Someone recently described my work as quirky.
I make handcrafted textile works such as bags, cushions, teacosies, berets, scarves and stitch pictures. The materials I use are upcycled linens and bark cloth, silk, merino wool and linen. There is a lot of colour in my work and texture. Hand stitching combines with handfelting on my faraway tree cushions or on my bird bags made from 1950’s tea towells, and pieces of crochet are felted into other pieces of work.
I am attracted to the tactile nature of fibre and I like my art to be functional. ‘For me, it’s about making beautiful things people can use in their daily lives.’ ‘I love colour and think carefully about what colours I put together. Nature is a real inspiration.’
How did you get into the business of making things?
I’ve always been interested in making things and learned to sew, crochet and embroidery from a young age. Over the years I have learned other skills such as batik, natural dying, felting and screen printing.
I trained as a Social Worker, and spent many years in the social services as a policy analyst, funding adviser, manager, and project worker. Three years as the Co-ordinator of Vincents Art Workshop allowed me to experiment with many different art forms.
‘I’ve made a real shift into the creative arts – but I believe in both the social services and art you work from the heart – I just have more of a chance to use my hands now and to work visually.’
Recently I’ve been working on several pieces to exhibit using natural dyes and a range of techniques. I’d like to see a greater profile in this country for textile art so am looking at avenues to help this process.
I’ve recently started making stitch pictures using free hand machine embroidery on linen. I find it easier to do this than to draw and the pictures have a real freedom about them. I use a range of images from little girls holding hands and trees to Pania of the Reef and other New Zealand icons.
I make handcrafted textile works such as bags, cushions, teacosies, berets, scarves and stitch pictures. The materials I use are upcycled linens and bark cloth, silk, merino wool and linen. There is a lot of colour in my work and texture. Hand stitching combines with handfelting on my faraway tree cushions or on my bird bags made from 1950’s tea towells, and pieces of crochet are felted into other pieces of work.
I am attracted to the tactile nature of fibre and I like my art to be functional. ‘For me, it’s about making beautiful things people can use in their daily lives.’ ‘I love colour and think carefully about what colours I put together. Nature is a real inspiration.’
How did you get into the business of making things?
I’ve always been interested in making things and learned to sew, crochet and embroidery from a young age. Over the years I have learned other skills such as batik, natural dying, felting and screen printing.
I trained as a Social Worker, and spent many years in the social services as a policy analyst, funding adviser, manager, and project worker. Three years as the Co-ordinator of Vincents Art Workshop allowed me to experiment with many different art forms.
‘I’ve made a real shift into the creative arts – but I believe in both the social services and art you work from the heart – I just have more of a chance to use my hands now and to work visually.’
Recently I’ve been working on several pieces to exhibit using natural dyes and a range of techniques. I’d like to see a greater profile in this country for textile art so am looking at avenues to help this process.
I’ve recently started making stitch pictures using free hand machine embroidery on linen. I find it easier to do this than to draw and the pictures have a real freedom about them. I use a range of images from little girls holding hands and trees to Pania of the Reef and other New Zealand icons.