Textile Artist - Sue Pearson

In 1992 I began the City and Guilds Design and Embroidery Part I course at the local art college. I was able to continue with Part II of the same course, during which time I discovered feltmaking. Sheila Smith, a world-renowned felter, just happened to come to the local Grimsby Embroidery Group to run a workshop on felting at about this time, and I was hooked. During 2000 I was able to further my felting techniques when I enrolled at the Gloucestershire College of Arts and Technology as a distance learner, and earned the City and Guilds Creative Skills Certificate in Feltmaking with Lynn Griffiths.

My work has been exhibited throughout Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. I was a member of the Fabrik group of textile artists and am an occasional tutor for the Artlandish Community Arts Group, working with children and adults in the school holidays. One of these group projects, The Tree of Life, currently hangs in The Discovery Centre, Cleethorpes.

My felt is made with Merino pre-dyed combed wool tops. To this base I add silk fibres, other wools, fabrics and threads. I work on the finished felt with hand and machine embroidery, adding beads and cords for more texture. My work is largely influenced by patterns found in African and Indian textiles, by the decorative detailing in Klimt’s paintings, and by the work of Michael Brennand-Wood.

I have been exhibiting since 1998 including:

• ‘Deep Water’ at Grimsby & Lincoln Libraries
• ‘Works of Fiction’ at Lincoln Cathedral
• Grainthorpe Art Exhibition
• Great Grimsby Art Exhibition
• The Madeira Show, Harrogate
• Art at St Peter's, Barton
• ‘Small But Perfectly Formed’, Masham
• ‘Felt on the Fringe’, Holmfirth
• Gighouse Gallery, Market Rasen
• ‘Bags’ at The Chink in the Wall, Barton
• ‘Out of the Past’ at The Muriel Barker Gallery

My work can be found for sale at The Ropewalk, Barton on Humber. I run workshops in several creative techniques and give talks and demonstrations to local groups.