The Royal School of Needlework by Robyn Harms

Hand Embroidery

Royal School of Needlework

F dA H and Em b roid er y

Contents 4-21 6-7 8-9 10-11 12-13 14-15 16-17 18-19 20-21

FdA 2 Charis Bailey Pearl Haslam Lesley Illingworth Ruby Le Galle Ally Rouse Lottie Small Marie Wenham Shauna White

22-23 24-25 26-27 28-29 30-31 32-33 34-35 36-37 38-39

BA (Hons) Fiona Askew Gemma Lucas William Ovenden Heidi Pearl Luna Bella Samuels Harriet Frances Stiles Rachel Thorpe Fiona Townsend

40-41 42-43

Contact Details With Thanks

Foreword We lcom e to t h e fir st Royal S cho ol of N e e dl e work D e gr e e Pro gr a mm e ‘Lo ok Bo ok 2 014’ T he Royal S chool of N eedlework of fers the only Degree Programme in Hand Embroider y in Europe. It is a unique course and because of this, so are our graduates We have had an exceptional year and it is through the high calibre and qualit y of our students’ work that we have par ticipated in and been invited to be a par t of so many ex ternal projectsRecent collaborations have included: E.Taut z for London C ollections: M en Atelier Hussein Chalayan for Paris Fashion Week M &S / Ox fam ‘ S hwop – Love Mum campaign’ Giles Deacon for London Fashion Week Fashion Atelier at Graduate Fashion Week 2 014 For t wo consecutive years, R S N Degree students have been awarded the Embroiderers Guild S cholar of the Year I would like to take this oppor tunit y on behalf of all of the Royal S chool of N eedlework S taf f, members of R S N C ouncil and all of our course and Bursar y sponsors to ‘C ongratulate’ our D egree students on their achievements and wish them well for their future su cce s s . Angi e W ym an // D e gr e e C our s e L e a d e r

FdA 2 Hand Embroidery

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Charis Bailey

The piece collection is an example of Charis’ inspiration came from the how she has developed traditional, myriad of different places and hand embroider y ‘raised work’ buildings in her life that have had techniques to create bespoke, intricate, significant influence on her. “There detailed embroidered letters that can was always more to each place than then be used in I first expected.” many different The inspiration for “My vision is to create bespoke, ways. Future the detail in her detailed hand embroidered items collections work has arisen from a personal of meaning and use. I’m passionate will explore lettering collection of fonts, about the value of life and I really and fonts written and given to love working alongside people, for bespoke Charis by children, supporting them through stitching” embroidered family and friends. jeweller y.

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Pearl Haslam

“Pearl has developed a love for period design”

M od el / / Ch ar i s B ai l ey

Pearl’s embroidery takes on a unique and visually rich persona with a creative background in fine art and print making, she aims to create works of both fine art and historically based pieces for use in stage and film. Her influences come from Art Nouveau, Pre-Raphaelites and World history. From a previous experience in commercial millinery, Pearl has developed a love for period design. As a stitch artist her aim is to incorporate traditional hand embroidery techniques into highly romanticized figurative imagery and historical design. This is teamed with her knowledge of both modern and ancient history; Pearl creates work with an explosive mix of colours, fact and meaning.

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Lesley Illingworth â&#x20AC;&#x153;the work uses quilting and hand embroidery to recreate tactile panels as illustrations for teachingâ&#x20AC;?

Lesley Illingworth uses her technical knowledge and skills in hand embroidery to create innovative and contemporary work for interiors. Inspired by the needlework tools and equipment used to teach hand embroidery to children, the work uses quilting and hand embroidery to recreate tactile panels as illustrations for teaching. Raised work and drawn thread combine to create three dimensional characters to convey a story.

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Ruby Le Galle Ruby explores the contrast between traditional techniques and minimalist art which inspires her to create contemporary textiles. These are hand dyed and embellished with hand embroidery. Her work explores ideas of colour, shape, proportion, surface and texture resulting in fabrics that are given value by the time and process invested in their making. Ruby’s cur re nt work is influe nce d by contemporary Japanese textile art, and the concept of using traditional crafts to create new work focused on colour and surface. She recently undertook a study visit to Japan to learn traditional techniques that she is now incorporating with hand embroidery to create modern fabric pieces, scarves, and bags.

“Minimalist art inspires me to create contempory textiles”

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Ally Rouse

“exploring contemporary aspects of embroidery by stitching with unusual objects”

Ally uses photography alongside traditional stitch techniques to gain unusual perspectives on everyday subject matter; creating pieces for contemporary interiors. Ally enjoys exploring contemporary aspects of embroidery by stitching with unusual objects and materials such as hair and feathers.

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Lottie Small Since Lottie was a young girl she has collected “toot”. Enchanted by their stories, she kept them in jars and tin boxes, waiting to put them to use. These objects are continuously used within her work and then replenished to inspire more. Her creative background is mirrored in her work, she uses and “A thirst for history and cultures makes books continously feeds into my work” o r c a s e s to create small hidden worlds with print, stitch and weave. Overtime this practice inspired a body of artwork based on stories and cultures. A thirst for history and cultures continuously feeds into her work, finding new ways to juxtapose the contemporary and the historical or the traditional and the non traditional. There is a beauty in using ancient tools and techniques to create crafted objects that she adores. The power of the hand made is something she has admired since she was a child. “It is of the upmost importance to me to train myself in traditional crafts to the highest level. I use traditional processes like book binding, embroidery or printing and combine them to move these traditional crafts forward while remaining sympathetic to their roots. I want people to be fascinated by my work as I was with the objects that inspired them. My work is not to be looked at behind glass or simply examined, it is for people to interact with, feel and enjoy.”

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Marie Wenham Marie’s deepest interests lie within illustration, painting and dressmaking. Her embroidery is a wonderful addition to all her work for its minute detail and skill. She takes a lot of her inspiration from nature and the ocean; the variety of colours, the rocks and the reflections from the water’s surface. Her favourite embroidery techniques are beading, goldwork and crewel work.

“From nature and the ocean; the variety of colours, the rocks and the reflections from the water’s surface”

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Shauna White

M od el / / Z o e Ba ll

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shauna takes inspiration for her work from scientific and mathamatical theoriesâ&#x20AC;?

Shauna is a textile artist who uses repetition to create concise geometric patterns; using scientific knowledge and traditional hand embroidery training to manipulate fabric and play with the bending and trapping of light. Shauna takes inspiration for her work from scientific and mathematical theories, including atomic and molecular structures. With particular interest in geometric patterns and their infinite repetitions, Shauna now plans to take traditional hand embroidery techniques and combine this with her scientific knowledge to move the subject forward in a new and exciting direction. With an interest in creating pieces for fashion which can also be displayed as fine art, using simple dress shapes with intricate embroidery inspired by academic and scientific studies.

BA (Hons) Hand Embroidery