About the Artist
I am an award winning contemporary textile artist from Perth, Western Australia with a passion for freehand machine embroidery.
I love to explore the amazing world we live in with its striking scenery and fascinating flora and fauna. Back in the studio I interpret these experiences in fabric and thread using a domestic sewing machine. My pieces generally start with the background which is eco dyed or painted with sun dyes. To this I add a collage made with fabric to outline the main design. I add the finer details with thread painting (freehand machine embroidery) which brings the picture to life.
So where did my textile journey start?
I had an idyllic childhood in New Zealand living on 10 acres on the outskirts of Auckland. I guess you could say it was the typical hobby farm. We raised a few calves, had a couple of black sheep for their fleece and had horses. As a teenager I worked in my brother-in-law’s dress fabric shop during the school holidays. Being able to buy fabric at cost was a great incentive to learn to sew and make my own clothes.
At school I always liked logical subjects that had a right or wrong answer like maths and science. I hated english and the humanities that are open to interpretation and when your mark is influenced by how articulate you are. I think my choice to make realistic artwork comes back to my preference for things to be right or wrong, black and white not grey and open to interpretation. If artwork is realistic anybody can appreciate it without having to know what the artist was thinking. Yes there will be a back story which will add to the understanding but even without that it will still make sense and can be enjoyed by anyone.
I spent my 20’s travelling extensively and met my husband on an overland truck through Africa. We both enjoy taking photos and literally have thousands of photos from these amazing trips. My art is inspired by photos we have taken, places we have visited and experiences we have enjoyed.
Over the years I have tried lots of crafts and I guess you would say I was a “Jack of all trades, but master of none” type of person. I enjoyed them all for awhile but I wasn’t passionate enough about any of them to stick with them long term. A turning point was when I saw the book “The Art of Landscape Quilting” by Nancy Zieman and Natalie Sewell in a mail order catalogue. I made my first art quilt “Trees” based on Natalie’s “In the tree tops”. Finally I had found my calling and I was hooked. I treat it as a personal challenge to make my work look as realistic as possible. When I post it on social media and get comments like “I thought it was a photo” I feel like I have achieved my goal. Creating realistic artwork also makes it easy to know when the piece is finished. I simply ask myself if it looks realistic? If the answer is no, I keep going, adding more details and layers of stitching until it
I want my art to bring you joy and take you on a journey to explore the amazing world we live in. If you have been lucky enough to visit the places depicted in my art it will bring back wonderful memories. If you haven’t been there yet it will inspire you of all the beauty in the world and enlighten you to places you should add to your bucket list. Either way it will make you feel happy, and can provide you with an escape after a stressful day.
