You may be happy stitching, knitting, collaging, cutting and creating, whether that’s in a structured or more intuitive way. You might make art for your own amusement, for gifts, to exhibit or to sell. But, what if there’s an urge to take it further? What if you’d quite like to make a statement piece that conveys a message, or share your work with the wider world? 

If you’ve ever thought about turning your passion for textile art into a more serious occupation, the first step is to find the right mindset. We asked five professional textile artists, Shelley Rhodes, Danny Mansmith, Woo Jin Joo, Molly Kent and Trish Burr, about their own paths to success and for their tips on getting there.

Find your ‘why’

‘If we want to feel an undying passion for our work, if we want to feel we are contributing to something bigger than ourselves, we all need to know our WHY.’ – Simon Sinek, Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team.

First, ask yourself why you want to step up with your art. Are you looking to feed your need for creativity, perhaps after retiring from another career or to support your own mental or physical health? Do you want to earn a living from it? Are you keen to exhibit your work? Or craving the buzz and satisfaction of creating your own unique work but struggling to gain focus?

Once you’ve worked out your aims, you need to find the willpower to fulfil them. Adopting a professional mindset is quite different to choosing to do your art as a part-time hobby.

Danny Mansmith

Danny Mansmith began his art career in childhood. He was nurtured by his mum, his great aunt and his grandma who instilled in him the ability to see the creative possibilities in the things around them. Danny’s path wasn’t straightforward, but his self-motivation was key.

Teach yourself

Danny Mansmith: ‘I’m an artist who’s kept a conversation going with my sewing machine since the early 1990s. I spent a year at a small art school but I wasn’t very good at following instructions and so I left to teach myself instead. I became inspired to make my own clothes: the idea of looking and dressing in my own style felt important somehow. In the first month, I took apart almost all of my store bought clothes to try to follow the patterns and teach myself about garment construction.

‘Through the years I continued to teach myself how to use the sewing machine. When I finally felt confident, I got my first job sewing for an artist who made baby blankets and accessories. 

‘My boss encouraged me to apply for some local art fairs and that was a turning point for me, helping me realise that I could make my way in the world as a working artist.’

‘Making things makes me happy – working with my hands and creating a space where ideas are free to come out and manifest in front of me. The sewing machine is both an inspiration and the tool I use. My home studio is both a sanctuary and workspace, where I keep my love of drawing alive with my daily practice.’ 

Danny Mansmith is based in Burien, Washington, US and has a strong connection to the midwest and Chicago, Illinois. His solo show ‘We All Become Myth’ exhibited at The Highline Heritage Museum in Burien, Washington, March-April 2023. 

Artist website shop: dannymansmith.bigcartel.com

Facebook: facebook.com/danny.mansmith

Instagram: @dannymansmith

Take action daily

Making time each day to create is the secret to a committed and regular practice. Set yourself some boundaries and rules to guide you. This could be 20 minutes a day, or free play, daily sketchbooking, journaling or daily mindful stitching. Be realistic about the time you have available. Small daily actions will help you to overcome resistance and continual action will lead to inspiration and progress. 

Your creativity is likely to flow more readily if you can allow yourself space and time without any pressure. Unless you’re working on commissions, don’t try to make art to order, or pressurise yourself to be creating exhibition-worthy art at all times. Every action related to your art is part of your practice – just make sure you treat it with a professional mind-set.

Shelley Rhodes

Shelley Rhodes: ‘My daily Instagram posts began as a challenge to make me draw regularly. However, over the years I have shifted slightly, so my post might be a collage, assemblage, printing or mark-making, exploration of materials, a stitch sample, or ongoing work. This habit encourages me to notice and respond, then explore ideas and materials more fully. Some ideas feed into my work, but not always. 

‘Sometimes I simply take pleasure in drawing and recording what I see. In 2022, these posts led to an exhibition of my sketchbook pages The Sketchbook at Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre in South Wales. A few years ago, I was asked if I would sell my daily artwork and this has become a great additional source of income. When I post my work online, I never know who is going to see it, or what it might lead to. My daily posts have increased interest in my work, which has led to sales of artwork and books, exhibitions and teaching opportunities.’

Shelley Rhodes is based on the border between Lancashire and Cumbria, England. She makes mixed media work focusing on fragmentation, reconstruction and repair. 

Artist website: shelleyrhodes.co.uk

Facebook: facebook.com/shelleyrhodesmixedmediaartist

Instagram: @shelleyrhodesartist

Stay curious

Having a professional attitude means developing the positive attributes of discipline, persistence and determination. Both Danny and Shelley maintain their commitment with a daily art practice. If you’re feeling an urge to be creative, then allow yourself the time to satisfy it. Set aside time to focus on making art – no matter what. If you make it a priority, rather than an occasional pleasurable activity, then you’ll create a regular practice through your discipline and determination. 

But how do you focus? With the plethora of information available on the internet, it’s easy to get bogged down with learning yet more techniques, rather than developing those you know. Guard against this temptation and concentrate on what you’re really interested in.

Trish Burr

Embroidery artist, educator and author Trish Burr started her craft when she was a young mother in Zimbabwe. She found cross stitch too limiting and so she began to experiment with thread painting. Because patterns and materials were not available and there were drastic foreign currency restrictions, Trish had to use whatever she could find. She chose pictures from books, postcards and calendars, trying her best to replicate them with needle and thread.

Trish Burr: ‘I had no formal training so I created my own style of needle painting – a new form of long and short stitch was born. This simple method, which I have honed and crafted over the years, is what I still use today.

‘When I moved to Cape Town I was asked to teach at some local conventions. My students struggled with the technique and were generally very nervous of it, so I made it my mission to simplify, simplify. I tried to put myself in the shoes of my students – I spent many months with a doodle cloth and notebook, making notes and thinking of different approaches which would make my instructions clear.

‘I think this was a turning point in my career – as my instructions improved, my patterns became more popular, and the demand for my work increased.’

Determination and focus

‘Another watershed moment was when I began to explore how colour affected my embroidery. Needle painting is known for its beautiful, shaded appearance, and I wondered why some works looked flat and dull while others had a radiant glow. I spent years researching and experimenting with how colours interacted with each other. I realised that there was a whole world of colour combinations – it was time to break free from traditional limitations.

‘Once, I was trying to recreate the vibrant greens of a bird’s feathers, when a man came to fix our television. It turned out he was an artist. He helped me to understand that you don’t need to use brighter shades of green, but if you create a contrast in the greens it will bring vibrancy. My explorations eventually led me to write the book Colour Confidence In Embroidery.’

Trish’s success can be put down to her determination and focus, which in turn brought about fortuitous events that she could not have made happen. The moral is – begin it!

Embracing technology

Trish’s challenges did not, however, end there. Trish had to overcome the era of technological revolution, which without determination could have been another cause for procrastination.

‘When I began embroidery, there was no internet, no websites and no online sales. Over the years I had to learn how to manage my own website, produce patterns in different formats for print and PDF, and ship my products worldwide.

‘I purchased the first version of the graphics software CorelDRAW and began to explore drawing my own diagrams and outlines for embroidery. This was life changing for me. I still use the same software program for my designs – I’ve become adept at drawing with a mouse, in fact it now feels awkward to draw with a pencil. I had to get to grips with social media and marketing. When I published my first book I pasted pictures into a spiral bound notebook and manually wrote out the text, but now it is done with computer software and digital photography.

‘It was a constant challenge to juggle my home life with my ever evolving embroidery business, as well as find time to sit quietly and stitch. There came a time when the increased demand was such that I had to choose whether to expand and employ staff, or stay small and personal. I decided on the latter because I wanted time to do what I love, which is to design, stitch and teach. However, I did need some help. The solution came when I attended a talk where the speaker mentioned the benefits of virtual assistants – they handle all the admin, which frees me up to focus on the core work. My assistants in India are always available to help, and I could not do without them!’

Trish Burr is based in Cape Town, South Africa. She is an embroidery artist specialising in needle painting and whitework embroidery. In the last two decades she has published 11 books, created embroidery patterns, tutorials and videos, and has taught both at home and abroad.

Artist website:  trishbembroidery.com

Facebook: facebook.com/needlepainting

Instagram: @trishburrembroidery

Overcome the negative voice

Much has been written about how to deal with the negative voice in your head. 

On her website, artist and author SARK talks about procrastination, as well as the inspiration, motivation and synchronicities that propelled her to success as an artist. 

SARK: ‘As someone who has sold over two million books in the last 30 years, it may surprise you to know that I too have experienced procrastination, perfectionism and fears about writing or ever sharing my unique gifts with the world.’ 

But SARK overcame that to go on to sell her art products and write many inspirational books, including Make Your Creative Dreams Real.

Author Steven Pressfield has written several motivational books including The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle and Do The Work: Overcome Resistance and Get Out of Your Own Way. He is quoted as saying: ‘Most of us have two lives. The life we live and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands resistance.’ 

If you struggle with inner blocks, then this idea is worth exploring. As artists and many others have shown, it really is possible to put a stop to resistance. 

Internet addiction is a form of procrastination, distracting us from our own work. Do you ever scroll through Instagram while feeling like your work isn’t good enough to share? A great way to overcome perfectionism is by sharing your work, whether that’s on Instagram, Facebook or, like Shelley Rhodes and Sue Stone when they started off, by taking part in a small local exhibition.

Fighting fear and self-criticism

Keeping busy with other things and making excuses is a form of fear that’s often kept under the radar. Do you fear criticism and have low self-esteem, resulting in a feeling of imposter syndrome? Fear can be associated with doing something new, and can stop us in our tracks. But you can use fear as an ally – if you make a start, you will improve and your fears will recede. So take action in spite of fear. As Susan Jeffers wrote in her famous book, feel the fear and do it anyway!

In her motivational book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert says: ‘Fear is always triggered by creativity, because creativity asks you to enter into realms of uncertain outcome, and fear hates uncertain outcome. This is nothing to be ashamed of. It is, however, something to be dealt with.’ 

One sure-fire way of overcoming self criticism is to self validate. If you’re not happy with your artwork, figure out what worked, and what would make it better next time. If your attitude towards your practice needs improving, consider what’s holding you back. If you’re not creating enough time, look at what’s stopping you from making your art a priority. Examine your practice and find ways to overcome your blocks. For a quick start to your work sessions, finish each day by preparing for the next. Choose a thread and thread up your needle – then all you need to do is sit down and begin. What could be simpler?

Negative comments can knock your confidence and make you question the validity of your work. Do you fear negative comments from others? If so, try looking at it from another point of view. The people doing the judging may just be trying to provide well-meaning advice, or they could be envious of your work and want to protect themselves. Artists experience many rejections to exhibitions and galleries, so believe in what you’re doing and recognise that selection can be a subjective process. The key is not to over identify with your work – do keep telling yourself ‘you are more than just your art’. If you receive negative feedback, act like a pro and carry on regardless. This attitude will help you to keep going – soon you’ll find that ideas will start to flow.

Make your art your own

Making art is not a competition, it’s a form of expression, and you should never feel you have to be better than others. We can all make art, and there’s no sense in trying to work your way up an imaginary ‘hierarchy’ of artists. 

Remember, making art is unique to you, so create your art for YOU and YOU alone. If you choose to share it on social media, always create the work for its own sake, not for attention or applause.

Shelley Rhodes: ‘It takes a while to develop your own style and way of working, rather than an imitation of others. I always encourage my students to investigate, test materials and explore their own ideas.

‘I try not to make work just because I think it will sell or please others. Rather, I make from

the heart and to please my own artistic values. Having said that, another challenge when starting out on the path to becoming a professional artist can be the lack of money. I gave up full-time teaching to concentrate on my own work, but worked part-time in an administration role while developing my work, as well as teaching my workshops.’

