Her clientele included the diplomatic corps and the ladies of Mugga Way; artists and academics. And she brought the new and exciting to Canberra. Heather "Nicky" Paral might just be the national capital's original style-setter.
The owner of Studio 12 Interiors, which had various locations in Manuka, died at the Bega Hospital on August 11. She was 88.
Her long-time friend Shirley Kral says Heather opened her own design studio upstairs in the Manuka Arcade, in the late 1950s, calling it Studio 12 Interiors. She ran for it for nearly 30 years .
Shirley remembers her friend introducing to the national capital high-end products such as the French-made Le Creuset cookware and the vivid prints of Marimekko from Finland, appealing to " the internationally literate lovers of good design".
"She really had the cream of the crop," Shirley said.
Heather also worked closely with Fred Ward and Derek Wrigley at the ANU Design Unit, when they were contracting for soft furnishings for the many ANU buildings and student accommodation at that time, including the University of New England in Armidale.
Needing larger premises, Heather moved Studio 12 Interiors to Franklin Street, where she was able to display "the exciting imports of fabrics, kitchenware and furniture from Scandinavia, Italy and Asia" as well as the best of Australian design.
"Heather will be best remembered for the introduction of the Finnish worldwide phenomenon of Marimekko, to Canberra," Shirley said.
"The sophisticated diplomatic clientele who frequented the design shop made the introduction of these wild, colourful fabrics an instant success. For this was a new style for Australia: simple, elegant and very individual. With vivid, colourful patterns which looked stunning as a dress or a curtain at the window."
Australia became a very lucrative market for everything Marimekko.
"The Finnish founder, Armi Ratia,was keen to visit this faraway country of smart women who couldn't get enough of her products," Shirley said.
"Armi Ratia stayed with Heather and [her husband] Val in their Narrabundah home and even had a sail on Lake Burley Griffin."
Shirley remembers friends and customers and their children Marimekko designs in the shop in fashion parades in the 1960s and 1970s. "It was great fun."
Edwina Jans, co-director of Canberra Modern, helped to organise a sold-out event for last year's Heritage Festival about the mystique of Marimekko and the influence of Heather Paral. Guests to the event proudly wore their finest Marimekko.
Edwina described Heather as "such a talented designer and taste-maker from the mid-century, and influential Canberran".
Heather was born in Newcastle on May 5, 1932. While still in her teens she attended the East Sydney Technical College, taking a general art course. Like many young Australian women at that time, she then spent some years in London, also travelling in Europe.
Heather moved to Canberra in 1953, with her husband Vladimir Paral. Val Paral was a Czech migrant, expert in photography. He established the Medical Photography section at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU. Val worked closely with Sir John Eccles and Professor Malcolm Whyte on high-resolution macro images. He later established his own business called Microdata, offering microfilm services to government departments and expert photography to the National Library. Val died at Wapengo Lake in 1993.
Shirley said Paral was known as Nicky from childhood. "Her parents thought she was a devil of a child, a kind of Nicodemus, so she was called Nicky from then on," she said, with a laugh.
But she was a private woman away from the fanfare of the studio.
"She was two people. In the shop, she was a really smooth, relaxed, diplomatic person but as soon as she got home, she was a very private person," Shirley said.
Heather and Val retired to their lakeside property at Wapengo Lake on the South Coast in 1982, spending many happy years with their boxer dogs and fishing on the lake and nearby beaches.
Shirley said Heather's legacy remained "in the memories of many in the Canberra community who saw, touched and purchased the beautiful items from Studio 12 Interiors".
It is proposed to hold a gathering to celebrate Heather's legacy and to reunite her staff, clients and friends. Please contact Shirley Kral by email if you would like to attend: shirley.kral@yahoo.com.au.
