To say April Sproule is a ‘mixed media textile artist’ is an understatement. Just take a look at the captions for her work, and you’ll see what we mean. Each piece features a compelling array of techniques and materials, including hand stitch, dyeing, printing, painting, appliqué, stencilling, and inkwork.

You might think such extensive mashups could lead to art that overwhelms, but that’s hardly the case. April expertly balances colour and composition to create cohesive works that are surprisingly neat at first glance. Even upon close inspection, April’s layers of texture and pattern seamlessly merge and often surprise the eye.

In addition to offering us a look into her process and favourite things, April also shares how renowned UK textile artists helped her discover the power of simple stitches and inspired her to let go of her need for control. She explains how Constance Howard and others have taught her that self-expression doesn’t have to be complicated when it comes to stitchwork. And we think you’ll agree.

Apron strings

My earliest memory of making something with textiles is making an apron with my maternal grandmother, Grandma Ollie, when I was seven years old. She was a tiny woman who lived in a small house filled with things she had made. She loved to sew, knit and paint.

I remember carefully cutting out the apron on her kitchen table and sewing it on her portable Singer sewing machine. Her patience was infinite as she taught me those brand-new skills. I was amazed we had made something useful out of seemingly nothing with a scrap of fabric and some thread.

Around the same time my paternal grandmother, Grandma Petersen, began teaching me to do hand sewing and stitching. She taught me how to cut old clothing into squares using a cardboard template. Those hand-pieced squares would later become a quilt top. She also taught me hand embroidery and lace making.

I have very fond memories of being sequestered away in one of their homes on rainy winter days happily stitching away for hours. It’s no wonder sewing and stitching are now like breathing to me. They are something I have always done, and those basic skills would go through many transformations in years to follow. Back then, I had no idea how those early experiences would impact my life.

UK inspiration

During high school, I participated in a work study programme that involved writing a business plan and starting my first little business. I set about making a variety of leather goods, clothing and bags to sell at local shops and galleries.

After learning the technical skills I badly needed at the San Francisco School of Fashion Design, I worked for several different US and Canadian manufacturers. My area of expertise was new product development and production management for companies making leather goods, accessories and clothing. Since 2001, I’ve been a full-time studio artist working as both a designer and workshop facilitator.

In 2011, I developed a commercial collection of 25 stencil designs inspired by the Japanese Katagami stencils for painting on fabric. I began using the stencils for all sorts of things while teaching my painting techniques to others. I started making upcycled clothing for myself and linen bags to sell with the stencils, and then I added hand stitching to them. The stencilling and hand stitching worked well together. Next came a collection of hand embroidery patterns and kits in 2015.

Shortly after that, I started seeing online images from UK textile artists who were doing amazing work using hand stitching. I was especially inspired by Mandy Pattullo, Claire Wellesley-Smith, Louise Baldwin, Cas Holmes and Aideen Canning. These incredible women not only eradicated the notion of creating perfect little stitches, but they used stitching in such an expressive and expansive manner. Theirs was a much freer and innovative style of hand stitch that appealed to me on many levels.

I admired those artists’ ability to move away from the expected and express their own unique, wild and wonderful styles. It was as if a door had opened, and anything was possible on the other side of that threshold. My new norm became letting go of the need for control and embracing the idea of self-expression.

Upon further investigation, everything led back to the work and influence of Constance Howard. I pored over her books, and my entire perspective on hand stitching changed tremendously. I didn’t necessarily change the stitches I used, but I became mindful of how those stitches were used. One simple stitch could be used in 20 or more different variations.

When I developed my collection of hand embroidery patterns, I thought using lots of different complex or unusual stitches added more interest.

But after studying Constance Howard’s approach, I realised the complexity of stitches wasn’t as important as I thought. It was more about starting with one simple stitch and then tweaking it, contorting it, and reimagining all its possibilities.

Now as I go back and look through Constance’s books, I especially love seeing her illustrations. These days I see hand stitching as another form of mark making. And as I switch back and forth between pen and ink illustration and my hand stitching, each medium provides inspiration for the other.

Natural inspirations

I am inspired by many things, but my greatest inspiration comes from nature. Nature provides me with a never-ending treasure trove of ideas. It could be insects, botanical specimens or even diatoms and other microscopic images that pique my interest and beg me to take a closer look.

I live in an astonishingly diverse beautiful area in northern California. In just a few minutes, I can be exploring tide pools along our rugged coastline or trek deep into a Redwood forest where rays of sunlight pierce the thick canopy of branches and illuminate the areas below in a spectacular display.

I’m more interested in capturing the essence of my subject matter than in replicating it in a photorealistic way. And things that are in a state of erosion or decomposition are much more interesting than a perfect specimen.

Surface design with textiles, pen and ink illustration, printmaking, collage, and watercolour are all mediums that supply me with lots of ideas and inspiration.

Creative process

My work is developed in different ways, but it usually begins with a feeling or mood I want to convey. Early in the morning, I often work in a little handmade book where I experiment with different ways of combining paper, fabric and stitch in new and interesting ways that can lead to larger projects. 

Often my work begins with what I call a production sketch. It’s just a vague idea and a starting point, but it’s a very important step because it takes what only exists in my mind into the physical world where it becomes tangible.

Next comes colour, which is one of the most valuable design elements. Colour is what first attracts or repels viewers to our work. I usually start with white fabric or pieces on which I’ve applied some sort of surface design techniques.

Scale, the overall finished size of the piece, comes next. Are the details going to be lost if a person sees it from a distance? Those choices inform all my decisions on which mediums to use.

In recent years, I’ve worked much more intuitively. All I need is one idea to get started. It could be the colour green and then everything develops from there. Every piece I make takes me on a journey of learning and exploration I would never have experienced if I’d planned every step along the way.

I feel incredibly fortunate because I rarely get really stuck on a piece and give up on it. I am good at problem solving and figuring things out. It seems like a waste of time, energy and materials to give up on a piece and not finish it.

When I start a new project that is very involved, I clean up my studio and put everything in its place. Initially clutter can be a distraction, but that’s only in the beginning. Once my ideas start to flow, it is total chaos. I don’t clean up until the project is completely done.

Mixing things up

I use a wide variety of mixed media on fabric and paper. I especially enjoy working with dyes, paints, stencilling, printing, pen and ink, cyanotypes, and hand or machine stitch. Learning to do all of these things has been so much fun!

I’ve done lots of shibori dyeing with Procion dyes and indigo over the years. It’s so exciting to unwrap the cloth and see what has happened. And now I have all those fabrics to choose from and add to my textile art.

Using paints and inks on fabric and paper has been a great addition to my work. I use textile paints that don’t alter the hand of the fabric, and I’m pretty picky about that. I also love using walnut ink, sumi ink and India inks. Sometimes I just sit and draw stripes or dots with a pen or brush. Then it’s fun finding new ways to incorporate those pieces into my work.

I am also experimenting a lot with different papers. I won’t use papers that are either too delicate or too hard to stitch through. I still have a lot to learn about different types of paper, but that’s part of the research and excitement of learning something new.

Must-have favourites

My absolute favourite fabrics to work with are linen, cotton sateen and silk. I use both vintage and new fabrics, but many of the vintage fabrics are just wonderful to work with. The linen is like butter to stitch through, and I love the texture of it. 

My next favourite fabric is cotton sateen, as the weave gives it a subtle sheen. It has a very nice hand, dyes beautifully and it is really easy to stitch through. And silk has long been a favourite of mine. I don’t ever use fusibles on it, as that would ruin the hand of the fabric. I have lots of silk left over from having a custom sewing business for 10 years. Now, I’m glad I saved all those fabrics.

For threads, I mostly use DMC cotton along with some hand-dyed threads. I‘d like to try linen thread but haven’t yet. My favourite stitches are the running stitch, stem stitch, straight stitches, rice stitch, couching, and the versatile blanket stitch. I also like the cretan stitch a lot, because it can be used in lots of different ways.

I took Sue Stone’s Exploring Texture and Pattern course in 2018. After finishing all the exercises, my style of stitching changed from using more complex decorative stitches to using very basic stitches in different forms and combinations. My needle has become like my pen, and my hand stitching is now another form of mark making.

One of the greatest things about hand embroidery is you only need a few basic tools. And I enjoy using good quality tools that last a long time, so I don’t have to replace them.

Really sharp scissors are very important. I have embroidery, appliqué, regular scissors, paper scissors and huge shears for cutting heavy fabrics. But mostly I just need a sharp little pair of embroidery scissors for cutting threads.

Fabric markers are also important. I use Frixion markers and have never had a problem with them. I like that I get nice clean lines with them. And of course, good needles make everything so much easier. I use mostly size 10 embroidery needles with a nice sharp point.

I do almost all of my actual stitching at night. I use a large floor model OttLite, and I could not sew without it. I usually do hand stitching for three hours or so every night. It’s become a daily practice I really enjoy.

My iPad is my favourite design tool. I use an app called Adobe Fresco for my illustrations. I start a piece, photograph it, and then draw mock up stitches on the photo to help with design options and decisions. I can add 10 layers of stitching, eliminate what I don’t like, airdrop the image to my phone, and use it for reference as I stitch. It’s just like magic!

Silver linings

The biggest challenges I’ve faced as a professional artist were Covid related. From 2001-20, I operated a longarm quilting business, sold my wares online and as a vendor at shows, and I taught workshops on techniques I’d developed over the years. 2019 was an especially busy year for me. Then Covid reared its ugly head, and every single upcoming event I had scheduled was cancelled.

I decided to make the most of this unexpected free time by focusing on my art and volunteering for different textile art groups who were supporting artists and textile art instructors. That gift of time gave me a chance to reevaluate what I was doing and make some positive changes.

I closed my longarm quilting business and decided to stop vending at shows and started applying for grants. In 2019, I received a grant from a local arts foundation, and in 2020, I received a business grant from the state. Collectively, those funds made it possible for me to gain the technical training and equipment I needed to start teaching online.

Now my goal is to spend half my time working and the other half creating art. I’m not there yet, but I will be some day. It’s also much easier to share what I do with others and help others achieve their creative goals.

My biggest artistic challenge was making the portraits in Sue Stone’s Stitch Your Story online course. I had no interest whatsoever in stitching portraits, but I knew what a fabulous teacher Sue was. It was really hard, but I learned so much along the way. I was really inspired by the work of the others in the course.

I think one of the best things you can do as an artist is try things outside of your comfort zone. That is the best way to grow your skills and your proficiency in any medium.

Designing my creative space

After leasing a commercial building for five years for my business and studio, I finally had a studio built behind my house in 2006. I needed room for my 14ft longarm quilting machine, space to teach my surface design workshops and a workspace for me to create my textile art.

I had lots of experience designing textile art projects, but designing a building was an entirely different experience. Luckily, I found a great designer and very good contractors to work with me.

The 24ft x 40ft (7.3m x 21.1m) two-story structure has nice high ceilings. Downstairs is my wet studio where I do my messy stuff like dyeing and fabric painting. I included a 6ft-wide stainless steel sink from a place that carried used restaurant equipment, and it has been a useful addition. There’s also lots of storage for art supplies and other stuff.

Upstairs is one large room where I sectioned off a full bathroom and walk-in closet. The kitchen area has cabinets that hold art supplies, and it was designed to accommodate appliances, but I would rather have the space.

One of my requests was to have lots of natural light. But I also needed wall space for art display and a large design wall. The designer was able to plan accordingly, so I have windows on three sides and plenty of wall space in between.

I had a 4ft x 8ft cutting table built with storage cabinets and shelving below. I knew my needs for this space would change over the years, so one of the best things I did was to outfit all my heavy equipment, like the cutting table and longarm machine, with heavy duty casters so I can easily move things around by myself. That has been a tremendous help.