Molly Kent

One textile artist who has overcome many challenges is Molly Kent. Molly’s work is concerned with representing issues around mental and physical health through rug tufting and weaving. She focuses on our contemporary existence regarding social media and internet living, and how this affects our perception of self. 

In 2018, while at university, Molly had a fall which led to a flashback and a return to ill mental health that had begun when she was 10. She was diagnosed as having complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), due to previous trauma.

Molly had experienced bouts of bad nightmares and strange cryptic dreams. As she researched the condition and understood her struggles, she looked into dream psychology. She was able to use these dreams as a visual vocabulary, to construct narratives within her work that allude to the traumas she suffered and her emotional responses to them.

Epiphanies and dreams

In 2019, her final year of university, Molly produced a body of work Doubt in the Digital Age, which represented her personal doubts within an increasingly digital realm. As the pandemic ensued, her work took on a greater meaning as channels of communication and connection were mostly online. Molly completed her degree and was then furloughed by her employer, so she had more time to focus on making artworks. 

It was then that she created Dream Weaving to record her CPTSD-related dreams and nightmares. She developed her tapestry weaving skills, not only to expand her methods of making, but also as a calm and meditative process, compared to the noisy and anxiety-inducing rug tufting process she’d used before.

Molly has a down-to-earth approach to her status as a professional artist – it mirrors the imposter syndrome or sense of fraudulence that some artists feel. 

Molly Kent: ‘In all honesty, I still find the label of professional artist to be a strange one, I don’t really know what I’m doing most of the time, and feel like I haven’t really got the hang of being a career artist yet. But, from the outside, I suppose it does look like I’m a professional. 

‘My journey hasn’t been linear or even consistent in many ways, most probably due to my mental health. But my CPTSD diagnosis, researching dream psychology and realising the effects of lockdown have propelled my work forwards in terms of the development of the digital aspects of my works.

‘I’m somewhat passive at going out and trying to seize opportunities first hand, so I’m grateful to many others for helping my development as an artist, including award bodies, private and public collectors, and fellow artists who have nominated me for awards or opportunities.’

‘I think the main thing that has helped my progress is simply continuing to create work in the face of multiple adversities, and making work that feels true to me.’

Molly Kent is based in Edinburgh, UK and has a MA from Edinburgh College of Art. Molly has exhibited at the Venice Biennale (2019), and her work has toured with exhibitions in Australia, Scotland and the UK. Her work is held in the University of Edinburgh’s art collection and the National Museum of Australia.

Artist website: mollyhkent.com

Instagram: @mollyhkent

Pay attention to the practicalities

Creating is central to your practice, but artists also have to spend time doing other things to support their work, whether it’s research, testing out techniques, sketchbooking, communicating with others, making applications, administration and accounting, or framing and hanging their work. So it is essential to figure out how to get organised and learn the technical skills you need. 

Though these are all important, don’t forget that your key task is to place the focus on your art practice – give your art a high priority, every day.

Woo Jin Joo

Woo Jin Joo is an award-winning mixed media artist specialising in soft sculpture. Her work challenges the value that humanity endows on objects in a materialist and consumerist society.

When she graduated in 2021 Woo Jin decided to become a professional artist. She felt some trepidation as she faced the responsibilities of balancing time, finances and the other practicalities that go with a career.

Woo Jin Joo: ‘I had initial uncertainties when deciding to be a freelance artist. Throughout my studies, I was completely absorbed in the medium and making – I knew wholeheartedly that my art brings me the most fulfilment. I was unsure about the financial viability of the move and having to navigate a career after being in formal education for so long.

‘However, I was really lucky to be awarded the Janome Fine Art Textiles Award at the Festival of Quilts in 2021, just a few months after graduating – it was exactly what I needed at that moment. It not only showed me that my work is appreciated in the professional world, but also gave me financial support to invest in my own free-hand embroidery machine and studio fees, giving me the extra courage I needed to make the transition.’

Part-time jobs

Initially, Woo Jin kept on her part-time job as a gallery assistant. She applied for opportunities to lead workshops and fulfil her desire to work in education. After a year or so she was able to leave her part-time job and now works as a freelance workshop facilitator, which helps to support her art practice. 

Woo Jin Joo: ‘I always try to prioritise my studio practice but it’s a constant balancing act, with the added task of searching and applying for exhibitions, residencies, commissions and funding opportunities. There are a lot of administrative and miscellaneous tasks taking place behind the scenes to make a studio practice happen, but in the end I’m excited and energised by the fact that I can bring my ideas to life as an artist.’

Woo Jin Joo is originally from Seoul, Korea, and moved to London in 2014 to complete a BA Textiles at Central Saint Martins, and an MA in Textiles at Royal College of Art. In 2021, she won the Janome Fine Art Textiles Award, and was shortlisted for Hari Art Prize and East London Art Prize. 

Artist website: woojinstudio.com

Instagram: @woojinstudio

Get support

Going it alone isn’t always easy, especially if procrastination has been a habit of yours – it can be hard to ditch. You may need encouragement to find the motivation to stick to a routine or get the discipline to put down your phone and stitch. 

This is where the benefits of joining a group can be enormous, whether that’s online or in person. When you interact with like minded artists, you begin to feel at home, motivated and supported.

Textile clubs and groups

Woo Jin was accepted into the 62 Group as an Associate Member, and Shelley Rhodes joined the Textile Study Group, which bolstered her path to becoming a professional artist. 

Shelley Rhodes: ‘Being part of such a respected, national group has helped me to raise the level of my work and to be seen by a national audience. It is a very special textile group, as we work alongside each other on two weekends each year, led by a renowned artist. So I continually learn and develop skills within my practice. Not everything is relevant to what I do, but I think it’s always good to be open to learning and resolving ideas in a new way.

‘The group also requires its artists to teach, which continues to stimulate me and feed into my work. Also, thanks to the generosity of my students, I often learn things when I teach.’

Our artists’ top tips

If you want to scale up your textile art practice, then adopting the mindset of a professional artist is a step in the right direction. The artists we’ve interviewed have shared some of their best insights into practical actions you can make.

Danny Mansmith: ‘Use the internet for simple things, like sharing images on Instagram or joining an art group or co-op gallery. Look for like minded people to connect with and share ideas. It takes time to develop all the skills necessary to be a working artist, just keep at it.’

Shelley Rhodes: ‘I believe that one thing often leads to another, so get your work seen and have a presence on the internet, whether that’s through a website or social media. I was first invited to teach in Australia because the organiser saw my work on Pinterest, which subsequently led onto other things. And when I first started out, I had some work in a small local exhibition. A gallery manager saw it, which led to a solo exhibition. I like to let things develop organically over time. Sometimes you have to pursue opportunities, but often they come to you when you least expect it!’

Trish Burr: ‘Don’t hide your light under a bushel! Set aside your self doubts and think about how much pleasure you are giving others by sharing your work. We’re all capable of much more than we realise. We all have a creative sense; it is just a matter of honing our specific craft. Creating something original is one of the most satisfying and rewarding things you can do. No matter how difficult your customers or followers are, always be kind and helpful. They will appreciate it and become your most loyal supporters. Read the book Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh. It shows you how to live a life of passion and purpose, while literally delivering happiness to others.’

Molly Kent: ‘Try to consistently make and share what you’re doing, be it via social media, or by talking to fellow artists or curators. I find that people reach out when they’ve seen a new work on my Instagram feed, or through my website, which I update regularly. Also, have a sense of balance – despite being known as a professional artist, I don’t make a living wage from my art. It’s a balancing act: working enough to pay the bills, while leaving enough time to work consistently on my art practice.’

Woo Jin Joo: ‘Find a core narrative, interest and passion to drive and inspire your practice. Take time to rest, reflect and research – it’s not always about constantly producing. If you are looking to make your art your business, then register yourself as a sole trader, get a business bank account, keep a good record of your income and costs, and get public liability insurance. Maintain good working relationships with organisations, galleries, and people you work with. Don’t be afraid to put your work out there, you never know what could come of it.’

The power is within you

Many artists talk about finding a narrative. Reported as being one of the greatest films of all time, The Wizard of Oz is a fantasy containing many metaphors that may be worth remembering as we all tread our paths through life. 

When Dorothy reached the end of the yellow brick road she discovered that the wizard she’d sought was an ordinary man who didn’t really hold the power to send her home. Along the way she learnt that she’d already got all the intelligence, heart and courage she needed – the power was within her.

You have that too. So, are you ready to follow your own yellow brick road…?

‘My formula for success was very simple: Do whatever is put in front of you with all your heart and soul without regard for personal results. Do the work as though it were given to you by the universe itself – because it was.’

Michael A. Singer, The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life’s Perfection.

We hope you feel inspired to approach your textile art practice with new vigour and that reading the trials, successes and tips from our professional artists has given you some useful pointers. If you’re still wondering where to begin, read our article Getting started with a new piece of work.

If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops.

If you feel motivated to take your first step towards a more professional textile art practice, tell us more in the comments below.

But Ruth had never seen anyone embroidering the kind of subjects that intrigued her. It would mean a complete change of direction, as well as experimenting with an array of new textile techniques in order to create the gripping images she pictured in her mind’s eye.

So she asked herself the question, what do I love? And the answers opened the door to a whole new way of working, and an entirely new audience, who are in love with Ruth’s interpretation of Gothic Decay. Now she even shares her techniques and teaches workshops, thanks to taking that first step to be more true to herself.

Her story is one of determination, as well as love for the simple art of hand embroidery. Her journey wasn’t always easy but her courage and honesty is inspiring to anyone looking to express more of themselves in their stitching.

Making a change

Can you share a little about your practice?

Ruth Norbury: I produce unique pieces of embroidery that are quite dark, often based on themes of loneliness and with a slight post-apocalyptic feel. I used to hand embroider British birds but needed to make things that spoke more to me so, one day, I made a piece that was based on an abandoned building, just for fun.

Initially, I was scared what people who liked my old work would think, but I posted it online anyway and it proved very popular. I think these pieces seem to be quite different to other embroidery that I’ve seen, and people either love or hate them, but at least they have a strong opinion one way or the other. They are not bland! 

I started this new style around 2018. I still do the occasional bird commission but I’m no longer known as ‘the birdie lady’ by my framer!

How did your fascination with the darker side of life transform into your Gothic Decay journey?

I have no idea why I like dark things. I was obsessed as a child with Franklin’s lost expedition to the Arctic, and I had a book with photographs of some of the sailors who were lost. It’s not a weird obsession, just a fascination. I wanted to be a pathologist for a long time, probably because of those expedition photographs, but getting a medical degree before specialising was a long road.

I love TV programmes and books about death and also the workings of the mind. What can seem a tiny thought with one person can take over someone else’s life. How does the thought ‘did I lock the back door’ become, for example, a ritualised checking until they are unable to leave the house?

I have no art background, I hated it in school, so getting the concepts down that I want to use is hard. I keep practising and trying to find out why it scares me so much.

I think I expect perfection even though I haven’t learned to draw. So I need to be nice to myself, take off the pressure and just play, for example, doodling while watching a TV programme, rather than sitting at my desk waiting for both inspiration and perfection to appear like magic.

At the moment I’m trying to change the themes in my work again, using some of the darker topics but carefully, with respect, and trying not to sound like an angsty teenager!

I don’t want to shock people but maybe make people think about a subject. It’s more than just embroidering an unpleasant image.

Bumps along the way

I love the way you call it a Gothic Decay journey because it makes it seem much more real. There are ups and downs: work that you hope no one sees, and some you want everyone to see.

The new style of work didn’t just pop out one day. I experimented and had a lot of disasters along the way – the woodburning stove on the boat I lived on concealed a lot of evidence in that department!

I think it’s easy to read about other people and just see the finished pieces that they want you to see. We don’t photograph the failures, or the tears. We shouldn’t assume everyone is blindly striding forth on a journey where each piece is better than the last.

What was your path to becoming a textile artist?

