9 minute read
Painting with Threads
David MorrishKingfly Embroidery
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Kingfly Embroidery
Painting with threads
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David Morrish calls himself a Disruptive Designer. A fashion academic at Sheffield Hallam University, he likes to inspire others. He loves to be challenged and likes to ask ...” What If” hating the idea that there is only one way to do something, especially when talking about creative subjective disciplines. He is currently working on a collaborative series of small projects with artists and designers across the globe using Instagram to showcase his work. He has been awarded the Wilcom Digital Embroiderer of the year award as part of the Hand & Lock annual embroidery competition and is an Embroiderers’ Guild Scholar.
I have always loved art and design, making, craft and technology, from as early as I can remember and always dreamed of doing something great.
I wanted something that impresses and something that others would ask “How have you done that?”…. what that something was did not materialise until very recently, when I hit my 40s and when I started to think I had missed my calling.
Digital embroidery became my form of escapism and therapy whilst studying for my Master’s degree in Fashion & Textiles at Nottingham Trent University, 2018-2020. Having dabbled in it before I never took it any further or saw it as something that could liberate, tell stories and inspire. It was always just a hobby, a form of painting with threads.
In 2019 I entered and won the Hand & Lock, Wilcom Digital Embroiderer of the Year Award, with an experimental embroidered piece titled, “Natural Order of Things”, a piece that told the story of the demise of the woven textile industry in Yorkshire.
Winning this not only opened doors and opportunities for me, but most of all it gave me the self-confidence and belief that what I was doing had the potential to reach people.
It had potential to explore further for it has some impact and meaning. Kingfly Embroidery was formed during my Master’s degree (although at the time I had called it Kingfly Tailoring, but that’s a story for another day) and Kingfly Embroidery is something I am continuing to develop and evolve.
The idea behind this business venture is to break preconceptions of digital embroidery and showcase what it is capable of being. I wanted to shatter the ideas that digital embroidery is a “cheats” version of hand embroidery, “the poor relative”, “quick, easy and cheap”, “only used for logos, badges, patches”, “not a real form of art”. All these are terms I have heard at some point on my wonderful journey and something that sits rather uncomfortably with me. To tackle these preconceptions and raise the status of this form of fibre art as a standalone form of needlework, I decided to expose and share the process of what is involved at all stages of digital embroidery using my Instagram page, whilst simultaneously tackling subject matters that are not usually associated with embroidery.
All these are terms I have heard at some point on my wonderful journey and something that sits rather uncomfortably with me. To tackle these preconceptions and raise the status of this form of fibre art as a standalone form of needlework, I decided to expose and share the process of what is involved at all stages of digital embroidery using my Instagram page, whilst simultaneously tackling subject matters that are not usually associated with embroidery.
By taking this approach, I aimed to enlighten and inspire people to consider and realise the benefits this art form could have within their creative practice or business and see how it could be used to reach new markets, new customers, create new products or be used to communicate messages or more…
Deliberately staying away from stereotypical flowers, birds and insects, I chose subject matters that were not typically associated with needlework, thus attempting to introduce it into unfamiliar creative sectors.
These included, graffiti, tattoos, make up art, illustration, graphic design, fashion and textile design, upholstery, portraiture, cartoons, baby scans, inspirational quotes and many more… To save time and with a bit of tactical marketing in mind, I approached leading artists and designers within their specialist areas and proposed a collaboration, allowing me to recreate their work into fibre art. I must admit that I was a little sceptical that anyone would be interested in this idea, but I was totally wrong; the uptake and intrigue was incredible. Tattooists and street artists were particularly keen, as they were keen to realise other ways their one-off designs could be used to reach a bigger audience and potentially become another income stream. 15
Piggybacking on the back of their following and reputation my own reputation soon increased through association, and it was not too long before I was being approached for private commission pieces (many of which I am unable to share due to confidentiality agreements). I will always remember my first collaboration with the British Fashion Designer, Sadie Williams, translating her handpainted chevron geometric design into an A4 embroidery textile sample.