The building is quite tall due to the high ceilings on each level, so I had a manual dumb waiter added to transport heavy items, like sewing machines, up to the second floor. We’ve had lots of great workshops and retreats here, and that dumb waiter has gotten a lot of use over the years.

Every morning I wake up really early, grab a strong cup of coffee, and head over to the studio. When time permits, I sit and draw for an hour in front of my big window before I start my day. I’m grateful for every moment I spend here. My family has always been very supportive of what I do, and none of this would’ve been possible without them.

Key takeaways

• Explore the possibilities of simple stitches. Like April, choose a basic stitch, such as a running stitch, and see how you can create diverse textures and patterns using different stitch lengths, colours and materials.

• Think about adding a surface design to your base fabric before stitching. Why not try using a different technique, such as painting, dyeing, stencilling or drawing with ink? Then you can decide your next step. 

• Consider stitching on colourful textured papers. Try working with different weights of papers and threads.

• Experiment with digital design apps to help choose your colours and overall compositions. April enjoys using Adobe Fresco on her iPad, but there are many other apps from which to choose.

Artist biography

April Sproule is based in northern California (US) and describes herself as an artist, teacher and lifelong student. She explores the modern and innovative avenues of mixed media and textile arts. Her love for connecting with the community has led her to teaching both online and in person.

Website: sproulestudios.com

Facebook: facebook.com/sproulestudios

Instagram: @sprouleapril

Bobbi Baugh is another American mixed media artist you’re going to want to know. She uses hand-painted fabrics to create incredible abstract collages.

A strange thing happened about a year ago: my stitches were getting smaller. Stranger still, neither my technique nor my materials had changed. Not wanting to admit to waning eyesight, I instead decided “lighting” was the problem.

So I scoured the Internet for fellow stitchers’ task lamp reviews, and I ultimately chose the Stella desk lamp. Indeed the brighter light made a huge difference, and I decided problem solved.

But about six months later, my stitches started shrinking again! My day of reckoning had arrived. My ageing eyes needed more support, so I purchased my first pair of reading glasses. Ta-da! Just as chocolate goes with peanut butter, so, too does a good lamp and some type of magnifying lens. I could see everything literally in a whole new light.

I thought I was a genius in discovering my winning combo until the Brightech company recently reached out to Textileartist.org to review their Lightview Pro XL lamp. What? A magnifying lens attached to a lamp? I leapt at the opportunity, and after just one use, there was no looking back (sorry… I had to use that pun somewhere).

Unpacking & assembling the LightView XL Magnifying Glass Light

Unpacking & assembling

After the order was placed, the lamp arrived promptly and well packaged. It came in a fairly large, and surprisingly heavy, box. I guessed the large lamp head and magnifying glass were the cause, but in fact, the base was the heaviest part. 12.4 pounds (5.6kg)! I quickly realized once I set up the lamp, it was not going to budge easily. And for me, that’s a good thing.

Assembly was easy, as there are only two pieces to connect—three if you’re wanting to use it as a standing lamp. The directions were clear, and the power cord connects easily near the base.

Measuring at 60″ (1.5m), I do think the power cord is a bit short if you don’t have an outlet nearby. My Stella lamp cord is double that length. But this lamp’s plug can go in an outlet in either direction, so that’s a plus if you have other bulky plugs already in your outlet. I also think the lamp looks pretty snazzy. It’s fairly minimal in design and doesn’t call
attention to itself.

Mary at work using the LightView XL in the tabletop configuration

Let there be light!

I first used the lamp in the tabletop configuration, as that’s what I’d use most often. My studio is long and narrow, and my work table is fairly large. So standing a lamp to the side wouldn’t work as well for me.

You’ll see from the picture of the lamp head, there are few buttons to operate, so I was able to start using the lamp right away. There’s just an on/off switch, and then up and down arrows to brighten and dim the light.

Oh my gosh—let there be light! When I first turned the lamp on, it was super bright. And it was only at the midpoint of lighting intensity! There are five LED lighting levels, all of which provide plenty of light.

But there is only one style of LED lighting in the lamp. My Stella lamp has a variety of lighting styles… warm, cool, daytime, etc. And each has different levels. I would describe this lamp’s single light source as cooler and more of a white/blue hue. But not having different types of light wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me, as I largely use a lamp for lighting. And this lamp’s cooler LED light definitely makes everything visible.

LightView XL Magnifying Glass Light

Magnifying every stitch

Speaking of making things visible, the magnifying glass is incredible! I’ve only begun using reading glasses, and I thought they made things look huge. But this lamp puts those glasses to shame. The magnification not only shows you each and every stitch you make, it shows you the fabric’s thread count, the direction of the fabric weave, lint, and whether or not you’re due for a manicure!

There’s a cover over the magnifying glass on top of the lamp that you lift when you want to look through the glass. The viewing area is fairly large measuring about 5.5″ (14cm)  horizontally and 4″ (10cm) vertically.

You pull the arm up, down, forward and/or backward to position the light and/or magnifying glass as best suits you for viewing. The arm can also swivel side to side. There are no locks on the arm extensions to lock the lamp into a particular position, but it seems to stay well put once positioned.

There is, however, a crank knob that locks the lamp’s light/glass head once you have the position that suits you best. It, too, moves in all directions, but again you have to tighten the crank knob to keep it in your chosen position.

The arms have quite a large range of extension. As noted below, each section measures 13″ (33cm), so that’s quite a wingspan. And I was impressed at how the lamp was quite steady at full extension due to the square metal stabilizing bar in front of the base that you pull out when assembling.

Mary at work using the LightView XL in the standing configuration

Table-top & standing configuration

I admit there was a bit of a learning curve for me in figuring out what table-top configuration worked best. And I had to get used to having to lift the lamp head up and out of my way when I would finish stitching or wanted to look at my piece overall. But none of that was overly difficult, and I was able to start stitching pretty quickly.

The standing configuration was no different. It took some tweaking of the arms and lamp head to find what suited me best. And because my studio is so narrow, it was hard to place the lamp to the side of me. I had to instead place it in front of me, which meant when I wanted to get up, I had to wrestle the 12-pound (5.6kg) base out of the way! But for me, that’s a minor point.

I just can’t explain the level of magnification this lamp provides! Once I forgot to take off my readers and it was even more magnified. I scared myself when my huge fingers and needle came into view! Ha!

With that said, though, because of the magnification level, I also realized I had to hold my hands fairly steady once the light was at the right adjustment. If you move your hands and stitching more than a few inches away from your adjusted height, your view will be blurred. But I tend to rest my hands on the table when I work, so the blurring wasn’t a real challenge for me once I started stitching. And I’d imagine anyone holding work steadily on their lap would experience the same consistent view.

Because of the somewhat limited viewing area, I think I would mostly use the magnifying glass when working on a particularly tricky stitching area, and then just use the lamp and my reading glasses for general stitching work. The lighting is just as incredible as the magnification, and after all, it IS a lamp.

Also, despite the heavier base, the lamp is portable, and I can imagine using it while watching TV sitting on your favourite chair or couch. Just know you might need an extension cord.

LightView XL Magnifying Glass Light

Here is the skinny on dimensions:

• The base is 12″ x 11″ / 30.5cm x 28cm (with the stabilizer bar extended)
• The lamp head measures about 9.5″ x 7.5″ / 24cm x 17.8cm
• The magnifier viewing area is 5.5″ x 4″ / 14cm x 10cm
• Both the upper and lower portions of the arm are 13″ / 33cm long

Finally, how much does the Lightview Pro XL cost? I have to say it was a big saving over my own combination. My Stella lamp cost $179 US from Amazon, and my reading glasses were about $20 US. The Lightview Pro XL which has the lamp and the magnifying lens combined is about $90 US from Brightech. That’s a big saving!

I would definitely recommend this lamp to my fellow stitching friends. It’s solid, easy to assemble, and both the light and magnifying glass make it so easy to see what you’re doing. And if you don’t necessarily need the magnification or as much magnification, there are other versions and configurations of the lamp as well.

Surely there’s a model that would suit most anyone who stitches.

For more details, visit the Brightech online store

Textile Artist Julie French’s work focuses on the wild side of nature, dance and motion. Each piece is unique.

Using the sewing machine as a tool for continuous line drawing, Julie’s work explores movement and texture with often unpredictable outcomes, which have been likened to ink illustration. The speed and capricious nature of the sewing machine, when used in this unconventional way reflect characteristics of the subjects.

In this article, part of our From conception to creation series, Julie talks us through the creation of her astonishing piece, ‘Kingfisher’. We learn how this magnificent bird captured her heart and imagination and why on discovering banana fibres at the Knitting and Stitching show she was driven into action.

Name of piece: Kingfisher
Year of piece: 2018
Size of piece: 35 x 45cm
Materials used: Black rayon thread on reclaimed furnishing fabric and banana fibres
Techniques used: Free motion stitch

Julie French, Kingfisher, 2018

Brief encounter

TextileArtist.org: How did the idea for the piece come about? What was your inspiration?

Julie French: I have always been fascinated with Kingfishers since briefly spotting one with my sister when we were very young. The sighting was so brief I never could really work out if I’d dreamt it up or actually see one. I’ve asked my sister recently, and she assures me we definitely did it!

More recently I’ve been very fortunate to see Kingfishers in India, there is something still very magical about seeing one. I really enjoy the process of stitching birds, and when I decided that I wanted to include more colour in my work, the Kingfisher was a perfect choice.

What research did you do before you started to make?

I have a few photographs I took of Kingfishers on a riverboat trip in Goa. I was so chuffed that I manages to get some, my photos are of the Kingfisher sitting still, but the most magnificent image set in my mind is the flash of iridescent striking blue light the Kingfisher becomes as soon as you spot it!

Julie French, Kingfisher photo

This scatter of colour is apparently caused by the structure of the feathers. As my photographic skills are not up to capturing the swift movement of the Kingfisher, I used with my own photographs along with a selection of images from the Internet to create a drawing of the bird in action.

Julie French, Kingfisher drawing

What materials were used in the creation of the piece? How did you select them? Where did you source them?

Most of my fabrics are reclaimed, bought at charity shops, flea markets, boot sales or donated. This particular fabric was found at a flea market in Brighton.

I have stitched the Kingfisher onto a few different backgrounds, this is one of my favourites, and I think the twists vertical branches work well with the loose hanging threads and the yellow accentuates the tiny purple detail on the bird.

Julie French, Framed Kingfisher

Biodegradable banana fibres

I discovered banana fibres whilst visiting the Knitting and stitching show at Alexander Palace a few years ago. I was enticed by the vibrant colours and instantly knew I wanted to experiment with them.

Although I’d never seen or heard of banana fibres before, apparently people have been making fibres out of banana stems since the early 13th century and the brilliant news is it is a totally biodegradable material.

The banana fibres I found are beautifully silky and brightly coloured. A perfect surface to use for my Kingfisher

Julie French, Banana fibres

Take us through the creation of the piece stage by stage.

I began by loosely arranging the banana fibres into the shape of the Kingfisher and then trapped them with ‘bondaweb’, allowing some of the fibres to escape to encourage the illusion of movement. This layered surface produces a great embossed texture to stitch on to.

When I shop for embroidery thread I take an image of what I will stitch with me to help me choose my colours, it’s dangerous because I want to buy about four or five shades of each colour, I want to buy all the colours! I spend ages deciding on what reels I have to put back on the shelf.

Julie French, Embroidery thread

I use the thread, as I would paint, usually starting with mid tones, and then working in the dark and finally highlights. I layer areas, stitching over stitches and the banana fibres not only to produce tonal qualities but to also to guide the stich in different directions to emboss texture.

