Page 42 - The Digital Cloth issue 2

Rachel’s main focus is her embroidery. She takes
inspiration from landscapes and cityscapes and has a
particular love of the sea, harbour towns, boats and
Rachel Wrigh delicately hand or machine embroidered fabric collages,
lighthouses. The shapes, colours and details of these
t
subject matter are then borrowed and echoed in

using vibrant threads, worked onto papers and fabrics.
The signature skies in her landscapes are often beautifully
dramatic and expressive.
These embroideries enable her to draw and paint through
the medium of fabric and stitch. Rachel’s textile artworks

stand out because of the striking use of rich colour, which
captivates and draws the viewer in.
Her aim is simply to delight the eye and I think you will

agree very successfully.

My Dad was my earliest influencer in my art journey. He
is an amazing artist and in many ways my inspiration and
mentor. I grew up surrounded by his drawings,

paintings, etchings and engravings and I can still vividly
remember the day I was tasked with painting an orange
for my art homework. Having struggled on my own for

a while, not wanting to admit that I needed some help,
Dad came gently alongside me. He quietly and patiently
taught me how to look at light and shadow, how to see
colours that aren’t immediately obvious and most
valuable of all was his favourite piece of advice, which I

often imagine him whispering to me as I work “You have
to spend twice as long looking as you do drawing”
Needless to say, with his help, my orange was greatly

improved and since then I haven’t looked back. He was
my earliest influence and is most definitely my biggest
influence even now.

In school I was fortunate to have one of ‘those’ teachers.

My needlework teacher was able to see what motivated
me and she encouraged me with textile art and helped
to fuel my passion. I had no idea that you could study

embroidery at degree level and it was this teacher who
opened my eyes to the courses available and encouraged
me to go for it. So having completed my ‘A’ levels and an
art foundation course, I studiedat Birmingham School of
Art and Design, specialising in embroidery and