I have been putting off starting a blog for months now. I think I have a bit of imposter syndrome - there are so many people out there all doing fabulous interesting blogs so what could I have to add? Still not sure I have the answer to that question but as it's my time I am using I decided to just go for it and see where it goes.
A little bit about me - if you are going to read my writing then I ought to at least introduce myself. I am a textile artist (what qualifies an artist? that is a whole other blog post but for now that I make textile art, and sometimes I get paid for teaching it so I am defining that as being an artist). I live and work in the West Midlands, having moved here from Wales about 4 years ago. I have taught embroidery, crochet and crafts for quite a few years now on an ad-hoc basis and I am just starting out teaching here in the Midlands after having a break for a while from work.
I have always been fascinated by fabric and thread since I was a small child. I started embroidery in primary school and even won a school prize at 7 for my neat stitching. I have a bit of a fabric stroking habit too - if it's lovely I just need to stroke it and see how soft it is. A bad habit and not one to be given in to when people are wearing said fabric (leads to awkward situations - trust me!) I did a fair amount of embroidery up until my teen years when other things (mostly boys) became a lot more interesting. In my 30's the yearn to be creative struck again and I took up painting. I started with watercolours and over ten years I went to lots of classes and dabbled in acrylics, drawing, inks, pastels, charcoal and even oils. I did some exhibitions and sold some work and was generally happily pottering along but over time I felt my work needed something else; some way to add texture. I wasn't sure what or how, I just knew I wanted to go in a different direction.
After some months of searching I happened across a craft session at the local library where I met a lovely lady called Carol, who offered to teach me machine embroidery and generally how to use my sewing machine. I went along to the fabulous Craftypatch group and learnt all sorts of interesting things textile and craft related. Somehow however, patchwork wasn't me - I have never been very good at following rules and there seemed to be an awful lot of them. I explored a bit further through the Regional group and the internet and found Art Quilts, which seemed to be going in the right direction but again not quite me. Still I coudn't find quite what I was looking for.
It wasn't until we moved here, and I met the Wolverhampton Branch of the Embroiderers Guild, that I "found my tribe" - texture, mixed media, stitch, thread, glue, paint..... anything goes as long as it works for you. I had been doing some stitching on my art quilts but nothing quite like this and suddenly a whole new world opened up.
Now, for my sins - well actually because I have a big mouth and bigger opinions! - I am currently Chair of the Branch and getting involved in all sorts of texile related projects. Life is crazy busy sometimes but full and exciting and I love every minute of it.
I am hoping here on my Blog to tell you a bit about my projects as they go along and hopefully it will be fun and interesting for both of us.
Thanks for reading
Elise
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