I always leave threads long and loose, arranged around the subject to give an illusion of movement and with the Kingfisher I decided to use a deep box frame, so instead of the threads being trapped in place behind the frame, the space allows the threads to almost drip and fall from the bird, with them settling at the bottom of the frame.

Julie French creating

What journey has the piece been on since its creation?

Kingfisher was one of my collection of bird works exhibited at the Daniel Raphael gallery in London as part of the ‘Stitch’ exhibition.

The exhibition included work from contemporary textile artists from around the world, all approaching embroidery in very unique and varied ways  I was very honoured to be approached to show my work alongside these artists and very impressed that the gallery owner had taken the risk of giving textile art an equal platform to fine art.

Julie French work at ‘Stitch’ exhibition

I am very passionate about blurring these boundaries and believe the art world is moving towards this. The exhibition was very popular and a great success for me, all my birds, including the Kingfisher have nested in new homes.

For more information visit: www.juliefrench.artweb.com or follow Julie on Instagram and Facebook.

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Susana Ortiz Maillo was born in Madrid, where she grew up and studied Fine Arts at the Complutense University from 1996-1999.

In 1999 Susana received an Erasmus scholarship for a year at the Städelschule art school in Frankfurt, Germany, becoming a regular student there for the following four years and finally graduating as master student with Christa Näher.

Today, Ortiz Maillo works in Offenbach and Frankfurt and lives between Spain and Germany and lets this show through in the way symbols and visual styles overcome all boundaries to share the same space in her works.

One can find a certain dialogue between cultures in her body of work but not in the way one might expect. To enter the world of Susana’s paintings is to embark on a trip towards a subjectively charged dreamscape.

In this interview, Susana discusses the people, places and things that have inspired her thoughout her life. We learn how she develops her ideas, embraces the unexpected, champions the underdog and dreams of an artistic utopia.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, The Cactus Who Loved Two Wooly Men At The Same Time. 17 x 17 cm. Embroidery and mixed media on denim, 2016

Everyday unknown art

TextileArtist.org: What initially attracted you to textiles as a medium? 

Susana Ortiz Maillo: Being attracted by colours, shapes and all kind of materials must be a natural fact as a part of being an artist. So fabrics and threads take a certain room of my interests, but not only.

I feel fascination for every handmade textile or embroidered piece by any culture through the centuries. By Japanese robes, in particular. Some of them are stunningly beautiful unique artworks with a sort of own spiritual halo in themselves.

Paying attention to old regional folk-costumes all around the globe, their details breathe a way of silenced meaning through a masterful technique on it.

Besides, this ambitious technical mastery clashes with a frumpy and trashy side of mine, that I do also embrace; my way of thinking that a work doesn’t need to reach an excellently finished look but needs to show a certain attitude in it to make it at least interesting. To try to focus sincerely on whatever the work is, putting a meaning or intention over the aesthetic form.

A piece that formally does have a final imperfect look, may help project the meaning more strongly and get to the essentials. It might as well take a concept to an unexpected funnier level. An abstract idea has different solutions to take form in a reality realm. In this way sketches usually look fresher and unpretendedly clear to me.

I am captivated by the way hand-embroidery develops on a canvas as a bas-relief sculpture does, in a very small scale but powerfully. By the real texture and volume of it all like three-dimensional miniatures of living objects. I love the subtle way of combining colours on it, too.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, Dragonfly Searching For Insolent Humans To Destroy. 20 x 25 cm. Embroidery on fabric, 2014

What or who were your early influences and how has your upbringing influenced your work?

As a fourth child of a lovely family back in the times where the internet did not exist yet and you spent communal quality time, I was such a lucky kid to have had always someone around to play with and happily move free on the street till late.

That natural joy for life that children experience when they are playing, might have survived somewhere in me as an adult, even by trying to cope with a world that is getting more awkward way too fast.

I feel lucky to be able to teach art for kids at art schools and witness nowadays what they produce with fun. They make art that is fresh, awesome and for real.

I also consider myself very lucky to have been surrounded by a large bunch of brilliant women in my family that have been stitching or painting with passion, despite not being taken too seriously for their work. They have been making the objects around us magical for all in silence without expecting even a ‘thank you’ back.

That’s at least striking, when I think about the ego that some recognized artists grow, aside the money involved in art circuits.

Women in my family have always produced amazing embroidery on curtains, towels, bed and table clothes, and pieces that were intended to be put on different surfaces and folk regional costumes.

None of those pieces would ever have a chance to make it to a museum in the way like an art work does. These unknown artists are not even considered as so.

So, the art market is more like a circus to me, where you can’t question why there are such ridiculously expensive items while some good ones don’t have any value at all.

Why people speculate with some dead artist’s paintings whereas many good living ones are starving right now. We need to find a new way.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, Bloody Moon. 9,5 x 5,5 x 4 cm. Plain weave on wood block, 2012

Pursuing new paths

What was your route to becoming an artist?

I am pleased to have gotten the chance to study arts in such two significantly different schools from each other, like the arts college in Madrid and the Städelschule in Frankfurt. I think they greatly complement each other and I got extra time than the usual only five years of college to try new things.

I used to paint abstract arts in the past. I still do occasionally, which helps me stop overthinking. I also produced all kind of engravings and printings during my college period but after that I wanted to pursue new paths as well.

Nevertheless, If had chosen to do what I love most in life, it would have been something related to music for sure. Or working on science by the side of free animals, or as environment activist…

It’s never too late for raising some bees and growing some flowers.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, Sub-hypnosis of Medusa. 38 x 32 cm. Embroidery and mixed media collage on fabric layers, 2015

Tell us a bit about your chosen techniques.

In a world where technological machines and digital media take more and more room every minute and our lives are ruled by electrical devices every day, I proposed myself the idea to produce something technically impossible for a sewing machine to make.

Has the time of robots against humans already arrive? Very likely so.

This manner of working intends to show that the hand of a simple woman is still necessary to create certain objects.

I strive to use a variety of materials to arrive to new methods of embroidery in order to achieve new results. I am doing it on objects I find on my way and capture my attention. Here some examples:

thin wrapping paper, a tiny ribbon, a section of a folding chair…

I mixed extra delicate organza fabrics with very solid threads and tried the opposite: pushing hairy wool carefully through denim with a needle. I made it on corners of a canvas that are very hard to reach due to a crossbar. I managed it by giving it all the time it needed till it worked out. Obstinate game!

Susana Ortiz Maillo, Invisible Middle-aged Woman Breaking Free, 15 x 22 cm. Embroidery on ribbon, 2015

Trying to mark my work with a personal vision can situate it on any level that a machine or a robot can’t. This can happen through a touch of humor or a suggestion in search for an ethical sense.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, The Government, 80 x 80 cm. Embroidery and mixed media on canvas, 2013

I often leave the lecture of a work open and free for interpretation to the observer through some symbolic codes.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, The Government (detail), 80 x 80 cm. Embroidery and mixed media on canvas, 2013

How do you use these techniques in conjunction with embroidery?

I am always looking forward to trying out different materials as support.

I freely mix up techniques on what makes fun and sense to me, watercolours, acrylics, pastels, makers, colour pencils, textiles, woods, paper, for example.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, View Of Mount Fuji, II. 60 x 40 cm. Embroidery and collage on canvas, 2012

I just don’t usually use oil colours, as I don’t like using turpentine.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, View Of Mount Fuji, II (detail). 60 x 40 cm. Embroidery and collage on canvas, 2012

Low-brow art

How would you describe your work and where do you think it fits within the sphere of contemporary art?

In my opinion if a work is good, it doesn’t need to be described, because it can speak by itself.

I am not much a friend of putting tags on things or people. That might make a conceptual freedom smaller. I like the term ‘Low-brow art’ though. It sounds unpretentious to my ears, as a humble non-native English speaker.

I try not to fit anywhere and to stay free. Art does need to be suggestive and disturbing more than beautiful, because this time we are living in demands it.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, Hey You Dick, Shhh! (Shut Your Trap). 22 x 36 cm. Embroidery on umbrella fabric, 2015

Susana Ortiz Maillo, Hey You Dick, Shhh! (Shut Your Trap) (detail), 22 x 36 cm. Embroidery on umbrella fabric, 2015

Do you use a sketchbook? If not, what preparatory work do you do? 

I often go back to the sketchbooks to try to convert the bad sketches into better ones and I start picking up drawings I like the most.

Then I try to push it up forward to a stand I like better, if possible. Maybe completing it with new added parts. This means, I often shall repeat the same sketch a couple of times in different ways.

Once this is done, I go through my fabrics collection to match up the best one with the main visual subject.

Sometimes I start looking for images for a sentence or given expressions I specially Iike or dislike.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, Sunny Side Up On The Weeping Tree. 13 x 13 cm. Embroidery and mixed media on fabric, 2015

Who have been your major influences and why?

Influences mean inspiration to me. Inspiration can be all I love:

The unsung brave human heroes who struggle to make their surroundings better without expecting anything back regardless of awards, money and power.

Music, mythology, a fountain of inspiration in every culture, science fiction, fantasy, comics and cartoons, ‘Adventure time’ is my very favorite right now. Biology and nature at all its forms. Dreams, games… All these in a random priority order.

I find very inspiring the personal and particular story of each of us.

Mortal beings down to the essentials; the feelings and emotions that everyone goes through in life. Transcending time and circumstances, we are very similar and always ruled by pain, love, fears, joy, rage…

I don’t probably specialize in ‘happy’ feelings most of the times, for the ‘negative features’ are the ones that keep me worrying about more. These ones are urging to come out, yelling for something to be changed. At this point injustice is very inspiring in general. And focused on gender matters in particular.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, Work in progress

On the other hand, laughing is elementary as well, in order to take a breath and carry on.

I will attempt to name some non-living artists I appreciate, if you can excuse that I probably shall forget ten for each I mention:

Joan Mitchell, Frida Kahlo, Paul Klee, Antonio Saura, Maruja Mallo, Magritte, and the surrealists, Hannah Höch and the Dada movement, Eva Frankfurther, Otto Dix, George Grosz and the German post-expressionism. Further, Henri Rousseau, Max Klinger, Franz von Stuck, Arnold Böcklin, John Everett Millais, James Abbott Whistler, William Turner, James Ensor, and the romanticism and symbolism movements… Besides, William Blake, Goya and Victor Hugo.

I do love Japanese woodblock printing artists from 1700 till 1900. They are sophisticated to detail in the form abstraction and poetic, humorous and sharp on the idea. Harunobu, Hiroshige, Kunisada.

Last, I relish the femenist art movement and tribal primitive arts from all around the world.

Some artists have interested me in the past. Some of these I don’t like anymore, some others I still like although I don’t look at them often. Taste may fluctuate.

The further we travel back in time, the harder it gets to find any female artists names. It’s a shame, because I think that humanity has lost a basic part of its artistic representation so.

Art is family

Tell us about a piece of your work that holds particularly fond memories and why?

I would say specially the ones I have spent a long time working on before considering them done….and stitching takes time.

Some come easy but some others are like a long-distance race to me till I finally finish them. Important life events happen while being attached close to them for months. When I later look at them I might see a part of my past life passing by more than the product. That makes a very different view compared to when people look at them.

All those works know how I laugh, yell or something aches in my private life but they are born to get exposed in a public life and get lost out there.

So many pieces are a kind of relatives of mine…I made a portrait diptych of my two lovely dogs and it was the first time that I hand-stitched it with a text. It would be specially weird to sell that one to a stranger.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, The Two Koreas. 80 x 124 cm. Embroidery and mixed media on fabric, 2014

How has your work developed since you began and how do you see it evolving in the future?

Because of the painting’s backgrounds, I first started choosing textiles with colourful geometrical patterns as background. This made sense to me and would let the comprehension of the works more open, as the context becomes minimal and abstract while bringing a mood out of it.

