So pleased to be featured in another great article from Textileartist.org alongside a group of very talented artists. The article includes tips from Emily Jo Gibbs, Sabine Kaner, Nigel Cheney, Cas Holmes and myself.
This is a very personal piece which captures the essence of my creative practice: textural stitch, appliqué and paint combine to create the allusion of a journey to another place and time. It is a poignant work depicting the visit of grandmother to a grandson she never met. He was born 3 weeks after she died. The Grimsby girl, my Mum, Muriel is shown as a child in this piece. She never had the opportunity to travel outside the UK in her lifetime; here she travels to Copenhagen where her grandson, Sam, now a grown man, currently lives with his wife, Eliana.
This work is part of my Grimsby Girl’s World tour series. She has previously visited Bogota, Colombia, Outer Space, Tokyo, Japan, Madrid, Spain, Brooklyn, NYC, USA, & Vancouver, Canada. All places either myself or my work has visited.
Size: 30 x 30 cms
Materials: Linen fabric, cotton & linen threads, applied silk fabric, acrylic paint
Techniques: Hand & machine stitch, painting, appliqué
In September I had a fantastic trip to Vancouver, Canada to teach at and give a talk at the wonderful place that is Maiwa School of Textiles.
These images give just a flavour of the trip.
Read about Maiwa and if you get the opportunity go and see for yourself.
A Focus on Faces – 2 day workshop.
Work by my brilliant students at Maiwa School of Textiles, Vancouver
3 Day Workshop – Every Picture Tells a Story.
All work by my fantastic students at Maiwa School of Textiles, Vancouver
A trip to the Museum of Anthropology, at University of British Columbia, Vancouver
English Bay day and night
My new online Texture & Pattern course in conjunction with my sons Joe & Sam from Textileartist.org is open for registration until 23/06/17.
The course is all about focusing in and pushing the potential of just a few basic textile techniques (like hand stitch and appliqué), so you feel empowered to develop a visual vocabulary that is personal to you.
And, because founding students get lifetime access, you can immerse yourself in regular, manageable bursts of creativity on your own schedule.
More information and to register now
I Remember You : The Collected Memories Project 2017 and ongoing
It’s time for the sorting out and cataloguing to begin; in other words the hard work . Thought and time are as integral to my work as the actual making and with so much inspiration from the memory cards I collected at the Knitting & Stitching Shows in the Autumn my head is spinning with ideas.
Which way will I go?
You can read an article on my inspiration at Textileartist.org here:
http://www.textileartist.org/sue-stone-where-top-textile-artists-look-for-inspiration/
The Alcázar Real of Seville encapsulates the historical evolution of the city during the last millennium, amalgamating influences starting from the Arabic period, late Middle Ages Mudéjar right through to the Renaissance, Baroque and the XIX century.
The tiles at the Alcazar Real are incredible and they are everywhere floors, walls, ceilings,and also outside in the gardens!. Here is just a flavour of what we saw. Truly inspirational.
Read more about this incredible Palace here
Tiles Alcazar Real, Seville
If I was looking for some inspiration on my recent travels I certainly found it in Seville. It has everything I love and in the Spring the weather is perfect for me. It ‘s a friendly city with great food (it’s where Tapas originally came from) and is of a modest size compared to some Spanish cities but it has has culture in abundance. There’s still so much I didn’t see I’ll have to go there again.
First we visited the cathedral which breathtaking and I even managed to climb to the top of the tower to take in the magnificent views.
Details of the Cathedral, Seville, Spain
One of the views from the top of the tower. Just to prove I made it up there!
It has a beautiful palace, the Alcazar Real with its moorish architecture, decorative and sometimes quirky tiles and wonderful gardens. The tiles have to be a post all of their own but here’s some images of the architecture, the gardens and the underground pool which was used during the summer months to keep cool.