I started with a cross stitch snowflake in primary school, which I managed to do wrong! I just loved it and, because kits were expensive, I used to ask for them for Christmas and birthdays.

After a while, I started filling in designs from stencils and I managed to get full marks for my GCSE Textile practical, as it was a full Jacobean design from a book, all hand stitched. I suppose that embroidery has just been part of me since I was around six.

What has become interesting to me is the realisation that I prefer to look at ‘grungy’ art, so that’s why I have spent so long trying to make my work look grungy. Now, however, I realise that hand embroidery is my favourite, so I have to cram grungy, death-related subjects and embroidery together and make it work.

I think it’s that determination to mash together things that don’t belong that’s driving me at the moment.

Taking a risk

My decision to become an artist came about because I used to give my embroidery as presents to my boyfriend in school (yes, the same James I’m married to now!). When his mum suggested I could do it as a job I laughed because, to me, artists were either broke or dead (although I forgot that his dad is an artist too). I spoke to a friend after I’d finished university and she said if you don’t try, you will never know… so here we are.

My mum and sister also embroider. I think we inspired each other to some degree but I’m not sure who started it really. We all have very different styles and sometimes we send pictures to each other if we’re stuck. Mum’s work is very colourful, and my sister makes pieces based on moss and lichen. 

My mum made all of our clothes as children, and I remember using a tiny sewing machine to stitch paper together whenever I sat in her workroom, so I guess I have always been around fabrics.

Tell us about the materials and techniques you like to use?

The piece I’m currently working on, called Compliance, is very experimental. I’m using Photoshop to design it. I like the grungy, yucky textures that I can create using the computer and love to try to translate these in the best way I can into textiles.

It is all hand embroidered in stem stitch, with the stitches packed really closely together. I’ve then stitched Lutradur over the top, along with inks and paint to try to create the texture I want.

It’s quite a challenge for me to be more ‘scruffy’ with my embroidery. Compliance is quite small as the whole background is hand stitched, even if you won’t be able to see it in the end.

Before this, my work was created from pieced patches of fabrics, with machine embroidery to show outlines, plus inks, paint, hand embroidery, beads… anything that gets across the effect that I want.

Breaking the rules

I like the slow nature of hand embroidery. You can ponder how you are going to stitch the next bit with no hurry or panic, just settle down and things make sense.

I keep going back to hand embroidery. It has always been my favourite, but I tend to be too neat with it, which is why I add all the textured elements. I suppose I’m trying to take the thing I love to do and shove it into a design it doesn’t belong in, and therefore create something new. Hopefully!

Inspiration often comes from a sentence from a TV programme that I have watched that really resonates with me, or a quote about a subject.

Sometimes it comes from the music I like. I like heavy industrial metal and there’s often really interesting music videos too, with great imagery. My pieces are almost all named after songs.

I try to experiment as much as possible. And try different methods of designing. I don’t like a blank page and a pencil, but charcoal makes me loosen up because I can’t rub it out and it’s completely different to drawing with a sharp point. At first, I thought it was a terrible idea to try something that I was even more inaccurate with, but it actually helped.

How do you source your images?

I don’t come from an art background, so I often use Photoshop to manipulate photographs, but I’m starting to get better at drawing. I suppose Photoshop is a necessity for me as otherwise there would be some terrible perspective and all sorts of issues!

I source images based on things I see. For example, I’ve just finished two pieces of work – What Then Is Time? and Fading Memories – based on an abandoned theatre in Swansea. It’s a lovely building with a great history and it has been sad to watch parts of it fall off. Thankfully now it is being looked after.

Can you tell us a little about your life at the moment?

I am a full-time artist. James and I have always worked for ourselves (except when I had a job for six months). We had always been a bit stretched, but James recently wrote a book and life has taken a dramatic jump financially.

I only mention this because it has allowed me to work on what I love and not make things in a similar style to previous work. I suppose that it has given me time to fail and make mistakes, and that has been very liberating.

Sharing the love

I thought teaching would simply take some financial pressure off selling work, but I actually love to see how other people work with the information I give them. A room full of people with the same fabrics and threads will produce wildly different things. 

I also like to work in new styles every few years so I can share the ‘special sauce’ without feeling like I am giving away secrets.

What do you love about being a textile artist?

I love sitting with a small hoop, grabbing the perfect colour thread and making things.

I love working from home, sitting with a desk full of cats and having sudden inspiration as to how to complete a troublesome section of an embroidery. For instance, realising that teabags make great leaves and wanting other people to know as well, not out of arrogance, but just wanting to share my tips so other people can use them too.

Also, I get a thrill from finding just the right fabric, beads or threads in a charity shop, like a hunter-gatherer in the modern age. Upcycling is very important to me. I try not to buy anything new for my work and all the fabrics are found in charity shops and from old clothes.

Have there been challenges along the way?

There are so many… too many to count. My lack of confidence is a huge problem. One day I’ll think I can take over the world and everyone must see my work, then the next I’ll feel like I have no idea what I’m doing and want to hide. I guess I am learning to ride it out when my confidence is low and do things that I know that I can do. 

Creating work that I like, using the tool of hand embroidery, which appears highly inappropriate at first, has been a challenge but it all seems to come down to experimentation.

Maybe one section of an embroidery works well, so I’ll try it again in the next piece. Maybe another part didn’t go so well, so I ask myself how can I make sure I don’t do that again?

Standing in front of a room full of people to teach is hard, but I tell myself that I really do know the subject.

I feel we really understand you as an artist in everything you do. How did you arrive at that point creatively?

The artist Roxanne Hawksley (1931-2021) listened to music to help get the emotions flowing while making her pieces. It often makes me smile when I have a small hoop full of embroidery and loud industrial metal on the stereo – it isn’t the traditional mental image of an embroiderer!

James (my husband) said I should use the things that ‘make me, me’. I love dark art, decay, gothic fashion, hand embroidery, and creepy old asylum images. I say to people to make a list of things you like and see if you can combine them to make ‘your work, you’.

Perhaps this is the ultimate personal challenge, to make work that truly reflects who you are. And it’s a risk that we are very grateful that Ruth Norbury made.

It’s time to celebrate that these experiences are once again possible.

But before you delete your social media accounts and donate your iPad to charity, pause a second.

Haven’t there been more than a few positives to the world of stitch and mixed media being forced to go virtual?

A portal to creative possibilities

During the pandemic, we’ve been exposed to a whole range of new and exciting ways to engage with our creativity that don’t exist ‘in-person’.

The internet has become a direct line to the studios of textile artists on the other side of the earth. We’ve learned weird and wonderful techniques and processes we hadn’t considered, or even heard of, before. And, despite not being in the same room as the people we’ve been communicating with, we’ve been inspired by fellow stitchers we’d never get the chance to meet offline.

Maybe you’re thinking, “OK. I can see how an online textile art workshop might be a nice add-on to in-person classes.”

But what if it were the other way round?

After all, even when the world resumes regular service, there are times when in-person workshops and courses just don’t fit.

When in-person isn’t possible

Sometimes cost can be a barrier. Not everyone has a couple of hundred quid to stump up on a regular basis, or can afford travel and accommodation for a special workshop.

“I live in a remote part of the UK and I recently paid 450 pounds for an art week, plus travel and accommodation. It’s a lot of money.  Doing workshops online gives such value for money. I’m getting to choose things that wouldn’t possibly be available in such abundance.”

Judith Sutherland, Stitch Club member

Sometimes you can be constrained by what’s available in your area. If you’re passionate about building your toolkit of exciting techniques and processes and developing your visual vocabulary with textiles, the local Knit’n’Natter in the library on Thursday afternoons might not cut it.

Maybe the only artist group near you is by invitation only, and you don’t have the confidence to call yourself a textile artist (yet).

Perhaps you feel that you don’t belong anywhere.

Sometimes it’s flexibility. You just can’t make Tuesday nights, because of work or family commitments. Sometimes your health lets you down, and you can’t predict when you’ll have a bad day. What’s the point of committing to something you might not be able to attend?

“I have a ‘health hiccup’. Some days I have absolutely no energy. If that happens to be a workshop day, then it’s not easy to really take the workshop on board. But with pre-recorded workshops online, I’m not restricted to a given day. I can do it when it’s convenient for me.”

Sarah Edwards, Stitch Club member

When in-person feels uncomfortable

If you’re at the beginning of your creative journey, the thought of being in a room filled with experienced, creative stitchers can be daunting.

Maybe you’ve been to workshops where you’ve felt intimidated by your fellow students who all seemed so confident and technically accomplished. You might have been wary of asking a “stupid” question. Or maybe the loudest person in the room never stopped hoovering up the tutor’s attention.

And with so many stitchers of varying levels of experience, it’s easy to feel rushed. You might have found yourself falling further and further behind, ending the day with nothing much to show for your efforts.

Or conversely, you might have become frustrated that the workshop was plodding along too slowly to accommodate the one person who never learned to do running stitch as a child.

How online learning can become a key part of your creative practice

It’s true that in-person workshops DO offer something you can’t get online.

And the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly thrown a whole load of death-by-Zoom stuff at us: disorganised, unfocused online meetings where everyone is talking over each other, the tutor is mumbling and the demonstration is unclear and uninspiring.

But that’s not what we’re talking about here.

Well organised and properly put together online workshops have a whole host of benefits that aren’t always possible with the in-person experience.

• Expert guidance from world-renowned textile artists who take you through a creative process, but encourage you to express yourself personally, so that what you make is distinctively ‘you’ (not a copycat of their own work)
• A rich resource of on-tap video tutorials available 24/7 that you can dip in and out of at your own pace, on your own schedule, depending on your wiggly life and your own specific interests
• A range of supporting materials to enhance and clarify your experience, like step by step workbooks and inspirational ebooks
• A forum to ask your workshop leaders questions and get feedback
• A private online community of supportive people from all over the world who share your passion and understand your journey
• An atmosphere of kindness and support
• Real humans behind the scenes to guide you and help you if technical gremlins rear their ugly heads (it happens to the best of us)

Because it’s more affordable, more flexible and can fit around your other commitments, online learning can act as the backbone of your creative development and go hand-in-hand with the occasional in-person workshop.

1 Online learning is flexible so you don’t need to be

Whatever your constraints, your workshop is there for you 24/7, rather than once a week on Thursdays.

Choose a schedule that suits your time and responsibilities, whether that’s five minutes a day for stitching practice, or a week-long textile art staycation set aside for layering and embroidering a panel. Your workshop won’t disappear if you don’t use it for six months.

“Online workshops help me break things into manageable chunks. If I don’t have four hours to work on a piece, I can get something done in 30 minutes, and then tomorrow, I can spend 30 more minutes. And at the end of the week, I’m going to have something I’m proud of to show for it.”

Laura Otten, Stitch Club participant.

Online learning makes it easier for you to go at your own pace.

This is becoming even more important in a post-Covid world, where your life might be getting back to the days of ‘normal’ time pressures. With no course deadlines, you can’t fall behind, but there’s always a structure to follow, so you can never lose your way.

2 Online learning supports your style

Some of us are action learners in the extreme, learning better by stash diving and riding our creativity on a wave of playtime.

Some of us are reflectors: we like to carefully watch, reflect, and watch again before we try out something new.

Some of us like to revisit or repeat previous workshops to reinforce our learning.

Online workshops have the flexibility and content that caters for the way you learn best.

3 Online learning widens your artistic horizon

“The artists come from many places, many different backgrounds, many different parts of the world, and that expands my vision immensely. I’m doing things I never would have done and meeting artists I never would have met and my practice is evolving because of that.”

Wanda Moon, Stitch Club member

A good online workshop is your portal to learning from a global community of expert tutors.

Online workshops aren’t limited by geography, and this means that you can learn skills and techniques from artists from anywhere. It’s your window on the world of textile art, giving you different perspectives and enhancing your vision for your own practice.