From Mexico to Japan women have stitched clothes and pieces for centuries bringing forth a social and cultural quiet message expressed by the different colours, shapes and motives of the textile.

As I pondered on this hidden language of threads, I wanted to push up a little contradiction; putting the old beautiful ornaments of classical hand-embroidery away or in a second (painted) place, with a clear text first.

In this way single letters become the symbols to be embroidered as ‘ornaments’ at the same time that the message turns the ‘beautiful’ and ‘valued’ stitched part, getting aloud on the painting.

It’s time to freely exercise an old women’s artistic traditional medium to put another more intentional level on it. It may seem pretty harmless to sew this way, but it was impossible for women in the past to do this.

So in my first hand-stitched works the text used to be the only thing what was embroidered. This made metaphorical sense to me for a couple of works as a sort of symbolic act of awareness of taking the ‘control’.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, If All Else Fails…70 x 40 cm. Embroidery and mixed media on canvas, 2012

Embroidery has been taking more and more room and time on my mixed media works by now. Technically I work constantly to make it more sophisticated and improve my skills.

The way to work with textiles keeps slowly but definitely mutating on me.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, Thanksgiving On Fukushima. 60 x 80 cm. Embroidery and mixed media on canvas, 2016

Making ends meet

What advice would you give to an aspiring textile artist?

Ha. Who knows if I need their advises on life more!

Well, these are some of the things I usually repeat to myself:

Feel free about people’s opinion in general.

Try to turn mistakes into happy accidents, as Bob Ross calls it.

Stay humble and grateful to mom first and then all the people who help and support me in this game.

Compromise yourself with things you think they are worthy. You may never know when something finally turns into something worthy at all and all of a sudden but use your impulses or intuition and try things out.

Can you recommend 3 or 4 books for textile artists?

I just got one:

Bordado Tradicional De La Sierra De Francia by Carmen Requejo Vicente.

I bought it directly from the artist’s hands in the ancient small place where my grandma comes from, close to Portugal. It contains regional patterns of that area, the ones I am most familiar with as I have been watching many women in my family stitching them. I guess, my mom and grandma have been my best book.

Bordado charro is how this style is called in Salamanca in Spain. I used one of this embroidery designs on a painting and slightly modified it to give it a sad tint.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, Lucretia. 60 x 40 cm. Embroidery and mixed media on canvas, 2013

Susana Ortiz Maillo, Lucretia (detail). 60 x 40 cm. Embroidery and mixed media on canvas, 2013

What other resources do you use? Blogs, websites, magazines etc.

I watch some video tutorials or textile examples on the techniques at pinterest.com from time to time due to the lack thereof nowadays. I often look for nature and distant landscapes pictures.

But it takes me the longest time to work on the concept and ideas more than what I need on the technique. Once I have a conceptual plan, I try to make the best of it through the technique. The idea might change a bit whilst making it real.

I patiently learn by doing rather than spending time reading about it, even if I’d like to.

Conceptually I love all kind of science fiction stories and fantasy tales. Specially some Japanese ones, with their ‘spectres and monsters’ bestiary.

Here is a funny website: www.pinktentacle.com

I am interested in www.thejealouscurator.com, blog.threadless.com and Juxtapoz.com.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, I Can Still Smell You On My Moonwalkies. 25 x 30 cm. Embroidery on gift wrapping paper and tarlatan, 2014

I enjoy following present artist such as Ruth Marten, Aleksandra Waliszewska, Alaina Varrone, Kara Walker, Marc Burckhardt, Herbert Brandl, Yuko Shimizu, Jamie Hewlett, Mike Mignola, Danielle de Picciotto, and Guerrilla Girls… to name just a few.

I don’t distinguish between artist showing their work at galleries and museums or printed in underground publications if the work is good!

I specially admire many mates of mine who have an amazing work behind, but whom nobody knows. What also happens in the music industry world, where most of great musicians have to take on other jobs to make ends meet.

How do you go about choosing where to show your work?

Well, reality itself turns this question around and one wonders how comes that galleries are the only ones able to choose the artists they want to. Never the artist the one who chooses, unless for a very small elite circle.

I am grateful for having made interesting shows in Germany with people who care about art over all.

In my opinion, the possibility to come to good shows it’s more about random luck, in case you don’t work hard on making connections rather than making art.

Unfortunately the choice of where to exhibit is giving to an artist very rarely.

Everyone has probably seen artists with lousy works getting big shows at well-known locations and great talented artists not having any. Nothing new in the human history, except that now women are slowly carving ourselves some art-room out there with blood, sweat and tears.

Susana Ortiz Maillo, Priscila, Reina Del Desert. 44 x 36 cm. Embroidery and mixed media on fabric, 2015

Where can readers see your work this year?

Nothing in sight at the moment, but I usually post the related infos on my Facebook site, for which you don’t need an account to access to.

I am always looking forward to working with neat people and interesting places to show. I have the dream with some friends and colleagues at my studio in Offenbach am Main to work together and open a location to show our artwork independently on an ongoing and self-organized basis.

If this never happens, maybe some other good things will do…

Susana at work in her studio

Find Susana on Facebook and Pinterest here: www.facebook.com or www.pinterest.com

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www.fehe.org

The 57th International Art Exhibition, titled Viva Arte Viva is now in full flow at Arsenale and Giardini venues, and in several locations in Venice, Italy. With 120 invited artists exhibiting, 103 of these are participating for the first time.

An irresistible event for Textile artist Barbara Lee Smith who took herself off to the City of Canals, and here she shares her thoughts about what she discovered.

Barbara Lee Smith: The oldest, biggest art exhibition in the world is the Venice Biennale. I haven’t any idea why I waited so long to go to this event, and now I have two years to wait for the next one. So, here’s my bottom line: Go this year if you possibly can.

This 57th Biennale runs through to November 26, so you may be able to summon up the time and money for a trip to Venice. Okay, now you can get back to reflecting on some of the artist’s works that moved me. Check out the many websites about the artists, countries and the dozens of exhibitions around the city while you are at it.

A week is too short for any complete view, but you can certainly see plenty in that time. Read the reviews, some ponderous; some enlightening, and then go and make up your own mind.

I can only write about a few of the artists whose work moved me, but what I can say is that textiles, and what I would call a textile sensibility, were abundant.

Christine Macel, Chief Curator of the Centre Pompidou, selected the 120 artists who appeared this year. Her brief was to consider this an ‘age of anxiety’ and to focus on the

Important role artists play in inventing their own universes and injecting generous vitality into the world we live in.

There was a humanitarian approach within her choices, and I was moved by so many works that dealt with shattering issues with warmth and depth, as well as a focus on solutions, not just problems. There was Hope in much of the work. In no particular order here are some of the artists whose works keep returning to mind.

Marie Lai

Marie Lai, Italy

Marie Lai (1919-2013) received a memorial exhibition. Part of the ‘arte povera’ movement, her stitched textiles of maps, books and an altar cloth were early on in the pavilions. I was fascinated by the pages contained within books made from bread.

Marie Lai, Books with bread covers

Her work alone threatened to delay my meeting others at the chosen time.

Sheila Hicks

Near the end of the pavilions, filling one huge wall of the Arsenale, were large colourful balls by Sheila Hicks. While there were many Do Not Touch signs throughout the exhibitions, the sign here instructed the viewer to Do Not Sit.

Sheila Hicks, USA

Sheila Hicks, USA

Judith Scott

This was a joyful assemblage, and yet I thought it paled in comparison with another American artist, Judith Scott (1943-2005), whose work was shown very close to it. The story of Judith Scott is one of determination and the need/urge/compulsion to make and to contain.

Judith Scott

Born deaf and with Down Syndrome, Scott spent much of her life in a dreadful state institution before being rescued by her sister, Joyce, No, not that Joyce Scott!

Judith Scott found a means of expression within the arms of the Creative Growth Center in Oakland, California. Here she wound and wrapped and bundled small objects into large cocoons, very powerful in both assembly and display.

Judith Scott

Huguette Caland

Hugette Caland, Lebanon

Many of the works had a stitch-like surface, and it was hard to tell until I was close enough to see that they were drawings. The work of Lebanese artist Huguette Caland drew on the female form as both design and commentary. Her mannequins were both drawn and stitched: beautiful, witty, and provocative.

Hugette Caland

Tang Nannan and Yao Huifen

There were so many more within the acres of the exhibitions, a number of which focused on traditional textiles reused or reimagined, and the Chinese Pavilion offered the largest Suzhou embroidery I’ve ever seen, a collaboration between Tang Nannan and Yao Huifen, titled Oblivious Ocean 202, 130 cm x 260 cm.

Tang Nannan and Yao Huifan, China

Lorenzo Quinn

Venues emerged all over Venice. My first sight of one was coming in from the airport on the Grand Canal, oh, I love writing that!, where a giant pair of arms, weighing in at 5000 pounds, emerged from the water and appeared to hold up a 14th-century building, now the Ca’ Sagredo Hotel. Titled Support, the Italian artist, Lorenzo Quinn, chose to comment on the vulnerability of our earth and Venice in particular, caused by climate change.

Lorenzo Quinn, Italy

Michal Cole

One private Palazzo hosted an exhibit titled Objection. Not part of the official ‘pavilions’ at the Biennale, this exhibit was in what was called the Humanity Pavillion. While it doesn’t come up as a website, a bit of searching reveals articles on the two women artists and the show.

Michal Cole, London

One of the artists, Michal Cole, covered a room with 25,000 silk ties that first attracted me, but then proved decidedly creepy. All the ties have been worn, and as Cole relates,

They bear witness to the machinations of male society – business meetings, pub drinks, parties, weddings, prostitutes, funerals, court appearances, political meetings decision making, firing workers, blood sweat and tears.

Ties cover floor, walls and ceiling, chandelier, stuffed animal heads, furniture, busts, and a rifle mounted on the wall that used a Donald Trump, label included, silk tie along the stock. The title of the installation: Top Gun.

Michal Cole, London

David Medalla

An interactive art work, begun in 1968 caught my eye back at the Arsenale. A Stitch in Time by David Medalla welcomed participation with threads, needles, scissors and one’s choice of what to add to this enormous hammock-like canvas. I felt the need to be part of this art work.

Barbara Lee Smith leaving her mark on David Medalla, London

As I watch the nightmare of my country slipping into insularity, I’m reminded that Art in all shapes and forms envelopes the world, tying us together in a language of connection, possibility and promise; even when things go awry, we can still leave our mark.

David Medalla, London

A Note for those travelling to the Biennale. Buy your tickets on line and print them before going to the exhibition. That saves waiting in the interminable queues for either purchase or Will Call.

The bar code on your printed page is what you’ll need for entering either the Giardini or the Arsenale. That bar code is good for one entry to each venue, and that means you don’t have to rush through one to ‘do’ the other in the same day.

For more information visit: www.barbaraleesmith.com

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Author, artist, advocate and social entrepreneur Mary is a global leader in the arena of social change through positive thought and action. Her interview with TextileArtist.org in 2016 was seen by over 6,000 people, many of which were moved to contact us:

Singularly one of the most powerful, thoughtful and socially motivated artists I know. A leader, a big heart with massive creative talent. Cas Holmes

We bring to a close our Artists that inspire series with Mary’s thoughts on inspiration and we discover who has influenced her throughout her prestigious career.

Mary Fisher, He’s My Baby, 2009

Mary Fisher: I think of inspiration as I think of happiness: always desired, occasionally experienced. We pass by shelves full of self-help books promising inspiration-on-call, but every artist I’ve known has both inspired and barren moments.

When I experience inspiration, and to be inspired is to have an experience, I know it. My soul breathes. My heart rate climbs. Fear retreats and passion takes over. I’m infused with a new energy. It’s as if I have not found inspiration so much as it has found me. I’m possessed.

