Stitching the past

Following her intriguing embroidery on a family farmer's smock shown in Stroud last year (previously featured on our blog here and here), Carolyn has become fascinated with the effect of adding the written word to textiles. 

She has visited local markets and searched the internet and has acquired several lovely examples of  antique Victorian children's clothing and other items. These (all in white cotton) include dresses, bibs and a delightful little mob cap. 

She has added to their story with carefully researched nursery rhymes and traditional sayings all of which have been finely hand stitched in red machine thread. 

Her work is truly exquitite and is not to be missed.  

It will be on show in our exhibition Praxis at The Forge Mill in Redditch from June 7th. Full details can be found in the bar to the right of this blog. 

Carolyn Sibbald

Dunnottar Castle, Aberdeenshire

My work so often develops from places I've visited, especially those which make a lasting impression on me. Dunnottar Castle in Aberdeenshire has been one such place. It sits perched dramatically on a clifftop high above the sea. 

All my pieces for our upcoming exhibition, Praxix, at Forge Needle Mill in Redditch were based on a single visit to the castle made at the end of July last year. They show varying degrees of abstraction but each piece was developed from tracings and drawings of my photographs, some of which were shown in a previous post.

Shown top is one of a series of four small figurative pieces exploring the buildings and layout of the castle which were developed from the tracings below it and to which colour and stitch were added.  

Details of this exhibition are shown in the side panel to the right. 

Margaret Robbie