Hello! I’m Helen, also known as Delicate Stitches, and I’m delighted to have been asked to write for Cumbria 24, sharing information about some of the cultural and artistic goings on in this wonderful county. I thought a good place to start was with a bit of an introduction; they say you should write about what you know and so I suppose writing about yourself should be easy!
Looking across the Solway to Cumbria
I’m an artist and I live on the Scottish side of the beautiful Solway coast with Mr. Stitches and our two kittens. Everyday I look out over the Solway to the majestic Cumbrian mountains and give you all a wave. Until recently I lived in Carlisle and much of my work is in Cumbria, I spend most of my working week running workshops and participatory arts projects and I also create my own work which I sell at exhibitions. I feel very lucky to be able to live and work across two of the most beautiful counties in the UK and I’m looking forward to sharing what’s going on with you.
Flow: Memory, 2018 Naturally dyed fabrics, hand embroidery and found objects
When I tell people I’m an artist the first question most people ask is ‘Do you paint?’ I don’t (certainly not well) and so I then go on to explain that I work mostly in textiles. At this point a look of puzzlement often crosses their faces and I can see the question coming (cross stitch?) and so I leap in to explain a bit more about my work. I did my degree in Manchester, graduating with a BA(Hons) Embroidery and I continue to use a lot of both hand and free machine embroidery in my work. I love working in textiles as they are so versatile and tactile, I can express the concepts I want to share much more easily with fabric and stitch than I can with paint.
Cumbria and Carlisle in particularhas a rich textile history and heritage and there are still places continuing this tradition and taking it forward. Linton Tweeds still make fabrics for many of the big fashion houses, most famously Chanel of course. They also have an excellent coffee shop if you’re in need of refreshment. Prism Arts have recently completed an exciting National Lottery Heritage Funded project looking at Carlisle’s Textile Revolution. You can see some of their work on show in Carlisle Library until January next year.
Puffin with Sand Eels, 2017 Free machine embroidery and appliqué on linen
Monoprint, 2018
I mentioned concepts before; don’t worry I’m not going to go all deep and meaningful (not in this post anyway) but I thought I would share some of the ideas behind my work. I am inspired by the natural world and in particular with how we interact with it. With our growing awareness of the climate crisis and our impact on the environment this is a particularly interesting time to be exploring these connections, or sometimes the loss of them. I’m interested in how throughout human history we have engaged, been inspired by and used the natural world. I’m particularly fascinated by birds and have been since I was a child. I’ve dragged my family, and more recently Mr. Stitches, all over the place looking for birds and they continue to appear in my work in various forms.
Starling, 2016 Fabric pastels and hand embroidery on linen
With these interests you can see why Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway are the perfect places for me; surrounded by stunning scenery, wonderful wildlife, a rich industrial heritage and plenty of excellent tea and cake stops! Next time I’ll tell you more about my participatory work and share some ways you can get involved in the arts too.
Bird watching in the rain.
Thanks for reading, I look forward to sharing more soon and in the meantime if you’d like to know more you can find me here:
