What started you on the applied arts/ crafts path and can you say what it is that keeps your 'passion' alive for crafts and applied arts?
I was at the RCA when industrial design was beginning to give way to the idea of people making their own work. I met Richard, my husband, there and he was one of the first furniture makers to set up on his own; so I’ve lived alongside a workshop for the last forty-plus years. I’ve always admired the lifestyle of the maker – the combination of hand, heart and mind in the work and often a studio/ workshop situation where living and work are muddled together. So the applied arts are an integral part of my life.
As an interior designer I often included commissioned work and individual applied art pieces in my schemes and then when I opened my gallery, and later as Director of CAA, I had a whole gallery space in which to show work I am passionate about.
What area of textiles interests you and do you have any particular textile artist who you feel is really pushing the boundaries of textile art?
I love traditional materials and techniques that are combined in innovative ways. I admire Freddie Robins’ knitting which is near perfect and then the pieces she makes really raise my spirits. At CAA we showed a series of her gloves, which were witty and caustic and made me both laugh and cry: they were bought by the V&A. Also her log cosies – knitted wraps that buttoned up around tree trunks – were one of the staff’s favourite objects.
The other artist I’ve always admired is Caroline Broadhead who won the first Jerwood Prize for Applied Arts: Textiles in 1997 with one of her light installations. Her work started as jewellery - I have an early pair of her hair earstuds which I love – and has developed into lyrical installations playing with light to create shadows thrown by suspended garments.
What is it about the stroudwater textile festival that you find inspiring?
I’m really inspired by Stroudwater Textile Festival and so proud to be its Patron. It’s a focus for contemporary textiles and textile artists. The programme, which is so well presented, is full of imaginative exhibitions, courses and discussions. Already it’s a must-date in textile-addicts diaries and Lizzi Walton deserves a huge accolade for having the vision and energy to put it all together.
Is there an emerging textile maker/ artist who you've spotted and you feel is going places?
One of the young makers who I’ve admired for some time is Claire Heathcote. Her stitched portraits have a wonderful freedom, with the threads stretching from one part of the face to another and sometimes just left to hang. There’s a tension between the tightness of the drawing of the image with the sketchiness of the sewing. And then of course there is Ptolemy Mann whose deliciously coloured woven wall pieces can be seen in the exhibition in the George Rooms. |
