Transform your ideas about creative, fabric embellishment for textile art that's full of meaning and astounding texture, in this inspiring book by award-winning textile art tutor and artist Jan Dowson.
Whether it's a landscape, a garden, an animal or a powerful memory of a place or object, Jan shows you how she develops them all into beautifully stitched representations that exude awe-inspiring detail, colour and expression.
Jan begins the creative process by collecting and storing natural items and exploring different patterns, texture, media and markings to cultivate her final design. She uses simple yet effective methods for altering fabric prior to stitching, including dyeing, embellishing and stamping, then transforms her fabric into a vibrant, textured artwork using a combination of traditional hand stitching, machine stitching, and other media.
Following a fascinating, illustrated step-by step chapter on Jan's key techniques, join her as she takes you through the stages of three types of work for which she is most renowned: the stitched landscape, the memory cloth and the bird sculpture. Each project also includes a break down of the materials, tools and techniques used, so that you can understand as well as see the development of her astounding, mixed-media creations.
Throughout the book, a gallery of Jan's work complements her techniques and projects, providing inspiration for your own textile artwork. These are stunning pieces that will open your eyes and turn your own creative concepts into original, personal work.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Tools & materials
Fabrics, Threads, Stitching tools, Mixed media
Inspiration
Places, Walks, Collections
Recording
Ideas, Creating a unique sketchbook, Playing with Colour, Marking making
Developing expressive work
Making a plan, Preparing your fabric
Expressive techniques
Dyeing fabric & threads, Printing, Stamping & stencilling, Embellisher, Appliqué, Free-motion embroidery, Expressive hand stitches, Historical & world sewing techniques, Experimental embellishments
Expressive projects
Stitched Landscape, Stitched Landscape Gallery, Memory Cloth, Memory Cloth Gallery, Bird Sculpture, Bird Sculpture Gallery
Conclusion
Index
Show More +
About Jan Dowson
Award-winning textile art tutor and artist Jan Dowson has over 20 years of teaching experience. She won the prestigious Beryl Dean National Teaching Award in 2015,
and was the 2014/15 winner of the UK’s City & Guilds Gold Medal of Excellence.
She loves to help beginners to start on their own creative journeys, and so regularly delivers absorbing, fun workshops as well as offering talks and taking part in the Embroiderers’ Guild’s summer schools around the UK. Jan exhibits her work frequently and has experienced great success over the years. She loves embroidery and never feels fully satisfied unless the surfaces she works on are completely covered in stitch. Her finished pieces include machine and hand embroidery, appliqué and mixed media.
She works intuitively and strongly believes that there are no rules for creativity, focusing on the freedom of working naturally and organically, with a view to developing ideas that will produce unique and exciting results.
Jan lives in north-east Lincolnshire, UK, with her husband Derek and dog Bertie.
Find Jan on Facebook @Jan Dowson - Textile Artist/Teacher.
