and a few days before her 84th Birthday she died peacefully on the 1st of September 1992.

The following year pupils of the school gave a Commemorative Performance of the ‘Water Babies’ and ‘The Twelve Dancing Princesses’ at the Northcott Theatre Exeter.

Grace was a ‘gift’ to her loving family, her friends and to all the pupils who passed through the school. She will live on through her warmth of spirit her joyful creativity and a wealth of inspirational art.