I have no simple formula that guarantees inspiration, no ‘push this button and watch the inspiration pour out.’ But some things and people trigger the experience. They call me beyond myself. They help me become a channel for unseen images.

If it sounds spiritual, that’s because it is.

Jane Dunnewold: Fellow Explorer

Jane Dunnewold, Ode To Hildegard

For me, Jane inspires me as a partner, a teacher, a fellow-explorer and an inspiration. Read her book Creative Strength Training or get into her workshop and you’ll quickly discover that she is no ordinary woman.

I’m reluctant to try explaining Jane, even to myself. Her magic isn’t a trick. It’s a gift. I’ve seen her consistently bolster other people’s creativity. When she comes into my studio, she brings with her an air, a presence, that is 100% positive. She’s fearless about trying a new technique or testing a different fabric. Where another woman with her gifts might be cocky or arrogant, Jane is modest, kind, humble, persistently looking for a way to serve others.

Jane’s gifts as an artist are themselves inspiring. Follow this woman’s example and you’re likely to become both more prolific and more polished. She not only knows creativity in herself, she knows how to nurture it in others.

Jane Dunnewold, Undulating Work

Among Jane’s greatest strengths is her capacity to listen. If she poses a question, she does not let go until it has been answered truthfully, deeply, in a way that tells the story. She listens in the way some artists see: differently.

Exactly how Jane inspires me, or how she prompts my experience of inspiration, remains a mystery. But it involves her willingness to explore what lies behind the creative process. She looks for the emotional and spiritual content of my, or of anyone’s, art.

If I remember the feeling of an abandonment in my childhood, Jane will encourage me to go into that feeling, to bring out the child, to let my hands and eyes and brushes express the truth that I did not wither or die. I survived it, and now I can use it in my art.

Joy, excitement, love, boredom – all are worthy of being brought into our creativity, our art. It’s the constant lesson with which Jane inspires me.

Mary Fisher with Jane Dunnewold

For more information visit: www.janedunnewold.com

Gee’s Bend: Art as a Messenger

Gees Bend, quilting

If you’ve never had an occasion to study a quilt produced by the remarkable community at Gee’s Bend, treat yourself to this pleasure soon. The story of the Gee’s Bend artists and their history is familiar to most quilters. It’s also a source of inspiration for my own work.

Gee’s Bend is a 700-person, rural African-American community surrounded on three sides by the Alabama River. Settled by ex-slaves in the late 19^th Century, the matriarchs of Gee’s Bend developed their own techniques for sewing and designing, and they created images and styles they’ve passed along from generation to generation.

Some quilts were said to bear encoded directions for slaves looking for the Underground Railroad that could take them to the North. Some are clearly inspired by the shapes and distinctive colours found along a meandering river or in the sagging fortunes of a forgotten Southern plantation. The patchwork patterns are often irregular. Symmetry is important because it accents asymmetrical lines and angles. Colours are bold. Whites feel empty. Blacks are used with intent.

The quilts of Gee’s Bend are strikingly beautiful. At one level, they represent ‘art for art’s sake’ without pretension. I remember when I first saw them, even before I knew their source or story. They were breathtaking. Even now, I sometimes see them billowing off a clothes line hung somewhere in my sleep. The quilts inspire me.

Gee’s Bend Quilt

The women of Gee’s Bend are a treasure. Because of them, what might otherwise be a community of unremarkable rural poverty, Gee’s Bend is a collective of artists two, three and sometimes four generations deep.

They made art because they are artists, and they made it of what was available to them: worn-out work clothes, torn sheets, threadbare dresses, feed sacks and raw cotton. These women know that art and life are indivisible. If they carry the injustice and brutality of slavery into their quilts, they also deliver the tenderness of an infant’s cry. Their art tells the story of their lives.

Twenty-some years ago I was invited to have the first one-woman art exhibit in the Great Rotunda of the U.S. Senate. The AIDS epidemic was still raging. Everyone infected, including me, was dying. One of my sculptures installed in the exhibit invoked a line from a speech I had given, expressing the hope that we could find unity in life not only in death. Hours before it opened, the exhibit was cancelled. A Senator had been offended at my inclusion of references to death.

The artists of Gee’s Bend would have understood why I could not speak of life without speaking of death. In their fellowship, I am comforted. By their lives and their art, I am inspired.

At work quilting, Alabama, 1937

For more information visit: www.soulsgrowndeep.org

Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn: All about Life

Jan Beaney, Contrasts

Jean Littlejohn , Mists of Time, Loose Ends

Some day there will be a Textile Artists Hall of Fame. The first two inductees are likely to be London’s Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn. They could come in together, as a pair. Or they may be inducted singly. Either way, when they arrive they’ll bring grace and joy to the exhibit.

Here are two women whose work profits from their differences. Jan was born to a family of recognised, professional artists; Jean says she comes from a family of ‘makers.’ Jan is the traveller whose work often mirrors the rounding of landscapes and the pastel of a fading sun. Jean is likely to be inspired by a nip of cloth found in the corner of her bedroom. Each is an artist. Each has her own power.

Most often, they work as a team. Together they represent a sort of two-person, roving artist’s community into which each of us is invited. On the way in, they’d like to hear you laugh. They take art seriously but take themselves, and all of us, with lovely, lilting amusement. Twenty years ago they created ‘Double Trouble’ in further awareness of and interest in embroidery. I imagine they did it with a twinkle in their eyes.

Jan Beaney, Purple Hedgerow

Jean Littlejohn, Reclamation Victoriana

Sometimes I’m inspired to produce art. Sometimes I’m inspired to call a good friend and tell her I’ve missed her. Sometimes inspiration gives me an insight I lacked or a sense of direction I’d missed. In all these moments, inspiration tends to rise quietly, unseen, as a hunch or an instinct on a whim.

Jan and Jean bring something less subtle and often less quiet. They bring life. Chattering away as they teach, there’s no time to look away from them or lose track of their stories. They chronicle their most recent trip. They tease about losing the other in a fine button store.

Despite the delicate perfection of their own work, when they’re teaching a sophisticated technique one of them is likely to add:

Don’t worry if you don’t get it perfect. Nobody’ll know.

An ancient definition of inspiration is ‘breathing in the Divine.’ In their rollicking and sometimes gentle mentorships, Jan and Jean teach me to breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.

They inspire me to be aware that I am here, now, alive, connected to something greater than myself. They inspire me with life.

Jean Littlejohn, Time and Tide 1 & 2

Jan Beaney, Winter Brambles

For more information visit: www.doubletrouble-ent.com

Visual Details: Everyday Mindfulness

Photography by Mary Fisher

Over the past decade, I’ve lived in the American Southwest, amid the stunning red-rock cliffs of Sedona, Arizona, and in Southeastern Florida. I moved to Sedona for the setting. I returned to Florida for my ageing mother.

I mention these two settings because they are strikingly different. In Sedona, every day was introduced by the sweeping grandeur of a mountain sunrise. Throughout the day, colours blazed and faded, shadows moved across the landscapes, and all of it ended at nightfall’s inky, purple-black that’s hard to capture on a canvas.

Photography by Mary Fisher

In Florida, I’m an urban dweller who can see the ocean from my balcony. My city holds the shriek of sirens and waves from the deck of a passing yacht. I’m as likely to hear the jarring sound of jackhammers as a riff of jazz from a nearby Cuban bar.

But these are the grand things of our neighbourhoods and countrysides, the big things, the differences we all notice. These are what tourist guides report.

Photography by Mary Fisher

What I recognised some time ago is that, much as I appreciate all that is massive and grand in my environment, I tend to be inspired by fractions of things: tiny pieces, little bits, details that hide inside the beauty of something larger and more forceful. Someone else sees the muscular power of a growing skyscraper; I see the incredible beauty in the small fragment of concrete that fell from the collapsed wall.

This morning I studied the bent blade of grass that refused to die in a sidewalk crack. Yesterday, I was obsessed with the freckle on a child’s cheek.

Photography by Mary Fisher

When economists and others reveal their analyses and make their pronouncements, they often remind us that things are complex and ‘the devil’s in the details.’ Perhaps.

But I prefer an earlier version of that saying, a version that explains why details actually inspire me. The older, original saying? ‘God is in the details.’

I think the original version had it right. It’s in the details that She inspires me.

Photography by Mary Fisher

Louise Nevelson: Glimpse into Another Creative Mind

Louise Nevelson, Night Flight

All art is unique. But the work Louise Nevelson created is staggeringly different and comes from a magnificent mind.

The daughter of Russian immigrant parents, Nevelson’s earliest years were spent in the cold remoteness of a Maine forest where her father, still learning to speak English, supported his family by cutting wood and often carving it, and by running a private junk yard. There we see the makings of Louise Nevelson’s art: carved wood and reclaimed junk.

When my mother passed away almost a year ago, a series of grief-invoked feelings led me to realise that I have long been drawn to brokenness. Since late in 2016, when the world itself seems bent on breaking under the weight of racism and sexism, rejection of the immigrant and brutality toward the vulnerable, my own art has begun to show the evidence of brokenness. My soul takes in the culture around me and brings out expressions that are whole pieces of broken parts.

Louise Nevelson, Cascade

Even before this past year, I’ve long had a special connection to Louise Nevelson and her art. We never met but I feel as though I know her. I understand what she saw in the crooked screw that she mounted in a breaking wall. I know why she chose the piece that was rusted instead of the piece that was polished. I get it. I get her. I feel as though my soul is mystically connected to hers.

When I feel that connection most strongly, I do not tell others. It seems too strange. Still, it is true. This woman I did not know but have always known, kindles a spirit of invention within me. She inspires me.

Louise Nevelson, Collage and Assemblage

For more information visit: www.tate.org.uk

Degas’ Dancers: Artworks

Edgar Degas, Dancer

When I lived in France as a young woman, just beginning to imagine what it might mean to be an artist, not yet really believing, I was drawn to the work of the great Impressionists: Manet, Pissarro, Cezanne, Cassatt, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Monet. In their lives and their art, they were striking out in new directions untested by the marketplace and generally unappreciated by the critics.

Among the pieces that captured my imagination most consistently were the dancers drawn, painted and sculpted by Edgar Degas. His classical training and meticulous attention to detail gave life and emotion to each piece. Each of his dancers was distinct.

When, for example, you study his Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer, her lithe but still immature body posed awkwardly, the bend of her neck and position of her hands fully adolescent, you know why Degas once said that art is ‘not what you see, but what you make others see.’ What Degas makes us see is uncanny.

I have always loved dance. Decades ago I spent a day in the company of the incomparable Gregory Hines. We were all by ourselves in my studio, the result of a story I’d happily tell. Over the course of our hours together he exhausted me with movements I’d never before tried. My muscles ached. But I was so enthralled by him that I wanted the hours never to end.

What I see in Degas’ dancers is what I experienced with Gregory Hines. I’m moved by the power, the raw strength that is expressed through beauty and grace. Here is art that breathes. I can feel their muscles flex and burn. I can sense the imperfect balance of the human body forced to stand on one slippered toe. Everything here is one-of-a-kind. Everything here inspires my soul to dance.

Edgar Degas, Dancers

For more information visit: www.edgar-degas.org

Women of Africa: Synergy

Mary Fisher

I was still dying of AIDS when I was first invited to visit Africa.

The time of the antiretroviral ‘cocktail’ had just arrived and the long-term efficacy was not yet known. The American AIDS community was sceptical. For all we knew, protease inhibitors were just the latest version of AZT and other promises that did not work out.

I was still a mother of school-aged children. On one hand, I needed to see to the ordinary business of raising two sons. I couldn’t afford to spend my days thinking about dying. On the other hand, it’s hard not to think about dying when you are.

