My recent work has been about landscape, the details that that make up the landscape, the changing seasons and the passage of time. It is a personal landscape grounded in the observed. In starting a new work colour is the first element that I thinks about. I am intrigued by its nuances, subtleties and contrasts. The colour which I use are associated with elements of the landscape: the fresh greens of Spring, the browns and greys of wood and stone, the rusty corrugated iron of disintegrating field shelters and decaying bracken, the gold of lichen and the acid lemon of oil seed rape. There are the earth pigments: yellow and red ochre, burnt umber and raw sienna and then there are the splashes of pure colour found in flowers, colours so vivid they are almost unreal. Above all it is the regenerative power of nature which nurtures and informs my practice.
I investigate my subject matter through photography and drawing and in the process of observation, contemplation and in time spent walking in the countryside. In my latest work I have been observing the shape, pattern and structure of garden flowers to create a series of quilts that reflect this interest in the details to be found in plants, this has resulted in my palette becoming more vibrant and upbeat.
I think I am quite formal in my approach to creating work, colour is probably the most significant aspect in my work, I am interested in its emotional effect on our senses and in how it can convey mood and atmosphere. I dye, paint and print all my own fabric.
I have been making art quilts since 1994 and have been a member of Quilt Art since 1995. My book Colour in Art Quilts was published by Batsford Books in 2011.
Education and Professional
MA (distinction) Textiles: University for the Creative Arts Farnham
B.A. Fine Art, St Martins School of Art
Art Teachers Certificate, London University Institute of Education
B.A. Fine Art, St Martins School of Art
Art Teachers Certificate, London University Institute of Education
Publications
2023 Following the Thread, Quilt Art
2019 Material Evidence & Traces, Quilt Art
2015 Dialogues and Small Talk Quilt Art in Dialogue with Sue Marks
2013 Connected to Cloth, Cas Holmes & Anne Kelly, Batsford books
2012 Textiles, Mary Schoeser, Thames and Hudson
2011 Publication of my book 'Colour in Art Quilts' Batsford Books
500 Art Quilts, Lark Books, USA
The Art Quilt Collection, Sixth & Spring Books, USA
Instinctive Quilt Art, Bethan Ash, Batsford Books
Quilt Art at 25
2009 Connecting Art to Stitch, Sandra Meech, Batsford Books
2003 Contemporary Quilts, Design, Surface and Stitch, Sandra Meech, Batsford Books
1997 The Art Quilt, Robert Shaw, Levin Associates Inc. USA
2019 Material Evidence & Traces, Quilt Art
2015 Dialogues and Small Talk Quilt Art in Dialogue with Sue Marks
2013 Connected to Cloth, Cas Holmes & Anne Kelly, Batsford books
2012 Textiles, Mary Schoeser, Thames and Hudson
2011 Publication of my book 'Colour in Art Quilts' Batsford Books
500 Art Quilts, Lark Books, USA
The Art Quilt Collection, Sixth & Spring Books, USA
Instinctive Quilt Art, Bethan Ash, Batsford Books
Quilt Art at 25
2009 Connecting Art to Stitch, Sandra Meech, Batsford Books
2003 Contemporary Quilts, Design, Surface and Stitch, Sandra Meech, Batsford Books
1997 The Art Quilt, Robert Shaw, Levin Associates Inc. USA
Quilt Art: quiltart.eu
Zero3: www.zero3arttextiles.com
Craft Continuum: www.craftcontinuum.com
Zero3: www.zero3arttextiles.com
Craft Continuum: www.craftcontinuum.com