Textile Art..?

I have always been interested in textiles as art. Beginning in college when I created 3 large collage pieces, there is a layering of colours and textures that you cannot get with paint. I loved stitching into different surfaces and building up layers creating really intricate and tactile pieces. Then for one reason or another I left the idea of textile art behind. This had a lot to do with learning to weave and also my desire to create functional items. However, I occasionally thought of my work at college and remembered the freedom that working in different materials can offer. The past 6-7 years has had me perplexed...do I want to create textiles for use or for decoration? Of course textiles can be both beautiful and useable, but in my mind one has to be above the other in order of importance.

I enjoyed my year doing a masters in contemporary craft. In the end I created small quilted pieces that were inspired by my family tree and antique textiles like samplers and old eiderdowns. It occurred to me that even hundreds of years ago they were creating these samplers and tapestries as decorative pieces, textile art is by no means a new idea. However, as much as I love the pieces that I have created, not least for their tactile qualities, I've never been able to live with the fact that as small pieces they would end up on a wall or behind a frame. Why was I going to all that trouble to get a beautiful soft finished cloth if you couldn't touch it? I suppose in my mind I always imagined that these were small studies of what could one day be a large quilt..but with the cost of materials and the time consuming work involved this is definitely a long term goal.


Anyway, despite my preference (sometimes) to have textiles that you can touch, I absolutely love alot of work done by many textile or fibre artists. One artist I came across recently is Jo Deeley. Her work is so innovative and varied and I absolutely love it, particularly these more sculptural pieces, here and here.

So over the last few days (whilst trying to stay in the air tight box that is my flat, to avoid unbearable hayfever) I have been experimenting with my sewing machine and some printing stamps, to use in a similar way as my MA work. I think little bits of these could end up on cards in my Etsy store...I don't know.