A mother-of-two who took up painting when her children left home is now a household name, with her vibrant patterns on homeware sold all over the world. Ruth Campbell meets her in the small North Yorkshire studio that is at the heart of her business

TUCKED behind her three-bedroom Georgian cottage, which used to be the village smithy, Julie Dodsworth’s studio is housed in an unprepossessing shed. The smell of paint fills the air and swatches of fabric, flowers, pattern and colour seem to fill every available space. It is hard to believe that this is the heart of a business that has spawned multi-million pound sales.

Julie Dodsworth’s vintage-style floral patterns, inspired by the British countryside, are seen on everything from candles to mugs, notepads, soaps, umbrellas, blinds and bedding. More than 275 of her fresh and vibrant new brand of homeware products now sell in more than 500 stores, including John Lewis, Lakeland, Fenwick’s, Harrods and Waitrose, and in 20 countries including the States, Japan and all over Europe.

She has created two clothing ranges with English luxury fashion brand Barbour and her designs are also featured on Dartington Crystal and Churchill China. Since launching the company from her kitchen table in 2011, she has gone on to collaborate with 18 different manufacturers, and now boasts a turnover of seven figures. Not bad for a Yorkshire miner’s daughter who left school at 16 to become a florist’s apprentice and has never been to an art class in her life.

She had always loved painting and making things as a child, but art college was not an option, as she was expected to leave school and get a job. Now a household name to rival Emma Bridgewater and Cath Kidston, the secret of her success is that this untrained artist paints from the heart.

It is here, in her North Yorkshire home, as well as on the family canal boat, that she creates all her designs, which often start out as patterns painted onto items of furniture and homeware. Julie only creates things that she loves and would want to have in her home. Sitting in her conservatory, she pulls out a little pine stool from her canal boat that she painted with a pink rose pattern and which has now been made into one of her latest fabric prints.

Julie, 55, who also runs a successful plant display business in Boroughbridge with her husband, Simon, only started painting about eight years ago after the couple bought an old narrowboat, Calamity Jane, which is moored in Northampton. “I began decorating the inside with traditional motifs. That was when I rediscovered my love of painting," she says.

Soon tables, chairs, cupboards, watering cans and china were covered with daisies, roses and leaf patterns, inspired by the British countryside and following the traditions of narrow boat folk art in traditional, heritage colours. “If it stayed still, I painted it,” laughs Julie.

As she went on her develop her own unique, vintage folksy style, her daughter Beth pointed out that it was so on-trend she should sell it. Julie, by then approaching 50, took examples of her floral paintings to dozens of manufacturers all over the country to try to persuade them to use her work on their products. “These were companies with turnovers of £50m and I was unknown,” she says. One receptionist gave her some blunt advice: “It’s like you’re trying for a big part in a West End play by standing and singing on the street corner,” she was told.

It was tough going, but Julie didn’t give up. “I had lots of three-minute appointments in reception, but I wasn’t going to stop until I had exhausted every possibility. My driving force was my dream of seeing a British-made product on the high street bearing my design. I told myself it wasn’t impossible.”

At first, she used to apologise for her lack of training, then realised it was the fact that she was just an ordinary woman who painted on an old narrowboat that made her stand out. That was her story. “My work had no commercial strings and came from the heart,” she says.

It was one of her simple painted designs on a watering can that struck a chord with the Northern Irish textile manufacturers McCaw Allan, the first company to license her designs for a new range of homeware in 2010. Within a year, a whole range of textiles bearing her deceptively simple patterns and motifs were launched, marking the commercial beginnings of Julie’s extraordinary success story. Painting is still very much her hobby, something she does to relax at weekends. “I paint all year round, in all weathers. The very best light is at four in the morning when the day is going to be a scorcher and there is mist on the water. It is so quiet and the colours are so soft.”

She also continues to work in the family plant display business. “Whatever happens, I will stay true to myself," she says. "I am just a very small cog in a very big wheel and no matter how successful the Julie Dodsworth brand becomes, I will stay grounded and keep hold of my roots.”

Although she travels abroad more now with her work, Julie remains a Yorkshire woman, through and through. “My perfect weekend would include Saturday shopping in York with a ride up to Sandsend for an evening walk and fish and chips," she says. "Then Sunday, a lovely early walk from Wensleydale, catching an afternoon tea and vintage shops in Ripon.”

She still feels sheer joy and excitement when she sees someone buying one of her designs. “The kings and queens in this story are the customers, and the manufacturers," she says. "I still hold onto the unbelievable magic of how it feels when you see one of your designs on the high street.”

JULIE’S ADVICE FOR BUDDING DESIGN ENTREPRENEURS

- Don’t give up.

- Create something you would buy yourself so that you believe in your product and feel proud of it.

- Protect your art by registering with ACID (Anti-Copying in Design) and seek some basic legal advice when your designs are taken.

- Stay focused on your aims and achievements and don’t compare yourself to others.

- Set yourself goals with a reasonable timescale and always keep to your budget.

- Don’t be personal about your art. Respect that the companies you approach must make money for themselves and their employees. Their agenda is not to grant you a magic wish.

- Most of all, enjoy your art.