My initial visit was as part of an official U.S. delegation. At the first few stops, I was kept with the American delegation and had no time alone with the women who were speaking to us. They were African and I was a Yankee; they were as Black as I was White, as poor as I was privileged. We came from different worlds.

But what became clear when we were off, alone together, was that these were women like me. Our colours and accents did not divide us. We were each one of us, a woman with AIDS, a woman with children, a woman with stories of broken trust and violated bodies, a woman who was dying.

In ways obvious and subtle, my art has changed since I was first welcomed into the community of the women with AIDS in Africa. The stories told of their suffering and their resilience are inspiring. The courage they exhibit in speaking out despite the risks of physical abuse and community judgment is contagious. But what is most astounding, at least to me, is their unbridled joy.

I went to Africa a tragic woman with AIDS. But when I joined the line of sisters with AIDS, imitating their swaying hips and dancing under the African stars, my sadness lifted. In the singing of songs and the bonding of hugs, I gave up hopelessness. In the laughter of those moments, I learned to laugh again.

The experience of community is itself powerful. Experiencing that community with other women, and women whose futures so resemble my own is doubly-potent. Being surrounded and held by a group of African women with AIDS has never failed to inspire me.

Mary Fisher with sisters

For more information visit: www.maryfisher.com

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Adam Pritchett is a British artist who studied Fine Arts at Coventry University focusing on textile sculptural forms, which developed into embroidery after graduating.

His most notable achievement and personal highlight was appearing on Kirstie Allsopp’s Handmade Christmas in 2016, embroidering a Christmas stocking.

In this interview, Adam takes us on his artistic journey. We discover what led him to work with thread, why the natural world inspires him and the direction his art may take in the future.

Adam Pritchett, Queen Bee, 2016

A new beginning

TextileArtist.org: What initially attracted you to textiles as a medium? 

Adam Pritchett: I have always had an interest in textiles, I remember making fabric toys and puppets during school holidays with my Grandmother.

I think the real moment that it became a fascination to me was while studying at university and I distinctly recall workshops learning about the structure of fabrics and how they are made and just being enthralled by the way that thread could be woven to create beautiful fabrics.

That is when I learnt to weave, and how to knit and spin yarn, it really was a new beginning for me as a maker.

And, more specifically, how was your imagination captured by stitch?

Once I had begun to learn about how fabrics were constructed I kept extensive sketchbooks full of experiments in all kinds of appliqué, felting, dyeing, etc. and stored them away while I was studying. I’ve always been a collector of things, so filing away all of my experiments was always an enjoyable, cathartic process.

A year or so after graduating I was in a bit of a slump and knew I needed to start making artwork again but didn’t know what, so I dug out my old sketchbooks and dove back into textiles.

Around that same point, I had noticed a number of people on social media accounts that I followed working in embroidery and decided that I needed to teach myself.

Adam Pritchett, Tryptich of flowers, 2017

What was your route to becoming an artist?

I studied a foundation degree before going to university, and originally began a BA in 3D Design a wonderful contemporary crafts course where I learnt a huge amount of practical techniques and materials, but unfortunately the university I was attending closed the course down after a year being on it.

I was then offered a place on the Fine Arts degree, and from there I have had a slow and meandering path to where I am now. You grow from every experience, and I honestly don’t think that I would make the same kind of work had I had a smoother journey to here and now.

Tell us a bit about your chosen techniques.

The focus of my work is hand embroidery, using traditional methods and stitches in my practice to create contemporary works. I also work with a lot of hand dyed fabrics that I produce myself, often incorporating appliqué and beading in with hand stitching.

I like to build up layers of stitches to create raised effects, without using stump work wires, incorporating a number these techniques has produced some really interesting results and all leads back to how I enjoy experimentation with known methods to create something different.

Adam Pritchett, Sewing spider, 2017

Making every opportunity count

How would you describe your work and where do you think it fits within the sphere of contemporary art?

I think that a key theme in my work is that of reconstruction and passing of time. A reoccurring theme of spiders in a series of pieces that I have made have all been based around cutting away at fabric, and weaving lace-like structures similar to webs over the holes to make them complete again. The break down and rebuilding is a subject that keeps coming up in my work, and one that I don’t feel I have finished exploring yet.

My work feels more illustrative than conceptual, and the shows that I have exhibited in have featured alongside mostly illustrators so I suppose I’m not really sure how my work fits in alongside other textile art.

Adam Pritchett, Koi pond, 2016

In my work, I really like the juxtapositions between working in soft materials like fabrics and thread, and the subjects that feature in my work like insects. A common remark about some of my more recognisable works that feature spiders are that of conflicting feeling between visually appealing embroidered stitching, and the realism of spiders on webs which in contrast are a common source of discomfort to many people.

Being self-taught there’s always been an element of making it up as I go along, so I try to just make every opportunity count when one comes along.

Adam Pritchett, Spiders nest, 2016

Do you use a sketchbook? If not, what preparatory work do you do?

I do have a small sketchbook that I often use to sketch out compositions, and structures for new pieces to test how I think they might visually work. Mainly, I keep visual scrapbooks of images that I collect and curate to help me form ideas for new pieces of work.

My actual preparation before starting an embroidery is quite brief, I draw directly on to my fabric using air erasable pens which fade over a period of time, these allow me to work in a very fast & fluid way meaning a piece of work changes and takes shape as it is made.

It is quite rare for a piece of mine to end anywhere near how it began looking!

Adam Pritchett, Beating heart, 2017

What environment do you like to work in?

I am very much a sewing nomad, I don’t have a studio space that I work in, although it is something I would love to have in the future. Currently, I stitch wherever I can, and move my sewing box and fabrics around from place to place with me.

I do like a space that I can nest in, and settle down with everything I need around me to just work. I often listen to the radio, or podcasts as they’re non-distracting background noise that I find helps me to focus without any overwhelming silence. I am very much a night owl, it is quite common for me to be so focused that I haven’t realised it’s 1am and I have been working for 6 hours without really moving.

What currently inspires you?

Much of my work has botanical, natural themes, and I am a huge science/nature buff. Documentaries about the natural world always are a huge source of inspiration for me, the recent David Attenborough series Planet Earth II was exactly in my element and I must have watched it all over dozens of times.

I also read as much as I can, and often find an idea is sparked by a fantasy novel that I’ve been reading, and I think that’s where much of the myth and magic themes in my work come from.

Adam Pritchett, Miniature Scorpion, 2017

The foundation of knowledge

How has your work developed since you began and how do you see it evolving in the future?

Looking back at work made when I first set out compared to now I can see huge changes in terms of technical ability, I am very critical of myself so after a few months when I look back at work I see mistakes and things I would do differently.

But in the future, I hope to form more concept driven work and start to work on larger pieces to branch out and see if aspects I find interesting at a small scale translate when that is challenged.

What advice would you give to an aspiring textile artist?

The best piece of advice I could give to someone looking to work in textiles, learn as much as you possibly can about basics like fabric construction, technical hand stitching methods, dyeing, darning, felting, anything and everything you can sink your teeth into. Once you have the foundations of knowledge about textiles, you can grab that area that you find a special affinity with, and run with it.

You’ll never be a master of all trades, but knowing a little about everything will help you discover your particular interest much faster, I wish someone had told me that and perhaps I’d have found my way to embroidery just a bit faster.

Adam Pritchett, Lonely cabin, 2016

What other resources do you use? Blogs, websites, magazines etc.

I am a big user of social media for artwork, especially Instagram, the arts community on there is the best that I have come across anywhere else. The comments, feedback and instant support that you can always rely on has been key to me feeling comfortable about showing my work to people.

Not to mention the vast numbers of talented textile artists on there just a few of my favourite people that I always check up on to see what new work they’re making are; Lana Crooks, Caitlin McCormack, Jess de Wahls, Sally Hewett, Alaina Varrone, Emillie Ferris.

What piece of equipment or tool could you not live without?

Good quality needles and my thread scissors, I am admittedly one of those people who has about 10 different pairs of scissors and so help the person who uses the wrong pair for the wrong purpose.

Adam Pritchett, Italian flowers in collaboration with Rhianne Masters, 2017

Do you give talks or run workshops or classes? If so where can readers find information about these?

I recently taught some classes in the basics of hand embroidery, through to designing a more illustrative piece of work, those classes were with the wonderful Hannah & Rosie over at The New Craft House in London.

If I do run any more workshops in the coming year, they would most likely be there again, but currently, I don’t have any further dates set.

New dates would be posted on my website.

Adam Pritchett, The Chase, 2017

How do you go about choosing where to show your work?

I don’t really show work as often as I’d like, I am a bit of a novice when it comes to contacting galleries about shows. I have been lucky enough to show with the amazing folks at the Light Grey Art Lab a number of times in the US, but I am currently looking at new places to show work.

I live in the Lake District so we’re a little remote from the busy London gallery world!

Where can readers see your work this year?

Camouflage, at Light Grey Art Lab in Minneapolis, U.S.A. from May 26th, 2017.

Adam Pritchett, Portrait work in progress

For more information visit: www.apritchett.co.uk or on Instagram.

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Using yarn and crochet and fibre techniques Nathan Vincent has produced a beautiful body of work which has been exhibited at the Bellevue Arts Museum, the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, and the Cornell Fine Arts Museum to name but a few.

His work is highlighted in the book Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community by John Chaich and Todd Oldham, published by AMMO Books.

In this, our penultimate edition of Artists that inspire, Nathan discusses 5 artists he admires and the impact they’ve had on his art and practice.

Read TextileArtist.org’s interview with Nathan here

Ghada Amer

Ghada Amer, Shahrazad, 2009, acrylic, embroidery and gel medium on canvas, 66 x 79 inches

Nathan Vincent: I first ran across Amer’s work when I was studying in college. My mentor recommended I look at her work as I was embroidering on some paintings and had begun to utilise erotic imagery. He saw that there was some overlap.

I immediately took to her large-scale paintings that appear abstract from a distance, a reference to the machismo of abstract expressionism. Within the details of these paintings, you see she has illustrated females in autoerotic poses lifted from pornography and repeatedly embroidered with trailing threads so many times that the figures are distorted, but not invisible.

For me it seemed Amer was reclaiming these images, reclaiming the power of the male gaze, and subverting the scale and ‘strength’ of the 1940’s abstract painters with the use of thread. Her choice of non-traditional material to make contemporary art was exciting as it pushed the boundaries of genre in ways I was not used to seeing (Is it painting? Is it collage? Is it craft?) It was empowering to see an artist utilise erotic imagery that seemed deeper and more expressive than merely dealing with sexual desire.

I must confess that at first, all I did was emulate her work, a tactic used by many young artists to learn their craft and explore new mediums. But, it was through this exploration that I moved from embroidery to sculpture, which has felt more genuine and authentic for me.

For more information visit: www.ghadaamer.com

Jason Hanasik

Jason Hanasik, Sharrod’s Bedroom Wall (Your Body and Your Spirit), Photograph 2008-2012

I also came across Hanasik’s work while in college. We were studying at the same school, but didn’t have any classes together. We ran into each other again several years after graduation and realised that we were both very interested in ideas of masculinity, how these ideas are formed, and how to create a new masculinity that is large enough to encompass multiple definitions.

Hanasik’s work is inspirational for many many reasons, but what I love most about his practice is how he has moved seamlessly between photography, collage, installation, appropriation, projection, essays and documentaries, video (including 360 video) and most recently, journalism. His lust for knowledge, experience, and exploration has allowed him to produce amazing work across mediums and he always throws himself 100% into each project.

I admire Hanasik’s ability to tell a story and immerse you fully as a viewer, offering a visual account that is both beautiful and moving. I always walk away from his projects with a more empathetic view of the subjects. His interest in the myths we tell, receive, and take on is compelling and has grown past culture’s obsession with gender and given us a fuller understanding of Hanasik’s viewpoint, but also the journeys his subjects have taken through life.