4 Online learning offers a diverse, supportive community

“It’s a safe haven, with a nurturing feeling where I can learn and grow and socialise with people from all over the world with a common passion. These are my people.”

Lee Thermaenius, Stitch Club

Enjoy the freedom to connect with people from across the world who want the same thing as you – to have a creative outlet, to stitch joyfully, to learn and develop confidence as textile artists.

It’s a real meeting of enthusiasts, and a place that makes you feel you belong. Be inspired by other people’s stories, by their differences and by your similarities. It’s your global community from the comforts of your own home. It’s a safe space to share ideas, struggles, solutions and finished pieces with supportive, creative people.

“I get more than just sitting there watching somebody teaching me to stitch. I get a whole emotional support for my hobby.”

Judith Sutherland, Stitch Club member

With online textile art workshops, you have time and space to give and receive constructive feedback and suggestions. But only if you want to. That’s the beauty of online. You can lurk in the background, enjoying the learning and gaining confidence and skills from a structured learning journey. You can show your work (or not). You can ask questions (or not).

Stitching a new normal for textile art

So perhaps the way you develop your creative practice going forward looks a bit different to the pre-pandemic normal? Maybe it’s not a case of either/or? Perhaps in-person and online can go hand-in-hand to help you build a more meaningful and rounded approach to making textile art?

Why not tell us about your positive online experiences with textile art workshops in the comments below?

“I want to spend time being creative.

It’s an important part of my life. But it’s very easy to say and not so easy to do.”

Like a baby bird madly flapping its wings and barely leaving the ground, at the beginning of your creative journey you’re likely to stumble and fall. You have the will, but lack the basic tools to express yourself confidently with fabric and thread.

But slowly, as you begin to connect (or reconnect) with your imagination and ingenuity, the more joyful the process becomes and eventually you take flight.

As you uncover your own personal way of making textile art through regular practice, the higher you soar!

But what if you’re flying solo?

When even the people you’re closest to don’t understand that creativity is an integral part of who you are, momentum can be tough to sustain.

Your wings may feel slightly heavier after a well-meaning but dismissive remark from a partner or family member about ‘tinkering with textiles’. Comments about ‘wasting time and money’ on a ‘little hobby’ can see you nose diving. Add to that the distant memory of a harsh critique from an embroidery teacher (“Wonky, uneven stitches!”) and you’re coming in for an emergency landing!

Finding the people who do understand can be transformative for your creativity, your self esteem and your life.

Take it from Jess, Yvonne, Marie, Joan, Sarah, Becca, Sharon, Erica, Vicki, Karen and Linda, collectively known as Gathering Threads.

Covid, Christmas & creativity

It was the 19th of December 2020. Coronavirus cases were out of control here in the UK, new unknowable variants were emerging and Christmas had effectively been cancelled.

But amongst all of that dark came a ray of hope and positivity: an email from a TextileArtist.org Stitch Club member called Jess Richardson.

Here’s what she had to say.

Hi Joe, Sam and everyone at TextileArtist Central,

As we approach the end of the year on a day full of more grim news we just wanted to let you know how much we have loved being part of Stitch Club this year.

We are a group of ladies from four different countries. Most of us didn't know each other before joining and probably never would have met but we’ve gravitated together.

We started meeting online at the same time each week to discuss our progress with the Stitch Club workshops, offer advice and encouragement and share our love of textile practice.

We’re also in regular contact via our WhatsApp group where we chat about fab things, sad things and other news from our lives. We have swapped bits from our textile stash and been generous with our friendship.

In the run up to Christmas we organised a Tree Decoration and Card Swap and made something for one of the others in our group. Today we held an online meeting to open up these parcels. Attached is a screenshot of this happy occasion.

Without doubt these new friends and Stitch Club have become one of the most important things in our lives. Thank you very much for all the effort you put into making it a great experience for us all.

Merry Christmas

From Jess, Yvonne, Marie, Joan, Sarah, Becca, Sharon, Erica, Vicki, Karen and Linda

We were so thrilled that we arranged to gatecrash one of the Gathering Threads online meet-ups.

The passion, positivity, mutual respect and warmth in that Zoom call was palpable. This is a group of ladies whose creativity has been fuelled and whose practice has been enhanced by a sense of belonging.

Let’s meet the woman who started it all… Sharon Eynon.

All the gear, no idea!

As a child Sharon was always more comfortable resetting spark plugs with her dad than threading a needle with her mum. So when she inherited her mum’s extensive textile stash in 2014 she had absolutely no idea what to do with it.

It wasn’t until four years later, when Sharon started exploring the creative possibilities of fabric and thread in an online course with Sue Stone, that she began to understand her late mum’s love of embroidery. Finally, a way to put all her beautiful “bits and pieces” to good use!

As a founding member of Stitch Club, Sharon’s enthusiasm for making textile art continued to grow.

After feeling particularly inspired by a workshop from artist and bestselling textile author Mandy Pattullo, Sharon found herself eager to share ideas and investigate the possibilities of the process more deeply.

Sharon posted in the members area asking if any of her fellow stitchers were interested in getting together online.

Yvonne Schlaepfer-Parle was the first to answer the call…

Party of two

Yvonne is a long-time knitter and woman of the world; born in Ireland, she’s lived in London, New York, Australia and now Switzerland.

Back in March 2020, her burgeoning knitting business was about to host its first in-person retreat…and then Covid happened!

“So that whole thing crashed and burned. But then a friend of mine, who knew I was feeling pretty sad got in touch to say she’d seen the TextileArtist.org Community Stitch Challenge on Facebook and encouraged me to give it a go.”

But stitching had been ruined for Yvonne years ago when she’d been berated at school for sewing outside the lines.

“I didn’t think I’d ever be interested again. But when I watched that first free workshop with Sue Stone and she said ‘Embrace the wonky’, it changed my life! I’m not being pithy or trite—it really did. It gave me permission to go outside those lines and sometimes even plan to go outside those lines.”

Cut forward a few months. Having joined Stitch Club off the back of the free workshops in the TextileArtist.org Community Stitch Challenge, here are Sharon (in Wales) and Yvonne (in Switzerland) meeting on Zoom each week to nurture their newfound passion. A passion for something they’d both long since decided was not for them!

Week on week, stitchers from different backgrounds and at various stages of their creative journey started to join Sharon and Yvonne’s regular meetups. And as the group grew, the more inspired and excited the individual members became.

Let’s explore the creative lessons you can learn from the Gathering Threads group and how you might benefit from finding your very own stitch tribe.

How finding your stitch tribe can catalyse your creativity

No 1: A breadth of knowledge & experience

Imagine how regular access to a rich and diverse source of knowledge and experience could propel your own textile art practice.

Some members of Gathering Threads have a very broad skill base. Like Sarah Bond, who taught Art and Design for over 40 years, has a degree in Art History and has encouraged pupils of all ages to apply art textile techniques to fashion, stage and ecclesiastical projects.

“After I retired I sort of found myself in no man’s land deciding what to do next and, having recently moved from Hampshire to Wiltshire, I felt like I was in between communities.”

Since finding Stitch Club, and in turn Gathering Threads, Sarah has generously shared her expertise with the group, offering advice, recommendations and encouragement to the less experienced stitchers, like Yvonne:

“As a rank beginner with no artistic training, I don’t have any preconceptions. It’s been revelatory to hear others in the group who do have a background in art discussing the tips and rules they’ve learned along the way.”

No 2: The motivation to make

“I don’t have enough time” can often be code for “this isn’t important enough to me right now.”

If, like self-confessed butterfly Joan Noble, you do find yourself ‘easily distracted by 101 different things’, the commitment to regular meetups with like minded creative people can help you develop a more disciplined practice.

“These ladies keep me on my toes. It’s helping me be more focused and encouraging me to drop other things in favour of doing the Stitch Club workshops.”

And Karen Hughes, who had been put off sewing by the words of a childhood teacher who told her, “You’re much better at theory, than you are practical”, has also benefited from the gentle nudge being part of the group has given her.

“It’s like going to a digital cafe or college and you just turn up and we all exchange ideas and stuff. It’s a great motivator.”

The group’s weekly meetups in conjunction with the fortnightly workshop in Stitch Club have also helped Jess find direction.

“I used to beat myself up if I wasn’t doing something creative, but the regularity of being presented with a well-explained and inspiring challenge, along with all the other brilliantly organised materials, means there’s no barrier to getting started.”

No 3: Uncovering possibilities & breaking rules

At the start of any creative adventure, the cushion that comes from step by step rules and guidelines can be a great comfort. It’s how you get started.

More experienced stitchers, like Sarah, are ready to break those rules and steer away from the guidelines.

“I love that the tutors in Stitch Club encourage us to find freedom to explore the projects in our own way and there’s no judgement or expectation to create a duplicate of any kind. I think that’s a really progressive teaching method.”

And that ethos has been embraced by other members of the group.

Like Erica Staxenius, who was introduced to embroidery by her step-grandmother at the age of seven.

“Sewing is something I’ve delved into from time to time. After school, I started to make my own clothes from my mother’s old stash. My efforts were self-taught and I had a few disasters along the way!”

But Erica has always been what she describes as a “practical sewer” and thinking creatively to make works of art in her own voice through the Stitch Club workshops has not always been easy.

“Over the years I’ve often looked at textile art and wondered how and if I could do something similar. And I think with the help of all these wonderful inspirational workshop leaders and my friends in this group, it’s starting to feel achievable. I’ve still got a way to go, but looking back on everything I’ve done in the last year of Stitch Club it’s mind blowing how far I’ve come.”

“It’s interesting to me how I’ve never been one to follow the rules of life, but with sewing and art I have. The encouragement in this group means I’m starting to feel brave enough to break a few of those rules. I’m finally starting to become less restrictive and more inventive in my sewing.”

No 4: Discovering your personal visual vocabulary

The digital age has given us access to an abundance of inspiration. It’s impossible to incorporate every idea you stumble upon whilst browsing social media into your textile art. But it can be tempting to try!

Not only can this lead to an overwhelming and confused process, it might mean the work you’re making doesn’t feel distinctly ‘you’.

Through the focus of group meetings and the conscious discussion of your personal process, you can begin to hone your ideas and develop your own personal style. As Gathering Threads member Becca Allen discovered.

As a child, Becca learned to draw from her dad, created collages with her mum and made toy mice to sell to her friends.

Years later, when Becca was seeking a way to bring fabric and thread into her artwork, she took a course with the in-demand workshop leader Cas Holmes (who has since taught a popular Stitch Club class using the Japanese artform Momigami to create art). A love of all things textile was born.

Becca has been particularly inspired by the members of the group developing their own unique ways of interpreting the workshops.

“It’s amazing to see how we’re all doing the same projects, following the same set of instructions, using the same equipment, but the ways in which we translate the techniques and processes are so diverse.”

No 5: The confidence to create & share

Have you ever felt a little self-conscious about your lack of art training? Maybe you love being creative and have always been drawn to making things, but you’ve been reluctant to show other people what you’ve made for fear it’s not good enough?

Vicki Briggs doesn’t come from an ‘arty’ background and has struggled at times with feeling inhibited, but being part of Gathering Threads has given her the confidence to dive in and give anything a go!

“I was quite shy about posting images of my work in the members area to start off with, but with the support, advice and encouragement of our little group and the wider Stitch Club community, I’ve become braver. Now I think to myself, ‘Does it really matter? It’s a learning curve!’ The whole experience has given me a real boost in self esteem.”

And Yvonne agrees…even when the responses to what she makes are mixed.

“Since joining Stitch Club, I’ve had the confidence to venture into other groups and I’ve had very different reactions to what I’m presenting. A piece I made in a Stitch Club workshop on eco-printing was compared to mouldy pepperoni pizza by someone. I would have been horrified in the past. These days, I don’t care. Experimentation and collaboration are more important to me.”

