Over time I’ve explored many artistic mediums including all types of paints and a wide range of drawing materials. Pushing the boundaries further to create more 3D forms, I’ve even experimented with pottery and jewellery making. I’ve always found myself seeking to develop my work further and wanting to experiment and move in new directions and create different images and structures.
As a teenager, I enjoyed doing botanical paintings which were very detailed and precise. To achieve the beautiful colours of the flowers I used watercolours which is such a delicate medium. As time went by, I became more attracted to abstract art and forms. I loved the idea of working in a less restrictive way by using different mediums and techniques and concentrating on pattern and shape.
I discovered textile art nearly10 years ago which seemed to be a perfect fusion of everything creative I had ever done. As a child, I worked with stitch and sewing, from making toys to designing clothes for my dolls. In my 20s I made a lot of clothes and, at times, when pondering what to wear out in the evening, I would make something for my evening out during that day. I also have a keen interest in fashion. There is a connection between fashion and textiles which fascinates me. Fashion generally reflects what is going on in the world too.
Free machine stitching, dissolvable fabric – 9cms x 9cms
My journey in creating textile art began by attending a series of short textile art courses. These courses opened up so many possibilities for me by combining my love of art and design and working with fabric. They gave me the opportunity to learn so many new techniques and methods. I’ve always enjoyed being part of a group exploring and sharing new ideas and the creative interaction with others. Joining the 2 year Advanced Textiles course at The City Lit in 2018 gave me the inspiration and structure to explore my ideas even further, whilst continuing to experiment with different techniques.
Influenced by nature in all its forms, my textile pieces have an organic style. By combining vibrant colours and textures and using a variety of techniques and processes, I seek to create artwork that reflects the powerful colours of flowers, plants and their fruits. It’s sometimes hard to believe that the colours of some flowers are natural as their colours are just so radiant! I have always been fascinated by the curative qualities of plants as well and I studied herbalism some time ago.
I adore vibrant colours and find I need to work with colour combinations during the daylight hours. Once the daylight fades, I then move on to other techniques such as embellishing and machine stitching. I use a wide range of materials and techniques which include free motion stitching, embellishing and nuno felting. I enjoy working in an intuitive way randomly putting pieces together then, possibly layering them or cutting them up then switching the shapes and forms around. To enhance my work, I often use metallic materials, textile foil or beads and, more recently, I’ve been adding pieces of wet strength tissue paper coloured by splashing with inks. Much of my work has been created by machine stitching on to dissolvable fabric. This is a wonderful way to create a unique textile piece. I also use this technique to join together other materials such as embellished and felting pieces to create richly coloured and textured artwork. When I’m happy with the colours and textures I then decide whether to add some beads, stitch or perhaps a flower or two.
To create a piece with a more natural organic look I chose to use more subtle and mellow colours than my usual colourful palette (apart from the very bright yellow beads!). This is a closeup which gives much more detail of the texture and combination of fabrics.
One of my current challenges is to explore embroidery and add some interesting stitches to my work. I am still exploring felting techniques which, although very unpredictable, enables me to create some colourful, textured pieces. Inspired by the beauty of the autumn leaves I continue to enjoy experimenting with ways of stitching in to them. This is definitely quite challenging as they are so fragile!
Exploring the possibilities of creating 3D forms, I used a mix of techniques and materials to create this flower including embellishing, free machine stitching and hand embroidery.
I don’t have a studio and work in different areas in my home depending on what I want to create. For most of my life I worked in the financial services sector in London. Working creatively in my spare time has always been a very enjoyable and refreshing contrast to this formal and regulated environment which I worked in for many years. For me, creating textile art in a free and unplanned way and going with the ebbs and flows is so very different to the structured and organised way I worked in the office.
This evolved from a piece of copper metal leaf I found recently that I’d used for some craftwork a long time ago. The colour had become mottled over time and I just loved the way it looked. I decided to bond it on to some linen then went on to add some stitched and embellished pieces to blend with the lovely earthy colours and finished off with a few randomly scattered beads.
Exhibitions
Worn, textiles2020, Espacio Gallery, London, October 2023
Fishy Tales (a collaborative project), Festival of Quilts, NEC Birmingham, August 2023
Stories in Stich, textiles2020. Espacio Gallery, London, April 2022
textiles2020: the show, Espacio Gallery, London, December 2020
In Transition, Group Show, City Lit, Feb-March 2020
Construction Sites, Group Show, City Lit, July 2019
Follow me on Instagram: @gill.swanson