Esther Wragg

MA Royal College of Art, London 1980-82
BA (Hons) Textile Design, Liverpool 1977-80

Painting and Sculpture

I have exhibited widely, including at:
The Mall Galleries, London
England & Co Gallery, London
Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London
Skylark, London
Cambridge Contemporary Arts
Byard Gallery, Cambridge
Artspace, Henley
Studiofabrica and The Court Yard Cafe, St Albans
as well as part of: Hertfordshire Open Studios and the Affordable Art Fair, London.

Additional work

Textile Designs: After graduating, I worked as a freelance textile designer selling my knitted designs internationally. I also taught at the London College of Furniture, Middlesex University and was a visiting lecturer to Hertfordshire & Belfast Universities.

Greeting and Christmas Cards: From 1992-1998 I provided the majority of illustrations for the ‘Wragg Designs’ card range published by Woodmansterne Publications and in 2000 the ‘WAH’ Everyday and Christmas card ranges produced for Clare Maddicott Publications. I also designed ranges of Christmas cards for charities: Plan International, MS Research Trust, Chellington Trust and Emmaus.

Artist’s Prints: I supplied several collections; flower and abstract paintings for Felix Rosenstiel’s Widow and Sons, fine art print publishers, London.

Murals and children’s workshops: I have painted large-scale murals for St Columba’s School, St Albans and Howe Dell Primary School, the ‘eco-school’ in Hatfield, as well as leading workshops in sand-casting, felt-making and paper-making in a number of local schools.

Art & Design: Wragg Art House, a design consultancy partnership established in 1998, with my husband Stephen.
Together we have 3 children, and have lived in St Albans for over 30 years.

I am a keen ‘wild’ gardener and photographer.
For 5 years Stephen and I rowed at Broxbourne rowing club taking part in British Rowing Tours in the UK and in the Great River Race on the Thames (2011). Rowing tours in a Finnish Church boat with a 14 man international crew, in Norway, Switzerland and Bavaria have been a particular highlight. We now paddle the British inland waterways in our bright orange kayak.
Stephen set up Ver Players, a St Albans community ukulele group in 2012 and our family band Rag House in 2015. While my ukulele playing is very limited, I spend much of the time behind the camera capturing their performances.