Today I am practicing a basic heirloom technique known as “Drawn” or “Pulled” thread work embroidery. This type of embroidery is achieved by gently pulling out individual thread along the grain line to create a small gap in the fabric. A combination of hand stitches is then used to create simple to elaborate designs within…
Category Archives: PIONEERS
“I want the story to be told so that people understand what’s going on.” Above all else, Faith Ringgold is an avid, entrancing storyteller, weaving the darker side of African American history into her richly complex works of art. Though her practice spans a broad range of media, she is perhaps best known for her…
“Quilts stimulate memories of warmth, security and home, yet their layers can also conceal hidden histories and untold stories.” Sue Prichard, Curator of Contemporary Textiles, the V&A, London Quilts hold a special place in today’s culture, adorning the walls of museums and galleries as totemic mementos of the past. From abstract patterns to personal or…
“The history of America can be seen in the history of quilts.” The National Monument of America When pioneers set off for a new life in the United States, many carried with them the great tradition of quilting. Each family came to the New World armed with comforting quilts, some purely practical, others patched together…
“Every quiltmaker in the 1970s (was) an innovator… People made their own rules, broke them and came up with their own solutions to the problems they encountered while making quilts.” Bill Volckening, quilt historian and collector The 1970s were a landmark period in the history of American quilting. A whirlwind of change led people to…
Made with dedication, patience and love, traditional quilts have been passed on through families for thousands of years. Many still survive today, proving how durable the hand-crafted technique continues to be. This deep-rooted longevity might explain why quilting has remained such a popular and enduring habit, one that can still invoke the enveloping comfort and…
“Quilting … is an art that speaks more clearly than ever to our make and mend era.” Laura Cummings Quilts have been in our civilization for centuries, quietly weaving themselves into the backbone of our human history. Both beautiful and practical, quilting techniques have experienced an upsurge of interest in recent decades, along with a…
“In terms of making art, and writing, and anything that we do as artists where we have to step up to the plate, it should be uncomfortable, it should be nerve wracking, and there should be this level of the unknown.” Fearless is a word often used to describe Lorna Simpson: like an intrepid explorer…
“Quilt-making involves a lot of thought and love. Just the time involved in the process means many things are discussed and considered concerning life.” Art is a powerful form of catharsis for British artist Tracey Emin, one that has allowed her to express and process painful experiences from her past. More than any of the…
“I make my work from my personal life experiences.” From pantyhose to prison sheets, South African artist Turiya Magadlela masterfully transforms the fabric of daily life. Acts of twisting, stretching, layering and stitching lead to intricately layered, abstract designs pulled over wooden frames, left free hanging or filling entire rooms, leaving traces of performance that…
“In a lot of my work it’s important that there is this ambiguity, that it doesn’t answer these questions and that there are no definite statements being made. So it’s more a type of poetry; it’s a poetic statement.” Yinka Shonibare’s art is a balance of opposites, combining irreverent, playful fantasy with the shocking brutality…
“It’s that notion of gravity pulling on things, making things collapse, and that potential to collapse.” Multicoloured fabric is bundled into oversized pom-poms, stretched across posts or draped over concrete slabs in the wild, rugged world of Phyllida Barlow. Colossally huge and disarmingly bright, her sculptural installations transform the simple, everyday materials of concrete, plaster,…
“The work of art is a scream of freedom.” The astonishing, monumental ambition of husband and wife duo Christo and Jeanne Claude was limitless, covering vast swathes of land, sea and architecture. Merging textiles with land art, they transformed some of the world’s most famous sites, draping, wrapping and adorning them with specially engineered, vivid…
“Elegance is the balance between proportion, emotion and surprise.” Valentino Garavani, known worldwide by his first name alone, had an immaculate, Italian touch, one which earned him widespread, international acclaim. Finding his voice in the 1960s, his old-school, Hollywood glamour was an antidote to the proliferation of androgynous, tomboyish styles that were rising around him,…
“My job as a designer is to make a woman feel her very best.” Dominican designer Oscar de la Renta brought sleek, Spanish tailoring and European elegance to the United States in the mid-1960s, forever altering the country’s fashion landscape. Making his name in New York, he attracted high profile clients including politicians, models, actors,…
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