“I now call myself a textile artist. I would never have done that before. I would have felt I was pretending to be something I was not, but now I realise I am, and I’m in the company of textile artists in this wonderful group every week. It’s been transformative.”

6 Finding solutions & fulfilling ambitions

When you hit a wall in your creative process, it can be doubly frustrating when you don’t have anyone to help you figure out how to knock it down (or at least rearrange the bricks!)

Linda Langley started stitching to pass the time when she was a young radiographer on night duty but prior to joining Stitch Club hadn’t picked up embroidery for a good few years.

“I’ve re-learned an awful lot in terms of techniques and being part of this group has meant I’ve found ways of dealing with my particular challenges. I don’t have a workspace, which can be difficult and means I’m much slower than some of the other girls, but they’re helping me realise that’s not a problem. The great thing about Stitch Club is I can go at my own pace. I don’t feel any pressure to do every workshop, but I’ve been inspired by this group to try things I wouldn’t have done if I was left entirely to my own devices.”

Marie Audéon, who lives in France, has a longstanding association with textiles, having been inspired by her mother.

“As a child I would collect and organise fabrics by colour and type, cut them up and reassemble them into something new. In adulthood I continued to sew, making a large array of decorative and useful things for the home”

Marie had always felt drawn to using the techniques she learned as a child to do something more personal and expressive and since joining the group, this dream has become a reality.

“When I discovered TextileArtist.org I thought to myself, ‘This is my chance. It’s now!’ I am learning to mix materials like paint and thread to express a personal story and through the connection with this group my process has really evolved. In the past few months I’ve been using a sketchbook to develop ideas and documenting the various stages of the creative process through photography.”

No 7: Nurturing an open mind & daring to experiment

Have you ever watched an online stitch tutorial or considered a particular way of making art and immediately said to yourself “That’s not my type of thing”?

Developing a sense of what you want to make and how you want to make it is an important step in your journey towards developing a personal voice for your textile art. But often the techniques and processes you feel resistance to can be surprisingly rewarding when you let go of preconceptions and give them a go.

Being part of a group with eclectic tastes can help you stay open to new experiences. Embracing alternative approaches to creativity can uncover inventive ways of interpreting projects that may have initially felt prescriptive or simple.

Jess told me:

“Even with the Stitch Club workshops that I don’t think I’ll do, when everyone in this group starts talking through their ideas and pictures of work start popping up in the members area, the enthusiasm for the project becomes infectious. You don’t want to be left out. And you end up surprising yourself with how inventive you can be with something you didn’t think was your sort of thing”.

And the collaboration within the group has also encouraged its members to join the dots, workshop to workshop, taking a technique they learned from one into the next.

Yvonne has used an exercise set by Julie B Booth in her workshop, that seemed deceptively simple, to create a whole series of work.

“I’ve gone and done several more pieces and taken that whole thing in a completely new direction.”

Create, connect, thrive

When you’re feeling creatively isolated, where do you turn for support? The most obvious place isn’t always the best fit.

Perhaps the local embroidery group has a focus on traditional needlework that doesn’t appeal…they meet on a Wednesday morning when you’re working or have childcare duties…the in-person workshops they organise run into hundreds of pounds that you can’t afford…or they just don’t get you!

The good news is you’re no longer restricted by location. You can share your creative journey with like minded creative people living on the other side of the world if that’s what it takes.

And when you find the people who understand and care, the people who push you to be more inventive and experimental, the people who make you feel safe and brave, not only will your creativity blossom, you may make meaningful and long lasting connections.

The Gathering Threads group meets on Zoom every week to work through ideas, talk about creative challenges and share their thoughts on the latest Stitch Club workshop. They share online resources and support one another via the Stitch Club members area and WhatsApp. They swap tools and materials via snail mail (when Sharon couldn’t find leaves for eco-printing, Sarah sent her some of her stash.)

But something deeper and more significant has emerged…friendship.

“We are connected by our love of art. That includes textile art but a range of other arts as well including pottery, painting, photography, quilting, knitting, crochet and felting. We also share cooking recipes and book recommendations and send birthday cards. This has developed from a group of strangers into a special group of friends.”

Yvonne Schlaepfer-Parle, Stitch Club and Gathering Threads member

And some of these friends have now met in real life too. “It’s so strange”, Jess said to Erica recently, “I feel like I’ve always known you even though it’s been less than a year.” The group are now dreaming of a time, hopefully in the not too distant future, when they can all meet up for a weekend and do one of the Stitch Club workshops together in person.

So why does establishing, building and maintaining a regular and playful stitch practice present such challenges?

Maybe you’re buzzing with ideas but struggling to express yourself with stitch? Or perhaps you tend to fall back on the same old techniques just because you know how?

Sticking with what you’ve always done (and producing pieces that look a bit like everything else you’ve ever made) feels less risky than venturing outside your comfort zone, but can very easily lead to a practice that feels a bit stale.

Or maybe nourishing your creative self never feels like a priority and so you struggle to make time to actually get started?

You’re not alone. Despite varying levels of skill and experience, TextileArtist.org Stitch Club members Sharron, Rachael, Jane and Janet encountered similar frustrations when it came to making textile art.

By sharing their work and seeking advice and support from other stitchers and shifting their focus to process rather than product they are now enjoying a more playful, experimental and joyful practice. We talk to them about how they did it.

Stop looking, start stitching

Hands up if you are guilty of buying textile book after textile book, waiting until you have mastered ‘enough’ before you start expressing yourself? You can learn a lot from a book but at some point you have to stop reading and start stitching – as recently retired visual artist Sharron Lea shared with us.

“I’ve returned to what I loved as an art student in the 1970s: then I was passionate about stitching and how it might be applied to art,” she says, “but at that time the potential for earning a living from textile arts was limited so I set it aside and focused on graphic design instead.”

Although retirement gave Sharron the freedom to pursue her love of embroidery and textile art, she didn’t have a strong visual vocabulary and struggled to express herself freely and clearly through stitch. Sharron was self-taught but as she told us “there’s only so much you can learn from a book”.

Feeling stuck in a creative rut, Sharron put aside her books for a while and got involved with the free TextileArtist.org Community Stitch Challenge, which started back in March 2020.

After watching the first challenge video from textile artist and former Chair of the 62 group Sue Stone, Sharron wasn’t convinced. “I remember looking at the running stitch exercise and being sceptical,” Sharron said.

But she picked up her needle and thread and was surprised to discover that, with the right guidance, she was able to find endless creative ways to express herself using the simplest of stitches. “Who would have guessed where those first running stitches would lead me! Without them I never would have gained the confidence that I have now.”

Embracing experimentation

Sharron’s experience with the Community Stitch Challenge encouraged her to keep on stitching and experimenting.

Being exposed to different styles and stitches has been fantastic for Sharron, but the key has been actually applying them to her work in an interactive environment. She is learning to transfer her fine art skills to fabric and thread through experimentation, a leap didn’t feel able to make with books alone.

“I’m used to mixing colours in paint and now I can mix fabrics with colours and textures…Learning online has taught me things that I didn’t know that I didn’t know. I’ve discovered the visual and creative potential of simple stitches like blanket stitch and running stitch. I’m doing things that I never would have done in the past because I wouldn’t have thought of it.”

Inspired by a Stitch Club workshop from artist Sabine Kaner, Sharron created an imaginary map by combining watercolour and embroidery on fabric. Now she is taking that a step further: “I’m doing a whole series of these imaginary maps,” she told us, “and I’m presenting them together in a small book that I’ve created using my newly learned textile bookbinding skills.”

“Stitching regularly, as well as being inspired by textile artists and my fellow Stitch Club members has really helped me see embroidery as a valued and worthwhile practice. There is a camaraderie that is both exciting and refreshing. My stitching gives me so much joy.”

As Sharron discovered, expressing yourself creatively comes from regular practical experimentation.

By the way, we made a free PDF to go along with this article; in it you’ll discover six tips for getting started with stitch. Download the freebie by clicking on the big yellow banner below.

Stitching at home, but not alone! 

When the pandemic hit in 2020, in-person workshops were cancelled and embroidery groups put on hold. But out of enforced isolation came opportunities to connect with inspirational teachers and fellow stitchers in new, exciting ways, as stitchers like Rachael Margeson discovered.

Exposure to fresh influences and inspiration is essential ‘fertiliser’ for creativity. Although Rachael had completed Part 1 City and Guilds, perhaps the most recognised qualification for textile design in the UK, and was well on her way to finishing Part 2, she was struggling to develop a confident ‘stitching voice’.

Living in South Cumbria, a beautiful rural area of the UK, local workshops were too basic for Rachael and the cost of attending courses further afield was prohibitive. Rachael caught wind of the online Community Stitch Challenge from social media and discovered she could connect with others without leaving home.

“I loved the Community Stitch Challenge workshops. I was completely blown away by the pieces I managed to produce (without a huge amount of angst) and was so supported and encouraged by the online community. Learning online is exposing me to teaching, inspiration and support that I could never access otherwise.”

Learning online has been the catalyst for Rachael to discover her own voice and distinctive stitch footprint. “It’s making it possible for me to spend more time learning, developing my style and hopefully developing as an artist in my own right.”

Widening your sphere of influence

Engaging with others and sharing tips and ideas is a great way to learn. Seeing someone else’s interpretation of a brief or hearing their perception of your work can create remarkable shifts in perspective.

Jane Cook had been stitching for sixty years and had been an embroidery teacher in her time too, but she always felt something was missing. Although technically proficient she struggled to initiate her own ideas. “I was taught that personal expression would just arise, but I was at a loss as to how to make that happen. As a teacher I felt I’d be judged so my creative expression stagnated although my technical skills continued to develop.”

Feeling frustrated it was only when Jane took Sue Stone’s Exploring Texture & Pattern course that she discovered online learning; this was followed by what Jane described as “seven weeks of sheer joy with the Community Stitch Challenge”.

The rewards of sharing within a community gave Jane confidence: spurring her forward and transforming how she feels about her stitching.

“I am encouraged so much by the support of the community whose comments have enabled me to see my work differently and this then influences my own perspective of it – for the better! My stitch practice is now vibrant and purposeful. As I’m experimenting, I’m also reflecting on what I’m discovering. When I share that learning with others online that then prompts ideas in return. These engaging conversations are so enriching – I wouldn’t get that from a YouTube video!”

Just a reminder about the free gift that accompanies this article. You can download it by clicking on that big yellow button below.

Structure, consistency and play

“Almost all creativity involves purposeful play” said psychologist Abraham Maslow. Focusing on process rather than outcome takes the pressure off – after all if you are just playing you can’t get it wrong. The more you relax the more likely the creative juices will flow as Janet Patterson discovered.

Janet has loved stitching since childhood but working and bringing up a family left her no time for building a consistent creative practice.

“Retirement gave me the opportunity to dip into different areas of textile work which reignited my passion for stitching,” Janet says, “I loved getting together with likeminded people and learning new skills. Lockdown restrictions could have left me feeling very isolated but luckily I found TextileArtist’s Community Stitch Challenge online.

Since then I haven’t looked back and my stitching has been a life saver: it’s given me a creative outlet and provided structure in an uncertain world. It has given me an excuse to take time out and play – exploring a variety of techniques and a diverse range of styles and approaches.”

You could sit around waiting for the muse to strike but as Picasso said, “inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” The creative process is a call and response between one stitch and the next and how it interacts with the fabric. Janet can vouch for that. The more she stitches, the more ideas she has.

How can you make your practice more playful? What steps can you take to embrace a more experimental approach to making textile art? How can you stop worrying about the perfect end result and shift the focus to process instead? And how will all of this help you to establish a more regular and enjoyable stitch practice?

Why not share your thoughts in the comments below.

She finds inspiration in nature’s landscapes, from coastal marshes to desert canyons and hopes the meditative quality of her work encourages viewers to draw upon their own memories and experiences.

