When I saw that Embroidery Artist and Designer, Louise Gardiner was looking for volunteers to take part in her latest community art project I really felt the need to get involved.

The culmination of my recent studies at City Lit on the Advanced Textile Course was a final show in which I exhibited a body of work. The work was a radical departure from my usual subject matter, and drew on some deeply personal experiences that, until recently, I had only shared with my husband, children and a very few close friends. In this post, I will explain a bit about the background to the work, the planning and techniques that went into the making of the pieces.

I’ve not tried any weaving techniques before, to be honest it’s not really something that’s interested me. Perhaps it partly due to an aversion to too many straight lines and grid patterns and anything that’s too repetitive or an association with macramé and similar ‘earthy’ things in the 1970s! Recently, however, I have given weaving a go.

Welcome to my third Blog Post in a series about preparations for my first Solo Exhibition at Artists Meet in the Watersmeet Centre in Rickmansworth.

This is my second Blog Post about preparations for my first Solo Exhibition at Artists Meet in the Watersmeet Centre in Rickmansworth. After a positive start to the year, the whole family has been plagued by a nasty virus that has taken weeks to shake off - it’s been a struggle.

I’ve have an exciting challenge for the New Year - my first solo exhibition in April of this year. The venue is the Artistsmeet Gallery at the Watersmeet Arts Centre in Rickmansworth.

Well, after months of making and planning the Collected, Captured, Cast Exhibition is open to visitors at Gunby Hall. I can’t believe it’s nearly two weeks ago that I travelled up to Gunby Hall in Lincolnshire, where Su France, Helen Wilde and I spent the day hanging work and making the gallery ready for visitors. 

I’ve started work on the next piece - one of the main pictures inspired by Gunby Hall that I’ll be showing at the exhibition at the Orchard Gallery there in August. It’s based on the parkland at Gunby and the glorious trees that punctuate the landscape there. It’s taken me quite a few weeks to actually start embroidering this piece as I’ve been feeling more than a bit anxious about tackling it.

I have finally started to turn some of my ideas for the exhibition at Gunby Hall into more tangible glimpses of actual pieces of work this week. The equivalent of ‘Writer’s Block’ has struck me down recently. Being able to think creatively takes a lot of energy and requires you to use parts of your brain that you can’t access when you’re tired and anxious.

I have embarked on an exciting new project this Spring, which culminates in an exciting month-long exhibition at Gunby Hall Hall & Gardens in Lincolnshire in August of this year.

It’s not long now until this year’s Contemporary Textiles Fair which takes place at the Landmark Arts Centre in Teddington in just a few weeks’ time (see details below). This will be the second time that I’ve had a stand at this Fair. I’m looking forward to being part of a show again that champions Textile Art in all it’s forms.

I recently taught some Christmas Tree Decoration Workshops at Windsor Castle, as part of their Festive Weekend. I was amazed at how popular they were and how much people enjoyed taking the time to make their own decorations. I thought it would be nice to share the instructions on my blog so more people can have a go.

Well, after the excitement of my son's amazing GCSE results a couple of weeks’ ago, the last week of the holidays was meant to be a gentle easing back into the usual school routine. sorting out the school uniform, making sure the kids have lunch money etc, etc. However, it's not turned out that way.