Page 35 - The Digital Cloth Issue 6
P. 35

When I was growing up, I never thought of myself
 as being artistic.  At school, my only memorable,
 positive experience in art, involved a soldering iron
 and wire sculpture.  My experience in textiles was

 just as bad, as I struggled with hand embroidery
 using thick, red cotton on a bright blue cookery
 apron.   I relished being outdoors, playing sport,
 going hiking and camping.  Staying true to myself
 and my skills set, I graduated as a teacher of
 Physical Education and Mathematics. With this
 background, it seems very unlikely that I have now
 been working as a textile artist for nearly thirty
 years.



 Over this period of time, I have found myself
 seeking an evolution in my work.  A desire not to
 stay static, but a longing to move in new directions,
 experiment, create new bodies of work, and find
 my own voice.  This hasn’t been a smooth journey
 as I have struggled to master techniques, learn
 the principles of colour and design and be brave
 enough to push the boundaries.




 Over time, artists tend to develop their                                  When you travel a short or longer
 own style.  This growth as an artist is                                   distance down the abstract path, the
 not easy.  The transition is not                                          sky is the limit.
 always smooth, but it is something                                        And talking of sky, that is probably
 fluid that ebbs and flows.  My own                                        the key area that I have explored and
 journey started with realistic                                            manipulated to make it a feature of

 landscape, then a move into abstract                                      my work.
 as I concentrated on pattern and shape.                                   There is nothing more thrilling and
 Now I am combining the two,                                               visually stimulating than watching a
 experimenting with my own style of                                        spectacular sunset over the ocean.
 abstract landscape.                                                       Then there is the dramatic sky
                                                                            heralding an impending storm, or
 The relationship between realistic and                                    the sun low in the sky, magically
 abstract is a continuum, and many                                         lighting up the landscape below.
 successful artists retain some of the

 realistic elements while discarding and                                   The sky has the potential to be the
 playing around with others.  When you                                     most exciting element to energise
 are not limited to a literal image, I                                     and enhance any landscape.  Its
 believe the important thing is to still                                   endless capacity for change makes it
 retain the essence of your subject.                                       the most flexible, compositional tool
 When you are restricted to a literal                                      in your design box. Whatever colour
 image, you work hard at producing a                                       palette or textures you choose, I
 detailed three- dimensional design.                                       have found that when you place the
                                                                           sky fabric in the position of the sky
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