Judith has work in several museum collections including The Museum of Art and Design, New York, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and The Museum of Quilts and Textiles in San Jose as well as several pieces in the state of New Mexico’s Public Art Collection, The city of Nagoya’s shibori collection and numerous private collections across the US.

In this interview, Judith explains how her imagination was captured by shibori and the influence this ancient technique has had on her work. We learn what materials she enjoys experimenting with and how she can’t live without her magical magnetic wand!

The rich diversity of textile traditions

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

Judith Content: My parents were avid collectors of early American and European antiques. Their focus was glass and furniture but I was entranced by the textiles they occasionally acquired, especially paisley shawls, Navajo rugs and domestic stitcheries.

I also had an uncle who travelled the world as a merchant marine in the early 1900s. He brought back many treasures and gave me my first Japanese kimono when I was only a teen. It hangs on my wall to this day.

When I moved to the West Coast from New England in 1975, for my senior year in high school, I soon came to appreciate the rich diversity of textile traditions to be found here. I was attracted to ancient and historical textiles from the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe.

I was especially drawn to costume, embellishment, dyeing, weaving, embroidery and functional fibre such as woven vessels. I was attracted to the imaginative use of indigenous and traded materials, and the wonderful colours, textures and artistic designs these many cultures could achieve.

I studied art in college and continually broadened my knowledge of textiles through study, research, travel and hands-on experimentation.

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

I think my imagination was really captured by shibori. The infinite possibilities of this ancient Japanese dye technique always amazed me. The San Francisco Bay Area of the 70’s and 80’s was a mecca for fibre artists. I feel so fortunate to have witnessed it.

Besides studying textiles as part of a Bachelor of Fine Arts, at San Francisco State University, I was able to take workshops on dyeing and surface design throughout the Bay Area. I studied at Fiberworks, Straw into Gold and Pacific Basin in Berkeley, De Anza College in Cupertino and the Palo Alto Cultural Centre in Palo Alto, to name a few.

However, in terms of shibori, I am largely self-taught. I first learned about arashi-shibori from Ana Lisa Hedstrom in 1978, when she gave a one-hour demonstration during a college surface design class. I was mesmerized and went home to experiment.

At first, I used tiny bits of silk, pleated and secured to broom handles. Wanting to work larger I found glass bottles a handy tool to use. To this day I dye relatively small pieces of silk and assemble them by stitch to create larger works. Call it piecing or call it collage I find combining multiple parts yields a rich and nuanced surface.

I continue to experiment and explore shibori’s possibilities. I am currently exploring Itajime shibori in conjunction with arashi-shibori. I am using distressed magnolia and bamboo leaves as resists, along with a variety of threads, cords and ribbons. Combined with complex fold techniques I’m excited by the results and eager to do more.

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

I was driven to work with my hands from an early age. I painted at my mother’s side as a child, and when I grew older I created my own creative spaces in garages, basements, sheds and porches. My father taught me to crochet and trained me in woodworking and I loved working with all kinds of media.

Because we lived in rural areas, getting a job as a teen was difficult. I enjoyed making pottery so I saved up and bought myself a potter’s wheel, kiln, clay and glazes and gave pottery classes for both children and adults. This was my first taste of being self-employed and I liked it.

Textiles had everything I was looking for

What was your route to becoming an artist?

I studied watercolour painting from an early age and was encouraged to do so by a family of artists and engineers. I always hoped to be an artist and assumed, if that came to pass, I would be a painter. Moving to California in 1975 changed all that. Suddenly I was exposed to all kinds of new cultural and artistic influences and while at San Francisco State University, I basically took every class the art department had to offer.

Then as a lark, I took a class in textiles. I had always loved textiles, but I never considered them a medium for fine art. After studying textiles intensely for about a year and a half I had completely changed my mind about that. For me, textiles had everything I was looking for. I could explore surface design, colour, pattern and design. I could work with texture, relief and dimension. I could also create components and build with them to create work both intimate or architectural in scale.

I feel that my background in watercolours and my love of building things led naturally to the construction of quilts. Every aspect of my work, from the dying to the piecing, to the quilting relies on intuition as well as experience.

Through my work, I hope to communicate with the viewer on an emotional as well intellectual level. I liken my work to the Japanese haiku, in that they explore the essence of an image, memory, or moment in time. Just as haiku have different interpretations, I hope the meditative quality of my work encourages viewers to draw upon their own memories and experiences when contemplating my work.

I’m drawn to intuitive symmetry, where images that seem symmetrical are not, after all, exactly the same. I use the kimono form because its balance and harmony lend itself to this approach so beautifully. Using shibori and the abstract kimono canvas to work on, I aspire to:

Create subtle visual tension by intersecting dynamic and harmonious elements through colour, pattern and texture.

Dr. Sandra Sider, ‘Intuitive Symmetry: Works on Silk by Judith Content’. Monograph, Texas Quilt Museum, 2015

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

In answer to this question I would again like to quote Dr. Sandra Sider:

Judith Content’s quilts fall…in the category of Process Art….first practiced by sculptors in the mid 1960s. Robert Morris, the chief theorist of this movement…believed that the art “process” should lead to its ultimate form, rather than having a pre-conceived form dictate the process used to create it. While Content definitely works within a specific format, often the T-shaped quilt, she lets the hues and patterns of her shibori speak to her as she assembles each quilt. Her dyed fabrics evoke subtleties of mood, landscape, natural phenomena, etc. Attuned to both nature and human nature, her abstract, painterly quilts resonate with meaning.

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

I compile notebooks filled with images that inspire me. I make them with found papers such as brochures and postcards as well as my own drawings, sketches and paintings. I use them to refer to for inspiration. I also take many photographs with my iPhone. I edit these and store them digitally for ideas and inspiration.

I also find shibori dyeing its own source of inspiration. I love to do purely experimental dyeing, just to see what happens. If something interesting takes place I run with it. This experimentation is often incorporated into new work.

Tell us about your process from conception to conclusion.

My work involves a series of several different processes. The first is the dyeing of the silk that will become the face of my artwork. I have explored shibori dyeing since encountering it while studying art at San Francisco State University in the late 1970s. It resonated with me immediately and has excited me for decades. I don’t keep journals of my dye explorations. I prefer to work intuitively and spontaneously. I let each dye session inform the next mingling experience with experimentation.

First, I meticulously pleat panels of silk into origami-like bundles. I use white silk if I anticipate dyeing it, or pre-dyed silk if I plan to discharge (remove) colour. The bundles are secured to ABS plastic pipe with a combination of thread, yarn, ribbon or cording. Both the pleats and the filaments resist the dye or the discharge from penetrating the silk. In this way, I can add or subtract colour creating virtually unlimited patterns on the silk. I often over-dye to soften the original patterns, or dip-discharge to diffuse and abstract the design.

I often do a week or more of dyeing in order to create a rich collection of silks. I want a variety of silks that are unique but work well together. In this way I create my palette much the same way a painter mixes her paints. I use Japanese acid dyes called Miyako-zome and I only use the dye primary colours: turquoise, magenta, and yellow. I layer the colours by dipping or pouring them over the surface of the pole. It can take minutes or hours to gradually achieve the intensity I am looking for. Over-dying and discharging add other levels of complexity.

When I think I have enough silk to work with I start the piecing process. Similar to collage, I work directly on the design wall, looking for exciting combinations of colour, line and pattern. The silks are steadily arranged, rearranged, cut, torn and refined until the composition feels right.

After the composition is complete I quilt it. I use machine quilting to define and accentuate patterns in the silk. I also use quilting to create a subtle texture. Sometimes I use quilting to diffuse or soften patterns in the silk. I think of quilting as drawing and use it more and more as the year’s pass. My early work was sparingly quilted and my new work is densely stitched. It’s interesting to see how things change.

A quiet, peaceful space

What environment do you like to work in?

My studio is in an addition just steps away from the rest of the house. It’s a quiet, peaceful space with whitewashed walls, large windows, and doors to the garden. I try and keep it organised and tidy. I don’t work well in chaos.

I covered one entire wall with white denim, and use this space as my design wall. I pin dyed silks to the wall to audition combinations while looking for juxtapositions that resonate. In this way, I create my compositions. I also sew and quilt in the studio.

My sewing machine was inherited from my grandmother and is a sturdy vintage Singer. It does everything I ask of it and more. Next to where I sew is a wall of thread, loosely arranged by colour, displayed in old typeset drawers. From here I look out at the front garden of black bamboo, ceramic sculptures and water basins.

Because I live in a mild climate here in Northern California, I’m able to do all my shibori dyeing and discharging in the backyard, year-round, rain or shine. I heat water at the kitchen stove and carry stainless steel dye pots outside to simmer on electric hot plates. I work under large canvas market umbrellas. I love the light as well as the fresh air of working outside.

What currently inspires you?

I am inspired by the natural landscape and how it translates to cloth. I’m inspired by the play of light over water and fascinated by the way imagery is abstracted as it becomes obscured by fog. I’m interested in mirrored images, reflections, mirages, things that are not quite what they seem at first. I’m always looking for interesting patterns and textures on natural surfaces such as rocks, tree bark, sand and clouds.

I’m drawn to horizontal lines such as water meeting the horizon and geologic layers of rock and stone. I’m also fascinated by vertical lines such as those found in reeds, grasses, tule and trees. In my work, I love to visually weave these lines together through the use of piecing, quilting and occasionally applique.

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

My earliest work, just out of college, was wearable art. I used the Turkish coat and the kimono as the canvas, and shibori dyed silks as the surface design. After a few years exploring the world of fashion I realised I wanted to work bigger. I craved making work on an architectural scale.

I found gallery representation that allowed me to follow this dream and in the 1980s and 90s, I designed and created many site-specific commissions for corporate, health and residential spaces that reached up to two stories in height.

Then at some point in the late 90s, I realised I wanted to work smaller. I still wanted to make work for the wall, but I wanted it to be on a more human scale. This led to work often recalling the clothing shapes of my earliest explorations, such as the kimono and ruana, but not intended to wear.

This is where I am today, still avidly exploring an ever-expanding network of shibori dye techniques. I am also playing with sculptural forms such as round, rock-like assemblages I call ‘Skimming Stones’. In between wall piece, I work with a variety of other medias, such as artist’s books, collage and jewellery design, just to name a few.

What advice would you give to an aspiring textile artist?

Find your voice and listen to it.

Can you recommend 3 or 4 books for textile artists?

Two books by Mary Schoeser come to mind, one titled Silk and the other titled Textiles . It’s essentially an encyclopedia of textiles with gorgeous photographs.

I would also recommend Memory On Cloth: Shibori Now , by Yoshiko I Wada, and Kimono Inspiration by Rebecca A.T. Stevens and Yoshiko I Wada.

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

SAQA.com
Surface Design Journal
Fiber Art Now
SAQA Journal/Art Quilt Collector

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

My Singer Sewing Machine circa 1960

A magnetic wand that picks up pins like magic.

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

I do lecture but I rarely teach. It’s best to make enquiries via email at ten.knilhtraeobfsctd-3b9f0b@tnetnochtiduj or through my website.

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

I submit work to juried exhibitions when those exhibitions have an excellent reputation, reputable jurors, a professional facility and ideally produce a catalogue. I use this criterion when deciding to accept an invitational exhibition as well.

I’m most likely to accept an invitation if it comes from a trusted peer, a well-regarded curator, a person I hold in esteem or in friendship or it takes place in a museum or major art facility.

Where can readers see your work this year?

I have work travelling in the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) exhibition titled H2Oh!.

Go to SAQA.com for the schedule.

My work is represented by Tansey Contemporary Gallery, 652 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501 505-995-8513 and their new flagship location 1743 Wazee Street, Denver, CO 80202 720-596-4243.

For more information visit: www.judithcontent.com

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

Have you ever looked at a stunning piece of textile art beautifully presented against the crisp white wall of a gallery and thought Wow! How did she do that? How did that maker develop such mastery over her techniques? How does she manage to speak so clearly through fibre in a voice that feels fresh and exciting?

