Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago
In this memoriam…
An interview with Brenda Watson Gibbons, mother of pianist Jack Gibbons, recorded in 1978, followed by the conclusion of a live recording from 1978 of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto no.2, played by a 16-year-old Jack Gibbons.
Brenda Gibbons who passed away 25 January 2025, at the age of 96, was born in Ilford, Essex in 1928. Much of her childhood was divided between war-time evacuation and living under the Hitler's bombs in east London. Talented in both art and music (winning awards for her singing) she eventually pursued a career in art, heavily influenced as a young artist by the work of William Morris. On the strength of her portfolio she was offered an unconditional place at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in Bloomsbury, London, where she studied from 1947-50 under Miss Batty, Hans Tisdall and John Minton, and was a contemporary of Terrence Conran (founder of Habitat).
In the post-war years, Brenda established herself as a freelance textile and wallpaper designer, selling many of her designs to Liberty's, representing her work at many exhibitions and winning prizes for her commercial designs, her ongoing success leading to an entry in the 1954 Who’s Who in Art. Among her achievements during this period was an exhibit at the 1951 Festival of Britain Exhibition on the London Southbank. Her heritage collection dress design depicting Stonehenge later went on display at Liberty's of London at the time of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
After marriage and raising five children, Brenda (now Gibbons) worked from home on textile icons. Her designs in this her second phase of creative output consisted of fabric collages on biblical scenes and textile icons of the life of Christ which were commissioned and hung in cathedrals around the world from Australia to the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow.
0:00: Extracts of an interview with Brenda Gibbons, recorded 1978
3:31: The conclusion of Jack Gibbons' performance Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto no.2, recorded live on 9 September 1978
For more information visit jackgibbons.com
You can also follow Jack Gibbons on social media:
facebook.com/JackGibbonsPiano
twitter.com/jackgibbons
instagram.com/jackgibbonsofficial
In this memoriam…
An interview with Brenda Watson Gibbons, mother of pianist Jack Gibbons, recorded in 1978, followed by the conclusion of a live recording from 1978 of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto no.2, played by a 16-year-old Jack Gibbons.
Brenda Gibbons who passed away 25 January 2025, at the age of 96, was born in Ilford, Essex in 1928. Much of her childhood was divided between war-time evacuation and living under the Hitler's bombs in east London. Talented in both art and music (winning awards for her singing) she eventually pursued a career in art, heavily influenced as a young artist by the work of William Morris. On the strength of her portfolio she was offered an unconditional place at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in Bloomsbury, London, where she studied from 1947-50 under Miss Batty, Hans Tisdall and John Minton, and was a contemporary of Terrence Conran (founder of Habitat).
In the post-war years, Brenda established herself as a freelance textile and wallpaper designer, selling many of her designs to Liberty's, representing her work at many exhibitions and winning prizes for her commercial designs, her ongoing success leading to an entry in the 1954 Who’s Who in Art. Among her achievements during this period was an exhibit at the 1951 Festival of Britain Exhibition on the London Southbank. Her heritage collection dress design depicting Stonehenge later went on display at Liberty's of London at the time of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
After marriage and raising five children, Brenda (now Gibbons) worked from home on textile icons. Her designs in this her second phase of creative output consisted of fabric collages on biblical scenes and textile icons of the life of Christ which were commissioned and hung in cathedrals around the world from Australia to the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow.
0:00: Extracts of an interview with Brenda Gibbons, recorded 1978
3:31: The conclusion of Jack Gibbons' performance Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto no.2, recorded live on 9 September 1978
For more information visit jackgibbons.com
You can also follow Jack Gibbons on social media:
facebook.com/JackGibbonsPiano
twitter.com/jackgibbons
instagram.com/jackgibbonsofficial
