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Chiltern Embroidery and Textile Group

Programme 2024

CETG have a mixed programme of online talks in the autumn and winter and in-person meetings when the evenings are lighter.  This gives us the opportunity to hear from artists who live further away via online talks, while still being able to touch and feel the work of summertime speakers.  After all, textiles is a tactile art!

All meetings are at 7.30pm on the second Monday of the month unless otherwise stated, with summer meetings held at Tylers Green Village Hall.  Get in touch via Contact Us if you would like to join an online talk and we'll send details of how to pay the £7 charge for a single talk. The link will be forwarded a few days before the talk.  The programme may be subject to change, and will be updated as soon as confirmed.

Click or tap on the artist's name to go to their website.

All images are copyright of the artists.

Monday 8th January online talk

Ninya Mikhaila - A gown of ten-thousand pearls; reconstructing the clothing of Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon  

In 2020 historical costumier Ninya Mikhaila was commissioned to reconstruct the clothing worn by Mary Tudor (sister to Henry VIII) and her husband Charles Brandon in their famous double portrait. In this talk Ninya shares insights into the research and making process for the elaborate garments, of which only certain areas are depicted in a painting which begs as many questions as it provides answers. Read more here.

 

Saturday 10th February 2.30pm

Social Meeting

A social meeting at Tylers Green Village Hall where all are welcome.  A chance to chat with friends and stitchers and for visitors to learn more about CETG.

 

Monday 12th February online talk

Linda Miller – In Stitches

Working with her sewing machine Linda makes one-off machine embroideries using her distinctive, unique style. Linda’s colourful, naïve, and narrative embroideries contain figures and animals with inspiration gathered from the world around her. Her work is successfully exhibited and held in public and private collections such as those of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Arts Council Southeast.  Read more here.

 

Monday 11th March online talk

Marian Jazmik – Beyond the Surface

The talk will cover Marian's creative journey from collecting inspiration using macro photography, sourcing and using mixed materials and techniques involving heat treatments to create experimental textural work and creating the final pieces of wall art, sculptures and vessels. Read about Marian's stunning work here.

 

Monday 8th April

Clare Bullock - My Life with Felt

The traditional craft of wet felt has become a huge part of Clare’s life.  It has taken her on an adventure she never thought possible which she shared with us. She demonstrated her techniques - read more here.

 

Monday 13th May

Suzy Wright – Vibrantly in Stitch

Suzy has always had an eye for colour and beauty. Happiest when stitching buried under a pile of threads, calico and drawings, she creates detailed and vibrant stitched tapestries that resemble paintings through layering and blending threads. She will talk about how she started out, her passion for the subject, the process and how her work evolves through watercolour to stitch.

 

Monday 10th June

Karen Nicol – Couture Creatures 

In 2010 Karen was offered a gallery show in the West End of London and  needed a subject which would allow her to show off the wonderful diversity and wealth of mark making abilities of embroidery, but telling a story which would hold together as a whole and that was recognisably hers. She decided to embroider animals and clothe them in couture skins: nearly 200 creatures later she still sells all she can do. She will talk about the vast array of fabrics, techniques and stories behind this work and the strange characters that have taken shape under her machine needle.

 

Monday 8th July

Harriet Riddell – Travels with a Sewing Machine

Harriet tells stories from her street stitching around the world. She embroiders the people and places she meets and loves interaction between herself and her audience whilst working. Harriet will demonstrate a live stitched portrait during her talk.

Monday 12th August

Social Meeting with Tea and Cake

A social meeting at Tylers Green Village Hall where all are welcome. This will be a themed event where attendees are invited to bring along their own textile treasures and share stories about them.  There will be tea and home-made cake.

 

Monday 9th September

Jenny Beattie – Mad as a Hatter – Modern Day Millinery

Jenny Beattie discovered millinery in her forties whilst an expat in Bangkok, Thailand. With a lifetime love of textiles, of making, sewing and a fine arts degree, she started making headpieces for favours and just for fun. In 2012 Jenny started to retrain; by 2017 she ‘left’ her husband in Bangkok and returned to London for a full-time millinery course.  So, what is millinery like now? Are there any similarities today to the traditional heritage craft of millinery? And what about materials? Is it still mostly straw and felt? Not in Jenny Beattie Millinery’s studio, no… Join Jenny to find out how she’s making ‘Trash Hats’ in plastic and truly making her own modern headpieces.

 

Saturday 5th October begins 2.00pm

Annual General Meeting at 2.30pm

Wendy Edmonds – Heat Transfer Printing for Textiles (after AGM)

Wendy will introduce the heat transfer printing process, how she developed it on her degree courses, and found her own way of using this fascinating printing technique to create unique wearable textiles. Texture, colour, light and shadow in the natural environment are key inspiration for Wendy's hand printed and pleated textiles.  She is continually exploring possibilities of the heat transfer printing process to achieve these qualities across a range of fibres to produce unique 'mini collectables'.

Monday 11th November online talk

Sophie Levi-Kallin – Sew the Scene

Using recycled/scrap textiles and sewing machine drawing to create urban landscape scenes.  Sophie will describe her inspiration and method behind her art. This will include: how she chooses which scenes to sew/her compositions, collecting and selecting fabrics, using the sewing machine stitch/embroidery to attach the pieces and add depth, definition and details.

 

Monday 9th December online talk

Lindsay Roberts – Tart’s Textile Travels

Lindsay travelled to Gujarat in 2012/13 for two months, working with artisans in Kutch. Returning in 2020, Lindsay spent time in Rajasthan and Karnataka where she gathered old and new pieces of stitch, weave and print to examine in more detail on screen. 

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