Module 1, Chapter 13

Wendy Dolan

Few textile artists appear to have concentrated specifically on church architecture, but many have produced work inspired by it and for my first textile artist I shall look at the work of Wendy Dolan.

Wendy is obviously a skilled artist and her architectural pieces rely heavily on her ability to produce an accurate drawing of a window, door or other architectural feature. 

   

A window in a Brighton church (from book)

A doorway at Kilpeck Church in Herefordshire (from book)

According to her recently published book “Layer, Paint and Stitch” (Search Press, 2015), she first creates a textured background, then colours it and then transfers her drawing by sewing over it through the paper from the reverse. This is then further stitched and embellished from the front, depending on the effect she wishes to achieve. Many of the pieces remind me of John Piper’s work, inasmuch as she takes a section of a building or particular feature and sets it on a randomly coloured background.  However Wendy’s pieces do not have the same dark, brooding quality as Piper’s. I find Wendy’s techniques interesting and should like to explore them at some point.

Wendy's website is wendydolan.co.uk

Yvonne Brown

My second textile artist is Yvonne Brown. She is perhaps more of a quilter than an embroiderer but I especially like her work as much of it is inspired by Ely Cathedral, which is somewhere I know and from where many of my own designs are taken. In her only book Tex-Tiles and other Treasures (Woods End Studio), she develops a technique for making aged fabric tiles based on some of those at Ely. Yvonne’s method is to transfer her design onto a fabric sandwich made from synthetic felt, stabiliser and a background fabric. The design is then stitched and the excess felt around the edges burned away with a soldering iron. A heat gun is then used to distress the tile further.

I tried this technique myself some years ago but it was not overly successful, I think largely due to my kunin felt, which would just not melt as it was supposed to. As a result I had to cut away the excess felt and dispense with the additional distressing of the pattern. The end result was far too perfect . However, I hope to revisit this technique again using a different brand of felt!

The following examples of Yvonne's work are all taken from her book:

Medieval Pavement

 Medieval Tiles

Stone Story I

Yvonne's work especially appeals to me because she combines both quilting and textile/embroidery techniques. I could envisage using a similar method to produce a background which could then be further embellished with hand stitching and beads.

Yvonne's website is yvonnebrown.co.uk, although sadly it is not very up to date.