It was a challenge that required tremendous attention to accuracy in the computer aided design processes and in the actual embroidery itself, with very little scope for error. The outcome was surprising and better than I expected, it was not only wellreceived by Sadie but also by her followers on her Instagram page.
This confidence encouraged me to be more daring and ambitious in my work, taking on new techniques, using fabrics and threads new to me and also exploring scale and textures. How big could I go and what complications would this have? How can I create a greater sense of depth and texture in my work? Can I make it glow in the dark? Can it be more than a flat art piece? Can I combine it with digital print and hand embroidery? Too many questions raced through my head… if only I had unlimited time to play….
My current collaboration is my most ambitious to date and pushing me to my limits, a technical challenge and a test of stamina and patience. Yes, I have gone back on my word and tackled a floral composition, however, several factors have persuaded me to take on this project.
This collaboration is with a British TV interior design celebrity, a household name whom I cannot disclose at present, using one of her floral designs to recreate as an embroidered upholstery for one of her lounge chairs. This piece is over 1 metre in length and half a meter in width, requiring over 40 hoopings (my Janome machine has a limited embroidery area of 20x20cm).
Imagine a largescale fabric jigsaw puzzle, where I am not only making the image, the strangely shaped pieces, but then actually doing the puzzle itself so it all fits together and makes one seamless composition. It includes over 35 colours and in total 1.5 million+ stitches. I anticipate it will take 250 hours of work to computer aided design and embroider, then it needs upholstering!! (I am not doing this bit).
I still share all the processes on Instagram and endeavour to help others and answer any questions my followers have. I am venturing into LIVE feeds, where followers can watch me embroider Live and I can interact with them and get them involved in the project by asking their advice and seeking their input, especially if I am struggling to select a colour, for example. Audiences do like to get involved and feel part of the work.
At the moment I am keen to explore the possibilities of digital embroidery and digital print to see where else I can take my ideas. Keep an eye out in the future for Kingfly Prints, where I using my actual embroidery to offer a printed alternative.
Contact
Email: kingflyembroidery@gmail.com Instagram: @kingflyembroidery
Here is a piece of David’s work on video
Our Thanks
Our thanks to the Authors of “Chinese Embroidery: An Illustrated Stitch Guide” for enabling us to use the first chapter of their book “A brief history of Chinese Embroidery.”
Written By ShaoXiaocheng, and assisted byXiao Yao. The photographs of the beautiful embroidery are by Xiao Lin
Xiao Yao aka Martin Shaw is Deputy Dean at Beijing Embroidery Institute of Shao Xiaocheng Embroidery Reasurch Instutite.
He has a Bachelor of Arts from Beijing University and is a Member of China Arts and Crafts Association and a Member of China Arts and Crafts Society. He holds the International membership of ���, ������, being a representative of the 2nd and 3rd world youth congresses. The remit of the ��� is to preserve FolkArt and Festivals.
In 2012, as a representative of China, he was invited to participate in the ministerial activities of the Shanghai cooperation organization's member countries' arts festival, the non-heritage and traditional culture exhibition.
In that year the Hair embroidery “oxherding” was presented in the first Chinese contemporary arts and crafts biennale exhibition.
In 2016, Capital Area Embroidery work “Ancient Memory — Pottery” participated in the exhibition of the third China contemporary arts and crafts biennale, and was collected by the China craft museum. His main interests are: Four famous embroidery, Disorderly needle embroidery, Hair embroidery, Palace embroidery in Song Dynasty, Capital Area Embroidery, Contemporary embroidery with teaching and creation.
Shao Xiaocheng is a senior national master of arts and crafts and a member of the Internationale Organisation Für Volkskunst (���) of ������. Her main interests are Chinese ancient embroidery, minority embroidery, folk custom embroidery, embroidery restoration and reproduction, embroidery art appreciation, innovative design and application of embroidery, embroidery fusion between east and west, the application of Chinese traditional embroidery, embroidery teaching research, silk tapestry teaching Research, crocheting, knitting, garment apparel craft.
