Creative Journeys exhibition
More about our artists...
Jacky Charman
ALL IN A DEZZICK (Dezzick - old Sussex for a day’s work) I inherited my father’s family history notepads; information collected over many years and in no particular order! Curious, I subscribed to a website and began the process of ordering his work, piecing together our family history back to my x6 great grandparents who were married in the same church as me! Fascinated by our roots almost entirely in Sussex, I have used my father’s work to make this piece. His photocopied hand-written notes have been laminated on to silk, the surnames he found embroidered into tree roots. The details of where our parents, grandparents, etc. and their siblings were born shown by the colonial knots on the hand coloured, distressed and waxed map of Sussex. The darker the threads the closer the link to me. The tree and border were made from breakdown printed fabric, symbolising the broken tree I inherited. |
Joan Holloway
I have always sewed, firstly clothes for me, then for my children and soft furnishing for my home. When I retired I began to make patchwork and quilted pieces and then textile art. I love walking and the photographs that I, and my late husband, have taken of the UK countryside and on holidays abroad have been my inspiration. Currently walks, both in Burnham Beeches where I now live and when I visit my son in Australia, are adding new ideas. I use mainly cotton fabrics, both commercial and my own dyed, painted and printed ones. I piece and raw edge appliqué them, sometimes modifying with Inktense pencils and blocks. I machine quilt and also use hand stitch. My early design is often modified considerably so I never quite know how it will turn out and I enjoy that process of discovery. |
Jane Varrall
I retired from teaching Textiles in Brussels and now explore my love of both art and fabrics on a personal level. As a Contemporary Quilter, I really enjoy working to themes. I explore new techniques; creating sketchbooks – relating to colour, paper collage, fabrics, print. I find them such great references for cohesive works. Followed by experiments with mark-making, printing, colour mixing and fabric dyeing. I use extensive stitch and applique for added texture. My varied exhibition pieces are inspired by a superb road trip along the USA West Coast. Original series of photos of a walk through sunlit, yet mysterious tall pine trees, down to the beautiful Agate Beach were inspiring. Memories are now produced in silks and cottons. My body of work consists of related pictures, wall hangings, scarves and 3D pieces. |
Kathryn Mackie
Using hand-dyed fabric combined with both machine and hand stitching, I created a series of collage panels to depict a migrant’s journey. Recently, I have been exploring the process of how an idea, developed in a sketchbook, can be translated into stitch. Focusing on the theme of a migrant’s journey, I experimented with various design iterations, emphasising storytelling, colour exploration, and emotional expression. I realised I needed a bridging technique to translate my sketchbook vision into fabric and convey my intended message more clearly. This issue was resolved by constructing a paper collage and painted representation, which became an invaluable aid for creating the final stitched piece. The exhibited wall hanging will now serve as a springboard for further theme development. |
Lynn Andrews
I have concentrated my work in this exhibition on the trees in my garden of which I am lucky enough to have plenty! Along with the beautiful trees inevitably I have an assortment of birds visit the garden making use of the trees as they await their turn on the feeders. I have used some of my favourite techniques – at the moment – of gelli plate printing and lino prints along with a more recent exploration into paper folding and book making! |
Liz Batup
The recent discovery of quilting, stitching and fabric dying has given me a fresh approach to working with textiles, very different to the sewing learned from my Mum and Granny. Making practical items such as cushions and quilts is rewarding, but playing with new techniques has encouraged me to experiment with textiles as art. I love maps and the way they describe the countryside. They have inspired my designs of the regular haunts I walk every day and embody my love of home. Eversley – Home Ground is an imagined landscape, but based on the pattern of local roads, footpaths and rivers where I live. I used hand-stitching to create woods, fields and heathland including some recognisable landmarks. Home Ground - Abstract has the same underlying structure, marked out with pieced, hand-dyed fabric. The vibrant colours move away from those usually found on a map and hand-stitched quilting creates the texture and pattern of an abstract terrain. |
Sarah White
I have worked with Terry and Hazel since starting my City & Guilds in 2011. Since then I have attended many of their courses and workshops. These have taken me away from my comfort zone of patchwork to working with and enjoying mixed media. My recent work has been inspired by the glass bottles found buried in our garden. We live in a 18th century farmhouse and the garden was used as a rubbish tip. My bottle sketchbook research revealed a fascinating social history As part of the garden was also a farm yard, many bottles were farm related. Others contained whiskey samples, perfume, face cream – Ven Yusa for Munition Girls in 1st World War, Veno’s cough mixture, lemonade, aerated water and HP sauce. The fabric for my bottle quilt was made using paper cut outs printed on a jelly plate. The garden finds, some hidden inside waxed bags, are displayed on rusted fabric, using metal from the garden. They include pieces of ceramics, oyster shells, pottery, nails, pieces of clay pipes and bottles. |
Shirley Collie
My series, The Scotland of my Memories, recalls thoughts of the Scotland I grew up in. Salmon at Rogie Falls reminds me of watching the fish returning from the Atlantic to the river of their birth to start the process again. A whole cloth quilt, it is free motion and hand quilted to show the turmoil of the water and rocks that they leap. Colour is added through thread, acrylic paint, Markal stick, gesso and tea. Clyde Built speaks of the world-famous capabilities of Scottish engineering. The Titan Crane was the largest cantilever crane ever built; designed to be used during the fitting-out of battleships and ocean liners. This is an industrial piece using hand dyed fabric, silk screen and breakdown printed, with machine and hand quilting. The various landscapes, made with appliqued, hand dyed fabric, evoke places in The Highlands that are special to me. |
Sue Belstead
Sense of Place: Folkestone, Kent is a place that I have visited often, a place to feel free. I feel excited by the sea, sand, sky, harbour, concrete, much of it which is broken and then there are the railings. Varied in size and condition, these fascinate me. As the pieces developed they became central in my thinking. I painted white cotton, then used stamps, masks, Bondaweb, Markal pens, wire, thread of various sizes. The pieces were embellished with machine and hand stitch. The Oak Tree: The inspiration for this journal quilt is the oak tree outside my kitchen window, observed during the year. I made discoveries about its life cycle and the plants that grow on the green. The texts, stitched in English, French and Thai, refer to the relevant months. Each month I photographed the tree, part of the tree, or the green on which it grows and then printed on paper. Parts of the papers are stitched on to painted cotton fabric. I added both machine and hand stitch and attached screen printed oak leaves. |