My work

I have been inspired by stories of the past for as long as I can remember.  Most recently I have been creating work relating to eighteenth-century London history; in particular, the archives of the Foundling Hospital.  These archives hold fragments of fabric, thread and ribbon, as well as words.

Through textiles and stitch, I aim to reveal the hidden lives of real individuals.  I often contrast what I can find about their experiences to those of my own.  In that sense it is a conversation with the past.

Much of my work is 3D, hand stitched and I frequently add text; often taken directly from the archives.   I use photographs to reference the capturing of time. When it feels right, I like to embellish with bead embroidery.  At other times I keep my pieces plain. I often use the symbol of the heart to indicate individual lives.

For Power of Stitch (E.A.S.T exhibition)

A stitch that can make or break - how over a twenty five year period tambour embroidery could change the lives of London women, for richer or for poorer.

I considered the stories of three individuals or groups of individuals:

• a milliner (Mme Pignerolle) in London 1765; 
• a group of roughly thirty girls apprenticed from the London Foundling Hospital in 1766;
• two girls listed in the 1780s as having no work and who therefore committed suicide.  

All were involved in the same technique of tambour embroidery.

Power of Stitch was on display in 2019.  The group are now working on their next exhibition which we plan to open in 2021.  For more information visit the E.A.S.T website at www.easttextile.co.uk