Introducing our Textile Creatives: Helen

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Helen is one of group's founding members and her particular love is playing with fabric collage and stitch to create an image.  She works with both machine and hand stitching, but prefers the latter as there is such a tactile quality to working the thread though the fabrics. 

Nature is a constant source of inspiration for Helen - from the rolling landscapes and cottage gardens of her native England; to the fantastical.  A project she hopes to work on soon is inspired by the iridescent stripes and translucent wings of natives bees collecting nectar from salvias in bloom.   


Helen's love of textiles started at school where she was taught needlework and dress making.  A favourite indulgence was wandering through the drapery and haberdashery floor at John Lewis in Sheffield looking at their huge array of rolls of fabric.  At home she would make clothes using her grandmother's old treadle sewing machine.

Her first introduction into textile art was joining ATASDA (Australian Textile Arts and Surface Design Association) in Brisbane which she credits as being the trigger for breaking the mould and unleashing her creativity.     


Being part of a textile art group has also provided Helen the opportunity to experiment with new techniques and mediums - fabric painting, eco and rust dyeing, felting and free motion machine embroidery to name a few.  We can't wait to see what comes next!



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