Julie French East Sussex, United Kingdom
I create drawings and paintings with machine thread, mostly onto furnishing fabrics and mainly using animals as inspiration, often using childhood memories as a starting point . I am inspired by a love of textures and layers and, although this can be achieved with paint, I believe that stitched art can really encourage the viewer to speculate on how the work was achieved.
Using the sewing machine as a tool for continuous line drawing, my work explores movement and texture with unpredictable outcomes, which have been likened to ink illustration. Each piece is unique and one off. The speed and capricious nature of the sewing machine, when used in this unconventional way reflects characteristics of the subjects. Using reclaimed fabrics, paper and fibers opens new opportunities to discover how the stitched marks respond to different surfaces, pulling or embossing a piece of work in sympathy with the surface. Threads are purposely left loose over or around the image to allow the illusion of more depth and movement. My current work focuses on animals often connected with childhood memories, from the wild to the domestic.
Featured articles in Be Creative magazine and Textileartist.org website.
Artwork
Darling Starling, free motion stitch on furnishing fabric, 2024
Long Mary, free motion stitch on lace and furnishing fabric, 2023
Finola, 2023
clattering , 2023
Wise Rook, free motion stitch on antique silk, 2023
Crazy Mare, Freemotion stitch on calico, 2017
Alfred, Freemotion stitch on furnishing fabric, 2018, £650
Otter, Freemotion stitch on furnishing fabric, 2018
Hare Stare, Freemotion stitch on vintage curtain, 2017 - 2019
Peter, Freemotion stitch and banana fibers on calico, 2019
Peacock, Freemotion stitch on furnishing fabric, 2019, 320