While my work has been focused on one medium and exploring similar topics through this medium, Hanasik has expanded conceptually and I’m always amazed and inspired by artists who are talented enough to make these jumps between ideas and medium.

For more information visit: www.jasonhanasik.com

Caroline Wells Chandler

Caroline Wells Chandler, Big Red (The Bather), 2016, Hand crocheted assorted wool, 11 x 4 feet

My world recently became much more ‘queer’ when I was chosen to take part in an exhibition called ‘Queer Threads’. My world view was much expanded through that experience.

I was introduced to Chandler’s work and was drawn to the bright garish colours, the playful treatment of complex issues around gender, and the direct interaction with art history. Where I have mostly worked in 3 dimensions, I enjoy the flatness of Chandler’s work, which forces you to think of it as a drawing or painting. And I love that the work is so tactile and textural that your eye bounces between the image and the surface.

As a trans artist, Chandler’s work is uniquely situated to speak to how we are completely ignorant of the norms of society as very young children. It’s not until we either see those around us behaving in set patterns, or have an adult explicitly tell us that we are behaving ‘incorrectly’ that we become self conscious and begin to second guess our behaviors, desires, and self expression.

That moment is fascinating to me, and I feel that Chandler articulates the emotions that come along with this discovery and the subsequent transition from comfort to awkwardness in an exciting and explosive way.

For more information visit: www.carolinewellschandler.com

Aaron McIntosh

Aaron McIntosh, Bedroom Buddies, 2011

McIntosh creates much of his work using old magazines, printed and found fabrics, and quilting processes. He mixes and matches and combines these different techniques and materials into brilliant sculptures and collages that speak to desire, loss, and absence.

I feel an affinity for his work, maybe because we were both gay boys who grew up in conservative family situations, but also due to his elevation of craft. McIntosh challenges our nostalgic perceptions of quilting and injects a mysterious eroticism that seems focused on loneliness and isolation- creating high art of traditions and feelings that have oft been pushed to the side.

I’m very inspired by the community participation aspect of his current project, Invasive. As McIntosh travels throughout the South, he gathers stories of LGBTQ lives and incorporates them into the project. In doing so, he is engaging in under valued communities, bringing a sense of hope and joy, but also healing and hopefully positive exposure.

I am moved by this artwork that has such a strong social component and engaging with his work has broadened my own view of art making practices to include others’ stories as opposed to merely expressing my own.

For more information visit: www.aaronmcintosh.com

Martin Puryear

Martin Puryear, Old Mole, 1985, red cedar

My first experience with the work of Martin Puryear was back in 2008 at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. This may have been the first major sculpture exhibition I had seen at MoMA and I was blown away by Puryear’s ability to use stiff wooden planks to create curved, elegant, organic sculptures. It felt that he was not merely forcing the material, but coaxing it to bend to his will. I was, and still am, in awe of his technique and expertise.

Puryear’s exhibition filled me with a desire to make work that feels finished, complete, and cohesive. I wanted to make work that embodied that tension between what the material is, and what it could be. It feels as if the wood in Puryear’s sculptures just makes sense in these new forms, and I have found myself striving for this in my own work. I’m inspired by his devotion to crafting objects, which is evident in everything he creates.

In addition to the finesse with which he completes his work, his visual vocabulary has been a huge inspiration to me as well. Puryear regularly utilises similar shapes, altering them, stretching or condensing them, butting them up against one another or switching up the material. This variety brings new ideas, new contexts, and new meaning to a body of symbols he has amassed throughout his career.

For more information visit: www.matthewmarks.com

If you’d like to read more about Nathan Vincent click here

Which artists inspire you? Tell us by commenting below.

Kate Wells has been an exhibiting artist for 30 years combining teaching with studio work and family life. Her work has been included in group exhibitions worldwide and is in private and public collections. Curating and running the Textiles Section at Art in Action has been an important role in recent years.

In this interview, Kate tells us about the techniques and materials she uses to produce her breathtaking landscapes. We discover how being part of an art group helped introduce her to exhibiting and what direction her work will take in the future.

Kate Wells, Gold cabuchons sample, 2014, gold and rayon machine embroidery on silk crepeline

Holding things together

TextileArtist.org: What initially attracted you to textiles as a medium?

Kate Wells: I suppose it was the availability and familiarity of the medium, simply at hand. From the beginning, it looked as though it ticked all the boxes of making, shaping, infinite ways of changing and suggesting most subjects.

At Loughborough, I also used sculpture…chopping and hammering was probably my way of escaping the quiet, control of embroidery!

And, more specifically, how was your imagination captured by stitch?

Stitch itself took a lot longer to establish. As a way of holding things together, it was a natural methodology but it took the influence of Glasgow School of Art to make the link to drawing and then, much later, to find my own language with stitch.

I’ve always loved fine drawing and subtle colours so my relationship with stitch was with fine threads and fine details.

Kate Wells, A High Place, 1990, 90 x 90cm, paint on calico with hand and machine embroidery

What or who were your early influences and how has your upbringing influenced your work?

My family was a making crowd, always a project on the go. One of my earliest memories was of turning the wooden handle of my Mother’s black and gold Singer sewing machine while she mended sheets or made my dresses. She used to make a doll’s version of my own summer frocks.

My Grandmother was a bookbinder and knew tailoring. Along with my aunt, she made my coats, smocked dresses and beautiful stuffed toy dolls and creatures. I used to love searching out fabrics in the market and remember the joy of touching cloth, the smell of new material and of the crisp tissue paper of dress patterns. We always made or own clothes with or without a pattern.

I still have a hoarding problem with fabrics, I can’t throw stuff away, it might come in useful.

My daughters have picked up the making skills even better. Roanna went to MMU and studied Embroidery, Bethany is a theatre designer after Architecture at the RCA.

Big cities, bold experiments

What was your route to becoming an artist?

My art teacher at grammar school wasn’t encouraging! He was a brilliant teacher and I have two pieces of his own work which I bought after he died…he was inspirational but he was very old school and told me “that nice girls don’t go to art college”.

Being a nice girl I reluctantly chose teacher training and left after the first year but not before getting the lure of making with textiles. Art College Foundation was another world; I felt at home and knew that I’d be searching out the next stage with a needle and thread.

The Degree Course in Embroidery at Loughborough was followed by MA Textiles at Manchester Polytechnic (MMU) then followed by teaching on the Embroidered and Woven Textiles Degree Course at Glasgow School of Art. Manchester and Glasgow particularly opened my mind to exciting new possibilities, big cities, bold experiments.

Being accepted into the 62Group was the first step up into exhibiting. Textiles was bravely emerging into the field and we shared some exciting programmes and ventures at home and on the international stage.

Kate Wells, Derbyshire Landscape, 2000, 100 x 75cm, machine embroidery

Tell us a bit about your chosen techniques.

Drawing, using charcoal, pen and ink, brush, pastel has always been an important part of my practice. I find observational drawing, tonal work especially focuses the mind and I’m drawn to landscape, flowers, birds.

Living in the country we are surrounded by hills and fresh air. It comes into my work naturally.

The Industrial Irish is my favourite tool. I love its wide stitch and freedom of expansion/contraction. It really is like drawing with a needle. The Irish also has space for a bigger frame or hoop so it’s a bigger view of the work as you make it.

I’m now exploring new work in gold threads on dissolvable fabrics and fine silk.

How do you use these techniques in conjunction with embroidery?

For many years I created machine embroidered landscapes on my beloved Irish, translating my drawings literally and using hundreds of subtle colours, building up a huge collection of machine sewing threads. These were often large-scale pieces combining painted areas with stitched, then finally totally stitched. Rather like weaving a tapestry, these works were slow and I was limited to how much I could produce.

So I resolved to go back to black and white using ink and collage, torn paper and texture in experimental paperwork. This liberated my lines and brought me back to basics, including hand stitching.

Kate Wells, Early Rise, 2013, 20 x 20cm, ink on calico with machine embroidery and collage

At the same time, I began exploring inner ideas, free from picture-making. This has been the most exciting part of my career, sampling and interpreting feelings and texts.

How would you describe your work and where do you think it fits within the sphere of contemporary art?

I’m comfortable to feel rooted in traditions. My work increasingly searches within for meaning. In a perilous and changing world, art can explore the unchanging.

Do you use a sketchbook? If not, what preparatory work do you do?

Kate Wells, Sketchbook and gold samples, 2016

I love my sketchbooks! They are personal diaries, often packed with samples and extra pages of sketches and found images. They have to be good quality paper, I now only use really heavy cartridge paper, bound black books, from Seawhite of Brighton, but have a shelf full of bulging ring binders for teaching samples and inspirations. I keep separate sketchbooks for landscape themes and gold and decorative ideas.

Kate Wells, Field of Gold, 2016, 162 x 61cm, gold machine embroidery dissolvable fabric

Solitude and silence

What environment do you like to work in?

I always envied artists with rented studios simply because they could go out to work but I needed to combine family life with art so we built some lovely workrooms at the back of our 17thC farmhouse.

My studio is high-roofed, has good natural light and doors opening onto the garden. I love this room and I like solitude and silence. I like to have several pieces on the go and move between them. I can go into this space in the evening, any time that’s available.

What currently inspires you?

Whilst caring for my elderly mother, I’ve decided to work through long-standing commissions and am now immersed in landscape again, loving a fresh approach. I’ve no idea how it will finally develop.

I’ve also started Zen calligraphy which is loosening up my brushwork, going really big and wet.

Who have been your major influences and why?

Post graduate studies in Manchester made a big impression on my approach to embroidery. Judy Barry took me into the machine room and introduced me to the Irish and Cornelli machines. She was totally inspiring, technically and imaginatively.

Anne Morrell introduced me to the team at Glasgow School of Art and my first task up there was to set up a machine room, fixing an old Irish and Cornelli! There I worked alongside Hannah Frew-Paterson and Crissie White under the historical influence of Kathleen White, you could feel her presence in the walls! In Glasgow, the real connection with drawing and stitch fell into place.

Art in Action has been an influence throughout my whole career. The event brought hundreds of amazing artists together and each year we worked alongside one another. It has been a living community of sharing and inspiration for 40 years.

Diana Springall has also been at the heart of my bigger picture of embroidery – becoming a dear friend, to many, and collecting emerging artists’ work to form the wonderful Diana Springall Collection.

Kate Wells, Field of Gold (detail), 2016, 162 x 61cm, gold machine embroidery dissolvable fabric

A significant shift

Tell us about a piece of your work that holds particularly fond memories and why?

A commission from a visitor to Art in Action sent me to North Yorkshire to draw the hills and then embroider a large hanging. Sitting alone surrounded by the moors, sheep, birdsong and huge sky was very special and the personal friendship between client and artist grew from the love we both felt for that place.

How has your work developed since you began and how do you see it evolving in the future?

In many ways, the work is recognisable throughout my career as there’s a signature of composition and fine detail. A significant shift took place in the last 5 years with a turn to look within for inspiration leading me to trust other resources. I also started using gold thread and dissolvable fabric to make lace – ‘fragments of splendour’ – and a large, circular embroidery on fine silk

A significant shift took place in the last 5 years with a turn to look within for inspiration leading me to trust other resources, I also started using gold thread and dissolvable fabric to make lace – fragments of splendour – and a large, circular embroidery on fine silk crepeline based on meditation, ‘Dip Your Mind in Gold’.

Being an artist is not in isolation and often my own aspirations seem unimportant when the people around me need caring and support. It often feels like a tension but usually, space re-appears and the work continues.

Kate Wells, Dip Your Mind in Gold (detail), 2015, gold machine embroidery on silk crepeline

What advice would you give to an aspiring textile artist?

