Category Archives: workshops

Retrospective – an archive of work made in 2022

A Grimsby Girl’s World Tour version 1 30 x 30 cms & version 2 • 33 x 28 cms

Version 1 was shown at the Uk Knitting & Stitching shows in the 62 Group of Textile Artists Essence exhibition celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Group.

These are very poignant pieces which capture 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 currently lives with his wife, Eliana.

A Step into the Unknown 2022 – revamped version • mixed media • 74 x 52 cms

Lost in a Strange World 2022 • mixed media – 74 x 52 cms

A selection of samples made for my Cast of Characters workshop for Textileartist.org

A selection of samples made for my Off the Grid workshop for Textileartist.org

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

Textileartist.org Stitch Club

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I will be teaching my workshop ‘Off the Grid’ in the Textileartist.org Stitch Club from 26 September to 7 October 2022

https://training.textileartist.org/stitchclub-closed/ This link will take you to a form to get notifications when Stitch Club registrations opens. This will be very soon and it’s a very short window so don’t miss out!

Off the Grid •

Experimenting with Texture and Pattern in Hand Stitch

The aim of the workshop is

To encourage exploration and experimentation
To use positive limitations to develop your skills in decision making.
To help you develop an understanding of the importance of thread choice and how it affects the surface quality of your work.
To push your your stitches to their full potential and create more surface texture.
To have fun trying out stitches that are new to you and find out what they can do.

There’s also a new article on Textileartist.org about where I find my inspiration written by Mary Carson

Sue Stone: Inspiration lies in the details

New Article on Textileartist.org

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I’m really excited to be teaching again for TextileArtist.org Stitch Club next week. It’s a textile story telling workshop and this week they have published a new article about my New York travel story pieces. Check it out here.

Textileartist.org Stitch Club

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I recently taught an online workshop called ‘ The Power of 3’ for the Textileartist.org Stitch Club.

This workshop explores the power of positive limitations ; as a design tool, to create colour schemes, or to audition fabrics and threads for your next piece of work. Use fabric strip weaving and hand stitching to embrace the power of 3 as a starting point; 3 different coloured fabrics, 3 different coloured threads, and 3 stitches.

This simple exercise provides easy way to get rid of the blank page and give a ‘quick start’ to a piece of work. Work with the limitations to achieve a cohesive result and use the grid made by the strip weaving to add pattern, texture or even include a simple line drawing.

The members of Stitch Club produced some amazing work. Here’s a small selection.

work by Deborah New — work by Diane Goodson Baker

Featured in Embroidery – the Textile Art magazine

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Re-Tellings Exhibition and a review of my online course in conjunction with Textileartist.org Exploring texture & Pattern

A Flavour of Vancouver

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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.

Maiwa Loft

A Focus on Faces – 2 day workshop.

Work by my brilliant students at Maiwa School of Textiles, Vancouver

Work by a student at Maiwa

Work by a student at Maiwa, Canada

3 Day Workshop – Every Picture Tells a Story.

All work by my fantastic students at Maiwa School of Textiles, Vancouver

work by a student at Maiwa

Work by a student at Maiwa, Canada

A trip to the Museum of Anthropology, at University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Museum of Anthropology UBC

English Bay day and night

English Bay, Vancouver

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.