Category Archives: Portrait Workshops

Do you have a story to tell in stitch?

Fancy joining me in April 2023 at Hudson River Valley Workshops, in New York State, USA?

Dates: Sunday 16 April to Saturday 22 April 2023

This experimental workshop will focus on combining several images to create a real or imagined journey. The aim of the workshop is to encourage exploration and experimentation to capture the spirit of the journey and the people, real or imagined, who will accompany you on that journey.

Here’s the concept behind the ‘Journey Through Time’ workshop

Brooklyn:Recollection, Return & Repartee 2021

Your journey could take the form of a Travelogue as in my USA Travelogue work Brooklyn: ‘Recollection, Return & Repartee’ (above) or it could take the form of a journey through life by incorporating more than one image of a specific person as in ‘My Portrait of a Grimsby Girl.’ (below)

You could push your imagination and take a real person on an imagined journey. In ‘A Grimsby Girl’s World Tour’ series I take my Mum to places she was never able to visit but that I think she would have loved.

A Grimsby Girl’s World Tour – Copenhagen

Or ask ‘What if?’ And make a portrait of yourself or of your chosen person in another time or place .

Enjoy historical details by asking ‘What if I visited the Tudor period?’ or a different culture by asking ‘What if I could go to Japan? ‘A Grimsby Girl’s World Tour – Tokyo’. Or simply ask what if I take some 1930s Grimsby Girls to modern day London as in ‘RIP Grimsby St E2’ as in RIP Grimsby St E2 which is set in the east End of London.

This is primarily a hand/machine stitch workshop but you will have the option to focus entirely on hand stitch, or machine stitch, choose to combine both techniques or add appliqué and mixed media.

The techniques used in this workshop are suitable for all abilities.

You are asked to bring a selection of drawings or photographs, text or anecdotes you wish to include or use as personal inspiration for your work. A full guide to choosing suitable images to work from will be sent out in advance of the workshop.

Enrolment is now open for my 5 day narrative workshop.

I look forward to meeting you in the USA!

https://www.artworkshops.com/workshop/4210/

Shift : A change in direction.
Allusion: A suggestion or hint that calls something to mind without mentioning it.

Sue Stone Solo Exhibition ‘ Shifts & Allusions’ 2023

Venue: The Hub, Navigation Wharf, Carre Street, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 7TW

formerly the National Centre for Craft and Design

Exhibition runs from14 January to 12th March 2023 in the ground floor gallery.

I have been busy sorting out the work to show in my Shifts & Allusions exhibition and in this exhibition I will be inviting you to find the stories behind my compositions and work out for yourself what they mean.

Most of my work contains a nod to my Grimsby heritage. The fish has become my signature and it often appears somewhere in my work. This exhibition includes a selection of larger narrative works made between 2013 and 2022, some of which haven’t been shown before. They are shown alongside some new smaller studies and a selection of tactile handling samples which show some of the techniques I have used in the finished pieces.

I will be giving a gallery talk at 2pm on Sat 18 February 2023 and a teaching a one day workshop at the Hub on Sunday 19 February

‘A Focus on Faces • an introduction to illustrative portraits

A Residential Workshop at Chateau Dumas with Sue Stone

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Sue Stone – Personal Narratives and Creative Characters

4 – 11 August 2018

In August I am delighted to be teaching a workshop at Chateau Dumas in SW France in conjunction with Selvedge . Booking is open now

In this residential workshop I will introduce you to the many ways of working figuratively. We will look at a series of different artists and the various methods they use to depict the human figure from the substantial and serious to the light-hearted and whimsical.

During the week we will create some characters, and make some small studies using figurative and narrative elements and look at ways to incorporate your own narratives and memories using images and text.

I will guide you through quick & easy ways to get started and share the simple processes I use myself. There will be a focus on hand stitch, layering and appliqué with an option to add machine stitch if you wish.

I will advise you on how to use your own drawings, photographs or vintage illustrations to convey ideas, thoughts and memories. You’ll quickly gain the confidence to stamp your own personality on your work.

Fate – photo by Sue Stone

Detail of From Grimsby to Greenpoint & Beyond – photo Yeshen Venema

Detail of I Am Me – photo Sue Stone

Detail Family Tree – photo Sue Stone

Detail of From Grimsby to Greenpoint & Beyond – photo Yeshen Venema

Detail Family tree – photo Sue Stone

We will take a break from the course mid-week to enjoy a day of dyeing with the original blue dye from the woad plant, grown in the Toulouse area since medieval times. You can bring things to dye from home, pick items up at local markets or buy natural fabric from Chateau Dumas.
During the week there is also a visit to the nearby atmospheric Sunday morning food and craft market in St Antonin-Noble-Val, the medieval town where the films Charlotte Gray and The Hundred Foot Journey were filmed.

The workshop is suitable for all abilities. For those who are worried about their drawing ability I will provide some simple black & white guides and some vintage illustrations as a base from which to work and a collection of my own handling samples to inspire you. By the end of the workshop you will have new ideas with which to work and the necessary skills to develop your own work further.

About the Chateau
Chateau Dumas

Every year, Selvedge hosts several all-inclusive residential craft workshops at Chateau Dumas, a private estate with 18th century interiors, a large pool and glorious panoramic views – set amongst rolling hills in peaceful, scenic countryside less than an hour north of Toulouse international airport. Owned and run by Lizzie Hulme the Chateau is a place you can relax, unwind and be truly creative in.

Self-Portrait Workshop in Cork

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Last week I gave a talk and taught a 2 Day self-portrait workshop in Cork for Cork Textiles network. They are a talented and diverse group spanning many different textile disciplines. Here you can see a selection of the work produced at the workshop. The finished portraits will be shown at the Knitting & Stitching shows next year (2018) on the Cork Textiles Network stand and I’m itching to see the final results. All portraits will be A3 in size.