Start where you are…
As in the words of Arthur Ashe, ”Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Well, I am here, a late bloomer, creating my art in my home studio and sharing it with the world.
I have an innate need to be creative, I love to surround myself with colour, pattern and texture, my work incorporates a lot of textiles, particularly wool felt and fibres. Having graduated from De Montfort University, Leicester in 2003 with a BSc First Class Honours degree in Textile Design and Production, I entered the commercial world, working with factories, both home and abroad to produce consumer textile products. My role was purely operational and I lived in spreadsheets but I had to be creative, so used my evenings and weekends to satisfy that need in me.
Wool fibres and wool felt have been my materials of choice for a number of years but as we see the world filling up and overflowing with waste fabrics, discarded fashion and furnishings, I have felt drawn to include as much discarded material into my work as possible. My art practice has expanded to include wall art, wearable art and decorative art.
The piece I created to illustrate this introduction was inspired by and incorporates Arthur Ashes wise words, ”Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” The background is a piece of discarded curtain lining which has been cut into panels, each panel handprinted individually using a Gellie plate and acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium. The panels have been sewn back together again in a simple block design and freehand machine embroidered shapes added for textural interest. Socks with holes in that would normally be thrown away were washed and ‘filleted’ ready to cut into shapes and add to the design. The lettering is created from scraps of iron on interfacing, coloured with acrylic markers before attaching and texturising with freehand machine embroidered scribble. Discarded beads and sequins were added as a finishing touch. Scrap fabric strips add a colourful, whimsical border.
I hope you will find my creations inspiring, I will be sharing ‘work in progress’ as and when available.
See you soon.