And then perhaps you do that thing, that we all do and know we shouldn’t, of comparing yourself to them. And you start to feel a bit inadequate or even envious because, although you have a ‘heart and soul’ passion for textiles, you’re struggling to settle on a style that feels authentic to you.

You would love to develop your own visual vocabulary. You long to innovate with your materials and techniques. But your process is a bit confused, your results are hit and miss and your voice feels somewhat random.

And as you’re standing there at that exhibition in awe of the masterpiece before you, you tell yourself, I just wasn’t born with natural ability. My work will never have the impact of this piece. I’m just not good enough.

Here’s some great news! None of that is true… and, by the way, you should learn to go easier on yourself – your inner critic sounds pretty harsh!

The truth is this: That maker you so admire is probably no more innately talented than you or me. But… (and this is important)… they know something you don’t know. It’s a secret that transformed the process of a textile artist very close to my heart and set her free to push the boundaries of her techniques. And it could just do the same for you!

How Sue Stone found her flow

Disclaimer: Sue Stone is my mum and I’m very proud of her as you’re about to find out! 

Now I may be biassed (did I mention she’s my mum?), but I think Sue Stone’s visual identity strengthens with each new piece she makes. Which probably explains why she’s enjoying such acclaim as a textile artist.

Her work has been featured on the front cover of Embroidery Magazine and her recent solo show Do You Remember Me? was a huge hit at the UK’s biggest textile event The Knitting and Stitching show.

Her boundless enthusiasm for her craft means she’s invited to teach stitch workshops all over the world, including for Selvedge magazine in London, at Studio Preniac in South West France and at the School of Textiles in Canada. And her online courses (Exploring Texture & Pattern and Stitch Your Story) have seen over two thousand students benefit from her expertise.

But the journey to success hasn’t been a smooth one.

Textiles had been part of Sue’s life since her mother taught her to sew as a child. But it wasn’t until she was in her mid 50s that she rediscovered her passion for the techniques and materials she’d grown up with. And even then Sue struggled with a severe lack of confidence. She flitted from one technique to another. Never truly committing.

Sound familiar?

Perhaps you can relate? Maybe you have a hundred ideas buzzing around your head but lack focus. You try to bring those ideas to life using every technique in the book. After all, there are hundreds of possible options for getting creative with textiles and stitch. And that can be overwhelming.

Sue had fallen into a similar trap.

But after jumping from style to style, enough was enough. It was time to reconnect with a lesson from years earlier…

Learning from a textile art legend

In her days as an Embroidery student at Goldsmiths College in London, there was one teacher above all others whose impact on Sue would last a lifetime and not just because of her bright green hair: Constance Howard has been credited for being responsible in no small part for textile art’s transition from minor craft to important artistic genre.

And there was one very simple concept at the core of Constance’s approach:

“You don’t need to know hundreds of stitches. But you need to use the ones you do know well!”

Constance Vs convention

But surely the only way to avoid creating boring textile art is to have a wide range of techniques at your fingertips? And, if you ever stand a chance of innovating, there’s no way you can rely purely on basic, traditional techniques, is there?

Well, the woman described by the Guardian newspaper as “the most influential pioneer in textile design of her generation” disagreed.

So, despite what conventional wisdom tells us, perhaps trying out endless techniques is not conducive to creativity. Maybe it could actually have a detrimental affect on the work you make with textiles. What is often framed as “versatility” can hold you back from tapping into your creative potential.

7 ways ‘versatility’ can crush creativity

Before we dive in, I want you to promise that you won’t go beating yourself up if any of this rings true. You’re not the only one. These are issues that most artists have struggled with at some time or another during their creative lives so be kind to yourself.

1. You’ll struggle to innovate

If you dabble with a wide range of disparate techniques, how can you hope to deepen your mastery of them? Without making a commitment to a more limited selection, you’ll never get under their skin. You’ll struggle to make them your own. You’ll be tempted to imitate rather than originate.

Only when you truly take control of your techniques can you start to push their boundaries and innovate with them.

2. Your voice will be jumbled

Trying to develop your own visual vocabulary and an identity that is clear and strong becomes increasingly challenging the more techniques you try and incorporate. Even those working in mixed media like Ann Goddard and Gizella K Warburton, two artists with very distinctive styles, limit the pallet of techniques and materials they use to achieve their desired results.

3. You’ll actually be less versatile

It sounds counterintuitive but having a grasp on lots of different techniques can actually make you less versatile as a stitcher. Merely scratching the surface can lead to textile art that is generic and commonplace. Whereas mining the potential of a single technique through rigorous and structured experimentation gives you the skill and confidence to use it in ever more inventive and varied ways.

4. Your process will lack focus

With so many options flying around you’ll find it difficult to define a clear path forward. Unless you try one thing at a time and stick with it, you’ll have endless ideas but absolutely no way of bringing them together. And with such aimlessness, you might find yourself with a hoard of unfinished pieces, each one less satisfactory than the last!

5. Overwhelm leads to ‘artistic paralysis’

And, leading on from the last point, without a goal, making those vital first marks will feel like torture. Because you have so much choice, you’ll start to feel overwhelmed by the possibilities. This ‘freedom’ often leads to fear. Fear of taking a risk. Fear of failure. And that fear leads to procrastination, inaction and becoming ‘stuck’. What a nightmare!

6. Your work may be confusing

Not only will you be mystified by your process and dissatisfied with your results, others will be too! If each piece is created with drastically different processes and techniques, it will probably be difficult to decipher a unifying story or style.

7. You’ll feel like a fraud

Confidence in your work comes from knowing who you are as a maker. Without a strong sense of what you want to say and how you want to say it, it becomes impossible for your process to have intention. And without intention, how will you ever know where to start? Opting for a bottomless buffet of techniques rather than a limited set menu can make you feel like Jack of all trades.

Time to stop ‘dabbling’ and go deep

Perhaps the way to truly find your voice and build a unique visual vocabulary as a maker is to focus on a handful of techniques and push their boundaries through constant experimentation.

It’s that experimentation, that exploration of HOW you use those techniques that will give you the power to innovate, not necessarily the techniques themselves.

Even the most basic hand stitches offer incredible opportunities for invention and unlimited potential for creativity, as the work of these 3 artists proves.

Isobel Currie

Isobel Currie, winner of the Valerie Campbell-Harding prize for Innovation, creates miniature 3d textile art, all of which is built on the foundation of a handful of traditional embroidery stitches, such as the buttonhole stitch and fly stitch. It’s her use of these stitches in their full three-dimensional form that makes her work exciting and distinctive.

Richard McVetis

Member of the renowned 62 Group, Richard McVetis uses a limited vocabulary of mark making such as embroidered dots and crosses, in combination with meticulously worked wools to create what he describes as ‘binary simplicity’.

Sue Stone

And how about the artist whose passion and commitment inspired me and my brother Sam to start TextileArtist.org back in 2012? Since her return to textile art after a 30 year hiatus, Sue Stone has embraced Constance Howards’s teachings. Her work is unmistakably hers and yet at its core are just a few traditional hand stitch techniques like running stitch, couching and needle weaving. But the more she uses them, the more versatile they seem to become.

Find out more about Sue Stone’s process from conception to creation here

The power of limitations

So am I arguing that you should stick with exactly the same techniques throughout your lifetime? Of course not! Nurturing a practice that is ever-evolving in response to your natural curiosity is essential for creative growth.

Nor do I think you should ignore your instincts if a certain technique is calling to you.

But, if you’ve been struggling with anything we’ve discussed in this article, it might be time to make a tough decision about casting aside some of those techniques you’ve been dabbling with and focus on stretching the potential of just a few. Build firm foundations with one technique before you get distracted and move on to another.

Because, despite being told that our imaginations are at their most fruitful when they are liberated from rules and constraints, the secret that textile artists with the most distinctive visual identities know is this:

Only when you are limited can your creativity become limitless!

Have you struggled with not being able to fully commit to one technique or another? What has been the consequence for your process and work? Let us have your questions and concerns in the comments section and we’ll try our best to help!

In this interview Karen talks about the passions which influence her unique style. We learn about the techniques and processes she employs and why women’s history and lives have been fundamental in her artistic vision.

TextileArtist.org: What initially attracted you to textiles as a medium and how was your imagination captured by stitching?

Karen Searle: I have always had an interest in textiles. It started with sewing doll clothes and learning to do the blanket stitch in a fourth–grade sewing project. Neither of my grandmothers was living, and my mother was not involved in any textile making by that time, so there was no handing down of skills through the generations. Much later I learned that one grandmother did crochet and the other was a weaver.

My mother showed me some embroidery and knitting that she had done in her youth, and I became intrigued with the idea of making and decorating cloth. I tried several times -not very successfully- to teach myself to knit and crochet from a book, and at age 10, I joined an urban 4H club where I learned sewing and embroidery. I crocheted my first sweater (in granny squares) after high school, and my college roommate got me started knitting Norwegian ski sweaters.

My mother wrote poetry and my father was a graphic artist, so I guess I was programmed toward the arts, although I carefully avoided any formal art education until I was an adult. Then I enrolled in many textile-related classes and workshops through the school run by the Weavers Guild of Minnesota and at weavers conferences and became a weaving teacher.

I eventually branched out into taking adult education classes in drawing, painting, and photography. On a parallel track, I had a 25-year career publishing books on cultural traditions in textile crafts, Dos Tejedoras Fiber Arts Publications, and publishing a magazine for weavers, The Weaver’s Journal.  In my 50s I retired from publishing and decided to pursue an MFA degree, which I completed in 1999.

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

I have followed and been influenced by the feminist art movement in the US since the 1970s. Faith Wilding’s early fiber environments and body works planted the idea in my mind that there are no limits to explorations in fiber, and this was reinforced in several workshops I attended taught by Walter Nottingham. His attitude toward fibers as magical and mystical captured my imagination.

My acquaintance with art knitting pioneer Mary Walker Philipps led me to explore knitting as an art medium. Other early influences on my thread manipulations included Dominic DiMare, Diane Itter, and Irene Waller. More recently, a workshop with Warren Seelig on incorporating objects into textile constructions broadened my approach to my work.

Since I was a ‘late bloomer’ as an artist, I naturally gravitated to themes of aging and imagery of older women’s bodies.

The ‘aha’ moment

What was your route to becoming an artist?

I am fascinated with the process of constructing a fabric or form from stitches. After spending a number of years designing sweaters and loom-shaped woven garments, and a stint in a production weaving studio, I realised that I think three-dimensionally, and started making figurative sculptures. At first, I wove shaped tubular forms, but in an ‘aha’ moment, I realised that there was more subtle control of shaping to be had with the off-loom processes. Since then I have been creating forms and objects with knitting and crochet, and more recently, relief images with needle lace.

I am fortunate to be a member of WARM, (Women’s Art Resources of Minnesota), and Women’s Caucus for Art, organisations. They provide inspiration, supportive communities, role models, and exhibition opportunities for women artists.

How do you use these techniques in conjunction with sculpture?

Knitting and crochet are ideal techniques for building subtle shaping into a form. I prefer to make sculptural forms in which the structure is also the armature. I choose a construction technique (knit, crochet, knotless netting) depending on the material and the amount of structural support I need to incorporate into the form.

Wire is my current favorite material, although I will try anything long and bendable. I can visualise a 3D piece, and often some of the ‘engineering’ problems that may arise before I start, so I rarely need to sketch it beforehand. Once I have started, I might make a drawing to determine the finished proportions.

A feminine viewpoint

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

I make figurative sculptures in natural and recycled materials, and relief images in wire. My love of needlework has led me to use the tools and materials of domesticity to assert the validity of ‘women’s work’ and to present a feminine viewpoint. The work is process-oriented, and my sense of humor usually becomes entangled within it, somehow.

