Silk Organza Appliqué Pictures with Emily Jo Gibbs

Saturday and Sunday 8th and 9th June 2024

10:00-4:00

Adult workshop

(but GCSE and A-Level students are very welcome to join in. It will be a great skills workshop for those taking art)

WORKSHOP:

Create a still life, portrait or abstract composition based on your own drawings or photographs. You will create a delicate textile collage using organza layering and hand stitch.

With an emphasis on really looking at the subject, studying shape, colour, shadows and refraction and using drawing and photography to experiment with composition, you will build an appliqué. This will become the basis for your stitch and you will learn Emily’s intricate looking but actually extremely simple style. You will use long and short stitches to bring your work to life with texture and colour.

Structure for the day:

Create layered collages abstract or figurative that exploit the qualities of semi-transparent material. 

Experiment layering translucent fabric to change the colour and tone. 

Learn how to cut accurate shapes, overlap pieces to build areas of different colours and tones, examine how the layers are built up and the work is stitched together. 

You will look at stitching for construction and stitching for decoration and how the two interplay.

Work from your own drawings, photographs or collage. You could work on abstracts, make a portrait or still life.

Artist / Maker / Tutor:

Emily Jo Gibbs has established an international reputation for her hand-stitched textiles, observing the quiet beauty of the overlooked. She specialises in layered silk organza appliqué, creating portraits and still-lives with a pared back aesthetic. Emily is a member of Contemporary Applied Arts, The 62 Group of Textile Artists and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Emily has received significant critical acclaim and examples of her work are in The Victoria and Albert Museum, The Crafts Council Collection and The Museum of Fine Art, Houston.

Emily became interested in the idea of nature tables that give gravitas and reference to collections of knobbly sticks, grass and other natural treasures. She started making hand embroidered drawings of sticks in Jam Jars, enjoying the quiet beauty of these everyday items.

Alongside her commission based Art practice Emily regularly teaches short courses and gives talks; for a variety of clients including: The V&A, Art in Action, Embroiderers Guilds, Rochester Art Gallery, Oxfordshire Museum and West Dean College.

Emily Jo Gibbs’ work has frequently appeared in national and international press and publications including: Crafts, Elle, Embroidery, Marie Claire, Period Living, Tatler, The Financial Times, The Telegraph, The Independent and Vogue.

What is included in the ticket price?

All equipment and materials that you need for the workshop are included. Some people like to bring extra bits and pieces but the studio is packed with all sorts of inspirational art materials, fabrics and threads that you may access.

Tea, coffee, biscuits and cake! Lots of cake!!

Where will the workshops take place?

In Beth’s inspirational studio at Insole Court, Cardiff. CF5 2LN