Be open to possibilities at first, learn as many skills as you can and then recognise your own inner voice. It’s so easy to be over-influenced by the amazing work that others produce and post on social media. Comparison can be a killer. You have to trust yourself and love your chosen line of inspirations.

I’m grateful for the lean periods in life too. They can be valuable times for reflection and expansion. New routes come out of the unexpected.

What piece of equipment or tool could you not live without?

My Irish machine is my most treasured piece of equipment. It’s from the 1930’s and it purrs. I also love my Lowery workstand for holding frames when hand stitching. It’s a neat and simple product.

Do you give talks or run workshops or classes? If so where can readers find information about these?

I enjoy giving talks to groups, Embroiderer’s Guild or independent textile groups. My diary is up on my website.

How do you go about choosing where to show your work?

I’ve always found Art in Action to be a brilliant showcase and will miss it for the next generation artists.

Kate Wells, Field of Gold (detail), 2016, 162 x 61cm, gold machine embroidery dissolvable fabric

For more information visit: www.katewellsartist.co.uk

Got something to say about the techniques, materials and processes used by this artist – let us know by leaving a comment below.

Louise O’Hara is a professional mixed media artist. Her work explores the richness of light, the colour and the texture that she sees around. Often focusing on rugged northern landscapes with brooding skies and lighter coastal scenes that are based on the memory of a place or a childhood holiday.

Each piece Louise produces is usually made from a collection of places which she has visited both as a child and more recently as an adult. She says:

I don’t want the viewer to be anchored to one place but instead, reminisce about many memories and experiences they have had themselves.

My landscapes are full of rich layers incorporating elements of historical textiles, fabrics, buttons, paper and text giving a sense of human belonging and the passing of ages, giving a quality of timelessness and celebrating the lives of those individuals now passed.

Through my landscapes I aim to capture the weathered surface, so much a part of our landscape, crawling mists, angled rain, stiff westerly breezes and pale summer sunshine.

In this interview, Louise tells us what gets her mind ticking and creative juices flowing. We learn about the materials she favours and how collecting and reusing them are central to her artistic vision.

Louise O’Hara, Echoes of Spring in the Valley, 2016

Make do and mend

TextileArtist.org: What initially attracted you to textiles as a medium?

Louise O’Hara: My initial interest in textiles begin in Art school and it really took off in my first year of a HND in Design Crafts when I was taught that the loosest form of embroidery was a piece of rope wrapped around a tree.

It was at this point that I got interested in the conceptual side of working in fabrics. Research also played a major part of my art education where I became fascinated with the work of artists such as Maxine Bristow, Shelly Goldsmith, Manon Gignoux and Hussein Chalayan, who all produced work, not for its aesthetic qualities but with a deeper lying conceptual meaning, which resonates throughout all their work.

Louise O’Hara, A moonlight quilted meadow, 2017

And, more specifically, how was your imagination captured by stitch?

I became fascinated with the wartime notion of make do and mend which intended to help women to get the last possible ounce of wear out of all their and their families clothes, and I loved the camaraderie which the sewing circles at that time offered them.

I became so obsessed with this notion of reduce, reuse and recycle that I started to source and collect my own household domestic fabrics, fabrics that had, had a previous life and that had outlived their purpose as they had become threadbare and worn, it was this aged feel that really attracted me to them and the fact that they had had a previous life with stories to tell.

I like the idea that someone has taken the time to make something by hand, something which is personal to them. I imagine the conversations whilst they were being made, and I imagine the maker listening to their children reading a bedtime story, or listening to a story on the radio, and I feel all these memories and stories become engrained and captured in each piece.

Louise O’Hara, The cottage with a crooked door, 2016

I always take the opportunity to visit secondhand and antique shops whenever I can. I look for things that evoke memories within me and things which have had a previous existence. I want to rejuvenate them and breathe new life into them so they can continue in a cycle, things like crocheted mats, throws, quilts, in fact, anything that is domestic, found in the home and which has been made by hand.

I am saddened by the current embrace of disposability, with things made to be used once and thrown into the landfill, I relish the idea of things that are patched and mended and made stronger so that they can live on. I am always overwhelmed when people send me vintage items, ephemera and family heirlooms which they no longer have a purpose for as they want to allow their memories to live on in my work.

I use hand stitch and machine stitch not only to anchor layers but as a tool for drawing.

Louise O’Hara, Tones of Autumn, 2017

Sharing a passion

What was your route to becoming an artist?

After completing art school I embarked upon a degree in fashion and textiles at Liverpool John Moores University. I loved it, but afterwards, I was totally burned out and decided I needed to step away. I worked in office-based jobs for a few years, but I missed the creative process so much.

In 2004 I completed an M.A. in Fashion & Textiles at Manchester Metropolitan University, and the following year I completed a PGCE. I got a teaching job straight away and I spent 12 wonderful years teaching art at different levels, up to an applied arts foundation degree. I loved working with adults who shared the same passion for art and making as I do.

In 2006 I became a mum and I went on to have my second child in 2008, after a few years of just being a mum I decided I could not turn my back on the creative lifestyle anymore and I wanted to do something that would make my children and family proud. So In 2012, I started to go under the name of DrawntoStitch. I started a Facebook page and built a website in order to promote myself and my work.

In 2014 I was unable to carry on lecturing as I was getting increasingly busier with my own practice. It was with a heavy heart that I decided to hand my notice in and become a full-time professional artist. I took the decision to change my trading name from DrawntoStitch to Louise O’Hara Art, I noticed the galleries never used DTS and always preferred to use my actual name, so to save any confusion I felt that this was the best thing to do.

Louise O’Hara, A row of cottages by the lake, 2016

A cycle of layer building

Tell us a bit about your chosen techniques

I never plan work, I have a very loose idea in my head and I like to be dictated to by the materials which I use, I start usually with a heavy weight paper like Fabrianno Artistico and I draw a loose landscape, drawing upon sketches and photographs for inspiration.

I then start to build layers using acrylic paint, graphite, acrylic ink and oil pastel, I then begin to incorporate fabrics, loosely glueing them down and then anchoring them in place with my sewing machine. This process then starts again, with the acrylic paint, ink, graphite. It’s a continues cycle of layer building. Once I am happy I will start to use the sewing machine and soldering iron to draw in the smaller details.

I also like to work on a number of pieces at once, this allows me the time to reflect and develop the work. If  I am not happy with a piece I will always put it to one side and return and rework it when the time is right. I am never afraid to paint over a complete piece or tear work up and start again if that’s what feels right. I like the fact that this offers an immediate layer and a trace of something already having existed.

Louise O’Hara, Waiting for the post, 2017

How do you use these techniques in conjunction with embroidery?

Within my work I use a combination of hand painted and dyed layered surfaces to create intricate collages, I like to combine rich layered surfaces of fabrics, paper, machine and hand stitch as well as vintage and discarded items which I combine to create complex and intricate mixed media pieces, I use stitch to anchor, create texture and a tactile surface and also as a tool for drawing.

How would you describe your work and where do you think it fits within the sphere of contemporary art?

I describe my work as Mixed Media, my work sits somewhere between contemporary craft and art.

Do you use a sketchbook? If not, what preparatory work do you do?

I use a sketchbook and journal purely to write rough ideas down, doodle, to collect my thoughts, collect references, make lists and as a tool to remind me whilst I am away from my studio as my memory these days is dreadful!

I never share my sketchbooks or journals as I see them as a personal extension of my inner thoughts. I always take a camera wherever I go and document landscapes, buildings, tactile surfaces and anything I feel is relevant to incorporate into my work.

Louise O’ Hara, An hour on the allotment, 2016

Tell us about your process from conception to conclusion.

In preparation, I spend days dyeing my salvaged fabrics using a combination of inks, procion dyes, natural dyes and acrylic paints.

I also take the time to Mark make with wax, ink, graphite and mixed media working in a combination of colourways; these are then stored and ready to use when the time is right.

Organised chaos

What environment do you like to work in?

I like to work alone in my studio at home, well, with acceptance of the company of my new rescue Jack Russell Patch, who has found a place under my desk or on my knee, I have to have the radio on, I cannot work in silence.

My studio is based at my home, cobweb cottage, which is situated in a small village called Davenham located in the heart of Cheshire. My studio is filled to the rafters with items which are often overlooked in everyday life, items that most people may take for granted.

I love the fact that the items I collect offer a trace of the past and that they have a history of their own with stories to tell. I have jars of buttons, rusty washers, threads, papers, vintage fabrics, etc…all waiting to start life again and be incorporated into a piece when the time is right.

I describe my studio as organised chaos.

Louise O’Hara Studio

Laden with memories

What currently inspires you?

I stumbled across wabi-sabi and the ethos of beauty in imperfection whilst studying on a Fashion & Textiles Masters Degree at Manchester University back in 2004. This really captures my inspirations and the work which I produce.

I am influenced by tactile, aged surfaces like peeling paint on walls and fabrics which are threadbare but laden with memories and stories to tell. I like to photograph and record elements of trace, things that indicate a remnant or mark of something previous, maybe something that will evoke a memory in the viewer, and this also resonates through with the inclusion of images from my childhood memories. Many of the mixed-media canvases I create are reflections of remembered landscapes and places visited whilst growing up.

Louise O’Hara, Down the farm drive, 2017

Who have been your major influences and why?

I grew up entranced by the work of both Joseph Cornell and Kurt Schwitters, I was always moved by the way they brought new life to unappreciated objects: bits of typeset, pebbles, driftwood, fragments of objects that were once beautiful, images from magazines, all combined so they became much more than they could ever have been separately.

What advice would you give to an aspiring textile artist?

Don’t spend too long thinking about it. Just do it. What do you have to loose? And importantly…collect, source, keep, you never know when something will come in handy!

Don’t get hung up when you get rejected by galleries, this is not a reflection on the quality of your work, it could be that they have a limit to the artists which they represent or you work just not fit within the style of that particular gallery….but NEVER GIVE UP!

Louise O’Hara, A blustery morning, 2016

Can you recommend 3 or 4 books for textile artists?

• Textiles – Mary Schoeser – Thames & Hudson
• Slow Stitch – Claire Wellesley-Smith – Batsford
• Connected Cloth – Cas Holmes & Anne Kelly – Batsford
• Eco Colour – India Flint – Murdoch Books

What other resources do you use? Blogs, websites, magazines etc.

I do love Selvedge Magazine and of course Textile.org and I am constantly looking at blogs and websites, like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest is a real addiction of mine…when time constraints allow.

What piece of equipment or tool could you not live without?

My favourite materials to work with are those which lend themselves to being versatile enough to form layers, for example acrylic paints, acrylic inks, graphite, oil pastels I would say all these are all quick drying as I am not the most patient artist!

I could not live without my Sewing machine or my soldering iron.

Louise O’Hara, Down the path to the post office, 2017

Do you give talks or run workshops or classes? If so where can readers find information about these?

I don’t currently run workshops or classes as I find it hard enough to keep the balls juggling in the air with trying to run a full time business and family, but you never know one day I may have the luxury of time on my side!

How do you go about choosing where to show your work?

Initially I used to send work out to every gallery that emailed me, however I soon realised that it was not good to spread yourself to thin and now I am much more considerate with the galleries who approach me and the galleries which I approach.

I think it is important when choosing where to show your work to approach galleries where your work will sit within their style and it’s important to get a good working relationship with the galleries which you show with after all they are the window to your work and they represent you as a person and an artist.

Where can readers see your work this year?

Wills Art Warehouse – Richmond, London- Permanent artist
The Golden Hare Gallery  – Ampthill, Bedfordshire
The Whitehouse Gallery – Kirkcudbright – Winter show 2017
The Honest Thistle – Pitlochry, Scotland

Louise O’Hara

For more information visit: www.louiseohara.co.uk, email Louise at art@louiseohara.co.uk.

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