Details of the Alcazar Real
Details of the Alcazar Real
Alcazar Real Gardens
Alcazar real gardens
Underground pool Alcazar Real
You’ll be pleased to know I did spot some graffiti amongst all this culture in Seville. I love the cat!
Cat Graffiti Seville, Spain
and here are some unusual window displays
and finally some dazzling flowers and it wouldn’t be Seville if I didn’t include and orange or two……….
The inspiration for my work can come from anywhere and everywhere and it sometimes takes on a more serious note. I turned on the radio and heard her voice and the words I will never forget “This is not my War”. They were the words spoken by a Syrian mother whose children aged 5,10 and 12 had just been killed by mortar fire in a war she did not understand. The sound of her voice will stay with me forever.
Some Things Never Change commemorates those children and the many others like them that have lost their lives, or have been mentally or physically scarred by war. The lives of those who have survived war and atrocity are changed for all time.
My Dad and his siblings Harry and Madge were children of the First World War, born just before and during so called ‘war to end war’. I have used their images to represent the universal child. The concrete pillar in the background is inspired by the concrete architecture of the skate park on the South Bank of the Thames and the graffiti of street artist Stik and is covered with cross stitches representing the kisses those Syrian children will never receive.
Some Things Never Change 2012
I listen to the Radio and hear his Voice again recalls something I heard on Radio 4. A 10 year old boy was talking to the reporter “You can’t imagine what I’ve seen, what my country has seen”. The Universal Child uses an image of my Dad to represent children affected by war worldwide.
The Universal Child
I Listen to the Radio and Hear his Voice.
The Unknown Statistic comes from my research into the First World War during the run up to the centenary in 2014 of the start of the war. A photograph is of some children, unknown to me, but in my husband’s family album was my starting point. I have had this image waiting to be used for many years but it was only when I saw the graffiti in the East End of London I knew how I was going to use it. The children have a poignancy to them. They look as though they are watching someone walking away. I decided to use their images as a way of commemorating all the children left fatherless by the First World War. The exact number of children is unknown as it was not recorded accurately either locally or nationally. I imagined their father was one of the brave Grimsby fishermen whose trawlers went minesweeping the coast with very little protection and little recognition. He walked away and never looked back. It was bad luck for a fisherman to turn around and look back as they walked away to sea. They never saw him again. My own Great Grandfather, Harry Conder died during the first few weeks of World War One when the trawler Fittonia, of which he was skipper, was blown up by a mine in the River Humber. He was survived by a widow and several children. His eldest son Charles Conder died during the last weeks of the war of Spanish Flu, the virus that would be responsible for more than five times as many deaths as the war itself.
Kids from the Family album
east end graffiti
The Unknown Statistic
My 5 Favourite Locations to find inspiration for stitch.
My travels at home and abroad provide me with inspiration for my stitched work. I am an avid photographer and I collect hundreds of images on my travels. They are collected as an aide-mémoire for future work and I have built up a library of images including interiors, exteriors, tiles, the usual, the unusual, the smallest of details that can so easily be overlooked.
Here are my current top 5 favourite locations but no doubt they will change as I discover new places on my travels. My next stop is Seville where I hope to find inspiration in its beautiful Moorish architecture.
1. Amsterdam – unusual shop windows, bicycles and graphics.
Shop window, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Shop window, Amsterdam
2. Newcastle – some glass blocks caught my eye.
Glass Blocks, Newcastle
Glass Blocks, Newcastle
3. Barcelona – Gaudi Mosaics, Parc Guell & Dali Museum Barcelona
Gaudi Mosaics, Parc Guell
Cardboard cutout of Salvador Dali, Dali Museum, Barcelona
4. Southwold, Suffolk – In and around Southwold Suffolk, UK
Graveyard, Southwold,Suffolk
Rope, Netting, Southwold, Suffolk
Door, Southwold, Suffolk
5.London – In and around E1, E2, EC1
wall marks,london
Cobbles, London
Graffiti,London
womanwithafish 