Tirzah Garwood

Two Women in a Garden: Garwood (right) and Charlotte Bawden, by Eric Ravilious.

Eileen Lucy "Tirzah" Garwood (11 April 1908 – 27 March 1951) was a British wood-engraver, painter, paper marbler, author, and a member of the Great Bardfield Artists.

According to Brighton & Hove Museums, Garwood "is one of the most original and distinctive figures of twentieth century British art." Her work is known for depicting people, places and animals in domestic scenes "caught in a fleeting moment". Her style is praised for its touches of humour and eccentricity. They collaborated on some projects together, most notably the mural at the Midland Hotel, Morecambe.

During her time with the Great Bardfield Artists, Garwood worked with Charlotte Bawden in creating exquisite marbled papers, some of which are now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Her name "Tirzah" was bestowed by her siblings, a reference to Tirzah in the Book of Numbers in the Bible, and possibly a corruption of a reference by her grandmother to "Little Tertia", that is, the third child. She and her family accompanied her father on army postings to Croydon, Littlehampton and then Eastbourne.

Garwood was educated at West Hill School in Eastbourne from 1920 to 1924, and then at Eastbourne School of Art from 1925, under Reeves Fawkes, Oliver Senior and, as a wood engraver, Eric Ravilious.

Wood-engravings

One of Garwood's early woodcuts, shown at the Society of Wood Engravers' annual exhibition in 1927, was praised in The Times. Between 1930 and 1932 the couple lived in Hammersmith, London, where there is a blue plaque on the wall of their house at the corner of Upper Mall and Weltje Road. In 1931 they moved to rural Essex where they initially lodged with Edward Bawden and his wife Charlotte at Great Bardfield. In 1933 they painted murals at the Midland Hotel in Morecambe.

During this time with the Great Bardfield Artists, Garwood was inspired by Charlotte Bawden to experiment with marbled paper. She created exquisite repeated designs which were used for lampshades and books. Garwood's marbling work was known for ethereal designs and natural dream-like forms and is currently held at the Victoria and Albert museum in London.

In 1934 they purchased Bank House at Castle Hedingham, in Essex, and a blue plaque now commemorates this. They had three children: John Ravilious (1935–2014); the photographer James Ravilious (1939–1999); and Anne Ullmann (b. 1941), editor of books on her parents and their work.

While he was travelling for a commission from the War Artists' Advisory Committee, Eric Ravilious's plane went missing off Iceland; it was later determined that he died in a plane crash on 2 September 1942. thumb

Later life and oil paintings Garwood left Ironbridge in March 1944, and moved with her children to Boydells Farm, near Wethersfield, Essex. She began painting in oils and resumed her career as an artist. These were some of the most productive years of her life as an artist. A family friend, Olive Cook, recalls how Garwood astounded her friends during this time period with her determination, joy, and courage in what Garwood said was "the happiest year of her life". which also has the largest collection of Ravilious' work. Both also have works in the Fry Art Gallery in Saffron Walden. One of her prints is held by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

From 19 November 2024 to 26 May 2025, the Dulwich Picture Gallery held the first major retrospective of Garwood's work.

The last house where Garwood lived, the eighteenth-century Grade II listed Copford Place in Copford near Colchester, was destroyed in a deliberate fire in November 2024. There were proposals to convert it into flats and houses. It had been empty and surrounded by scaffolding for some time.