My materials include thread, fabric, wire, found objects, and materials gathered from nature. The work has a feminine/feminist perspective, and could be considered postmodern/postfeminist. Much of my work is on a small or intimate scale, but occasionally I do life-sized works as well.

Seeking possibilities

Tell us about your process from conception to conclusion.

My forms are often containers and reference the Jungian concept of the body as a container for aspects of the self.

I am always seeking possibilities within the materials available to me by using and responding to their characteristics in an intuitive way. I enjoy finding new uses for a material, and combining natural and man-made materials to form new entities. I sample a new material with several different techniques to determine the most appropriate use and structure for it. Often the idea for a piece comes through this process.

Some of my work involves attaching natural or man-made elements together with fiber. My works using birch bark begin as meditations on beauty in nature. I delicately mend found birch bark, adding a few beads to enhance its natural beauty. I join pieces or create forms using either a natural fiber or wire. Combining nature, hand-made and man-made manifests my concern for environmental issues. The ‘bark quilts’ and ‘tree spirit’ figures also pay tribute to the activities of ‘women’s work:’ we salvage, mend, piece together, and adorn–both the objects in our lives and our relationships.

Making my hollow wire sculptures feels like doing 3-dimensional line drawings in space. The shadows cast by the objects complete the image. My needle lace works are another kind of dimensional drawing based on drawings or photos. I work with Photoshop to adjust the image in size and proportion to its intended mounting. I then use that image as a base to form a ‘drawing’ in thread or wire, combining needle lace stitches with some crochet. ‘My Mother’s Hair’ is based on photos taken at different stages of her life.

What environment do you like to work in?

I have a studio space where I work on larger or complex projects. For smaller pieces with lots of handwork, I like to work at home in a comfortable chair.

What currently inspires you?

I find inspiration in nature, ritual and ceremony, women’s history, and women’s lives. Also the textile-making processes themselves are inspiring.

Who have been your major influences and why?

I greatly admire the work of the late Eva Hesse and Ana Mendieta, and the mixed media works of Betye Saar and Alison Saar, Kiki Smith, Lesley Dill, and Rose Marie Trockel, among many others. All have been fearless in pursuing their careers and in incorporating many different media into their work.

Recreating memories

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

The first piece in my ‘Body Bag’ Series brought the realization of my ties to feminism and also illustrates the multiple levels of thinking that go into some of my works. The feminine torso form humorously depicts an older woman’s body, something I have been fascinated with since my own began to sag a bit.

The bag is crocheted with my handspun flax; both techniques fall into the category of ‘women’s work’. It is lined with paper pulp and filled with cast paper ‘body parts’ cast from old baby dolls. Each ‘body part’ is labeled with a museum tag. The tags have an ‘accession number’ on one side and a title—an adjective used by men to describe women—on the other side. The inside pieces can be ‘read’ like a catalog of these words. I enjoy its humor and its complexity.

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

Over time, my work has become more subtle in its message and more sophisticated in format. I began doing serious work in my 40s and 50s, focusing on body imagery. In my 60s, and now in my 70s, my focus has been turning toward looking back on my life and recreating and revising, memories. I am interested in enlarging the scale of the lace works and doing more installation works.

What advice would you give to an aspiring textile artist?

Explore widely to find your voice and your particular textile vocabulary, then dive deep into using this language as a way of communicating your ideas. Finding a mentor is also important. I have had the unique opportunity to mentor 16 artists over the past twenty-five years in a 2-year mentor program run by Women’s Art Resources of Minnesota that matches emerging artists with mentors and provides a structure for a protégée’s professional development.

Can you recommend 3 or 4 books for textile artists?

By Hand , Hung and Magaro
Finding Your Own Visual Language , Jane Dunnewold
Women’s Work , Elizabeth Barber

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

Textile Artist, Fiber Art Now, Hand/Eye, Surface Design Journal, Selvedge

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

If I could only have one, a crochet hook would offer a lot of options.

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

I teach  at The Textile Centre and the Weavers Guild of Minnesota. I also travel to give lectures and workshops. I lead an annual textile tour to Guatemala through Art Workshops in Guatemala.

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

I enter shows with themes that resonate with my work and participate in invitational group shows. I am fortunate to have The Textile Centre in my backyard, which offers many opportunities to show, sell, and teach.

Where can readers see your work this year?

The Art of Cash, Janet Carson Regional Art Center, Eau Claire, WI, March 25-May 6, 2016.
The Women & Money Project, Katherine Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN Sept. 10-Dec. 6, 2016.

For more information visit: www.karensearle.com and www.mnartists.org

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

Read part one of the interview here

Fascinated by the human body

Do you use a sketchbook?

Yes and no. I have sketchbooks, but the thumbnails are very very rudimentary. Because words are what focus and compel me to work, i tend more to write phrases down, bits of conversation, odd observations and original poetry. I’d rather have the actual art made than make art of the notes themselves. My opinion only, and i *have* seen wonderful desirable sketchbooks from other artists, is that for me personally they are a waste of time, a waste of resources, and leave me no energy or inclination for the actual art! I’d rather be making it than planning it. I do lightly audition certain bits in a loose way on some paper, but that’s not always the case or a comfortable way for me to develop what i want to say.

I do however at a certain stage take photographs of a work in progress, print them out in a fast draft, and then with pencil, add in certain areas to develop the idea more.  I use this method to augment the design, or to add more texture–working myopically in small areas by hand for long periods of time sometimes mean i can lose sight of the whole. I have on occasion done this on the cloth but that can mean ripping out things if it’s wrong–and when you use rusted cloth in particular this can leave holes, sometimes desirable, and sometimes not! I keep all of these print outs in a workbook divided into either dates worked on or thematically. I can then look back for ideas for future work, or see how things are evolving, and building a library of personal iconography.

What currently inspires you and which other artists do you admire and why?

I’m fascinated by the human body, having had a long romantic relationship with scientific imagery. The natural world too in microcosm is very engaging. I’m working more with combining both, with the added frisson of my own writing, but with an asemic twist to it. I don’t like mainstream technique or method. I had years of following the pack, despite my mother’s will for me to be different, and am willingly and wilfully following my own path now.

Though i tend to earthier colours, realistic but highly interpretive/interpreted subject matter and style myself, i greatly admire Deb Lacativa for her colour sense and organic shapes, Eveline Kolijn‘s work in *any* medium, Anna Torma‘s loose and expansive stitching, Judy Martin‘s dedication to simplicity and texture of intent, Patricia Chauncey‘s visceral approach to synthetics and burn art, and the clarity of Alice Fox‘s paper and cloth work.

My children

Tell us about a piece of work you have fond memories of and why?

It’s hard to choose only one of your children as the favourite! The piece i consider the most important however in my journey is “Beautiful Bones”. It was the first “serious” work i made; work that satisfied me visually and emotionally, and the piece that made me realize i am an artist with textile and tactile leanings, and that i do have something to express in an individualistic way.  Shown in a major magazine in 2009, the publication of it cemented my desire to continue, just at a time when i was ready to give up on all of my art, much to the horror of my Greyman, who thought he and i would go crazy if i did!

I was just beginning to get interested in the effects and affect of hand embroidery, though there was a large component of machine work and beading to the piece also. I had an epiphany about the way words shape my artistic expression and decided that the phrase “she has beautiful bones” was an incredible jump off point for both body imagery and deeper meaning. We all have beautiful bones under our skin, but to have it realized only when the body is gone is very sad. Less about figurative realism and more about emotion and the sense of what’s hidden from ordinary senses, i wanted to create a portrait of sorts: a woman, an artist maybe, found in an open grave, gleaming and fleshless, but still treasured by whomever had lost her. Finding these beautiful bones would prove she existed even if only as a memory of what had been.

My favourite piece though as an emotional choice is “Mother’s Heart”, a 12×12″ ecoprintedcotton with hand appliqued and hand embroidered heart.

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

I’ve pared down my colour use, and refuse to use “technique driven” response as art. It’s not important to show the kitchen sink in everything you create. As i get older, and ironically, my eyesight poorer, i focus literally and figuratively more on the details. Different weights of thread, added dimension implied in stitch size or motif, softer colouration but harder subjects: i’m not interested in angsty “make the world better” work, or pretty, or mainstream.

I plan, (though “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley”as we know), to keep exploring body imagery and using more text, perhaps incorporating some burn or metal work methods, and to work a little larger, a bit more gesturally.

Less is the more – the rest is pyrotechnics!

What advice would you give to an aspiring textile artist?

Pick three techniques and make them your own. You can burn yourself out trying to keep up with all the “new” techniques, but unless you work at developing your own style and heart with a few definite “personalities” that fit with your own, it’s just pyrotechnics. Less is more. And do it every day, whether it’s on paper, with the fabric or in your head. Join a group, ask for critiques, expose yourself, and expose yourself to other art.

Which book would you recommend?

There’s no ONE or even three or four books that will answer all your questions. What’s your passion, your interest, your favoured approach, sensibility or technique? Read books that are more reference than project oriented: technique can be explored, while projects are all the same.

That being said, some books are jump off points for more exploration: Kay Greenlees’ “Sketchbooks for Embroiderers and Textile Artists ” will give you ideas for presentation, form and intent as well as using/making the sketchbook itself, and “Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking ” by David Bayles and Ted Orland will answer a lot of questions about what and why we do and feel the things we do and paradoxically what and why we shouldn’t/don’t have to do and feel them! As you find your voice, there will be books by favourite artists, art history, design and technique that will intrigue you. Use the library – there is nothing worse than spending a fortune on books you will outgrow all too soon if you are serious about developing your own style and niche.

Big ass needles and little leather finger pads

What other resources do you use? 

I subscribe to several blogs (artists who live quietly but make ferocious art), am a member of the SDA (Surface Design Association, and am the Alberta Canada Ambassador), and a member also of FAN (Fibre Arts Network), use FaceBook to promote my business, network through TAFA (the Textile and Fiber Artists list), use Flickr to “show and tell, and talk” with other artists or organizations, buy Arabella (a Canadian art magazine), subscribe to the UK’s Embroidery magazine, read Fiber Art Now, the Surface Design Journal, haunt the local library for new books and artists, and take my camera with me everywhere i go to catch those elusive moments that are art in themselves.

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

Big ass needles and those little leather finger pads! Because i use a lot of different weights of thread on a built up strata, i am constantly searching for the perfect large eyed needle that will go through so many layers without fraying or snapping the thread, and without driving either end of the needle into my fingers. And pliers too, to pull the needle through.(I know from experience that BOTH ends can make big holes!). Okay, that’s three tools, but they all go together.

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

I occasionally give on line classes in stitching, and have done a workshop in person on ecoprinting and natural dyeing, but because i am a hermit by nature, these happen sporadically.

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

I’m fortunate in that being in several groups opens up the possibilities of shows. I also look around the web, or in magazines for Calls for Entry. Oft-times my work doesn’t “fit” within the parameters though – some of us will never fit in the conventional arenas. I am lucky enough to have enough of a web presence and a good voice that i am now being offered to show “by invitation”.

Where can readers see your work this year?

This year, there were sadly no shows. Though i had planned to be in two and was invited to participate in another two, the major floods we had in Calgary and Alberta made it impossible to finish work, due to flooded home circumstances and the loss of much of my studio supplies. Next year, there are two shows at least, but i can’t reveal details yet.

I’m currently working on a very large piece entirely by hand, and while i initially anticipated spending at least a year on it, “Anno Suturae” may take up to two years. I hope to include it in a solo show planned for 2015.

You can find out more about Arlee in the following places online:

• Her website: albedoarlee2.wordpress.com
• Her Facebook page: facebook.com/pages/FybreSpace
• Or her shop: fibrespace.bigcartel.com/

Please don’t pin any images found in this interview. They are the property of the artist.

If you’ve enjoyed part two of our interview with Arlee, let us know by leaving a comment below or check out part one.