PARTICIPANTS
Guest Artist
Sara Impey
ArtConTex are delighted that Sara Impey has accepted the invitation to be our guest artist. You can meet her when she delivers her talk Writing with a Needle on 4th October.
02 Textiles (O.T.T.)
02 Textiles group OTT was formed in 2002 when a group of students started to showcase their creative skills through regular exhibitions. They have since flourished holding colourful and dazzling exhibitions with a vital fun element.
Some members of the group have changed over the years, but all members still fully embrace the ethos of not being too serious in our designs. We are known for creating a quirky, ‘tongue in cheek’ art installation, whenever space allows.
Alex Waylett
Alex Waylett is a mixed-media textile artist whose practice is twofold. With over 18 years experience of teaching creative textiles, she has developed a range of 1 & 2-day workshops, project boxes and courses for the beginner and more experienced textile student. She teaches from Elm Farm Studio, a purpose-built space situated just outside of Colchester and is host to a wealth of other guest artists who teach regularly.
Annie Bielecka Jones. MA
My work uses highly decorated techniques crossing the boundary between fine and applied art. Carefully crafted textile designs are inspired by sea travels and landscapes from my upbringing in Snowdonia - and life on the banks of the river Colne in Wivenhoe. I make quilts, wall hangings, framed textiles of landscapes and paintings. My extensive website of work is in the permanent archive of artists at the National Library of Wales and all other major UK libraries.
Blackwater Textile Group
We are an exhibiting group of artists. We exhibit every two years and always choose a working title so that we all start from the same point. Each member’s work is very different, using various techniques and media. We have visiting artists come and talk to us about their own creative process and give individual mentoring sessions so we always aim to progress on our joint and individual creative journeys.
Dot Ronaldson
I just like to experiment and play. A bit of an “ I wonder what happens if ..” approach. Mixing a wide range of techniques and materials. I enjoy working with painted fabric, collage and hand stitch techniques. In 2024 I explored more abstract ideas but landscape composition and flowers and foliage are themes I return to. I also work on paper and use free machine embroidery in many pieces.
I think my work would be described as colourful, uplifting and precise.
EAST - East Anglian Stitched Textile
East Anglian Stitch Textiles (EAST) was formed in 1995 in response to a demand for a self–supporting framework for textile artists based in East Anglia, and since the group’s founding, Anthea Godfrey, Artistic Director of the Embroiderer's Guild, has been the mentor.
Fibre Transformations
Fibre Transformations was formed in 2022 by five students who studied Creative and Advanced Stitch Textiles together. We are a group that exhibits every two years, with the aim of supporting our work with a research-based focus on a theme of choice. We have delivered workshops to interested parties and have also attended various workshops and schools of textile artists since our inception.
Helen M Stevens
Helen will be staging a selling retrospective of her lifetime’s work. Helen began her professional career when she opened her studio in 1981. Her pure silk embroidery has taken her to lecture and teach Masterclasses all over the world, and to exhibit in as diverse locales and epochal settings as The British Museum and Sydney Olympic Park, reflecting her work grounded in techniques dating from the Anglo-Saxon world to her own contemporary creations.
Helen will also be giving a talk on her work on 2nd October (Click here for the Speakers page).
Unfortunately, Helen can not be present every day so if you specifically want to meet her please use the contact form here to inquire about dates.
Juliet Lockhart
I am a multi-disciplinary artist, writer, and educator. I work thematically on individual projects with a focus on producing narratives around people or places, a dominant theme is voices that have been lost or silenced. I work with a variety of materials; fabric, paper or found objects and processes; stitch, collage and sculpture.
Out of The Fold
Out of the Fold is a group of 12 artists from all over East Anglia who meet monthly near Bury St Edmunds. The group offers mutual support and a creative environment to produce a new series of work for exhibition and sale each year
Sew What
The eight members of ‘SewWhat!’ met whilst studying with Creative Stitch, graduating in 2019. During the two-year course, friendships developed and on course completion, formed “SewWhat!”
The primary purpose of ‘SewWhat!’ is to provide a safe environment in which to support, inform and critique the development of individual members' creative practice, and to enjoy a cup of tea with friends.
Stitchers Inc.
Stitchers Inc. is an Essex/Suffolk group of nine enthusiastic individuals who have come together through textile artist Alex Waylett and have benefitted from her tuition and mentorship since our inception in 2015. Each artist has a very unique style and approach to a jointly chosen theme which come together to complement one another and create a synergistic whole. We have enjoyed success through several previous exhibitions and look forward to our next challenge.
Sue Gascoyne
Sue Gascoyne is a socially engaged environmental textile artist, Play and Creative Arts Therapist, award-winning trainer, author and member of TOMA 2024/26. Having discovered the joy of textiles following a life-changing accident, her work spans muted abstract landscapes – inspired by the River Colne, and ambitious sculptural installations. Using paint, recycled textiles and mixed media materials, Sue’s exciting work often confronts difficult subjects like mental health, providing safe spaces for viewers to reflect and engage. Sustainability and narrative are at the heart of Sue’s art.
Tabatha Mitchel-Simons
Drawing inspiration from her short stories and poetry, Tabatha creates whimsical handstitched illustrations and unique textile pieces. By using vintage materials, she hopes to rekindle a childhood memory of something precious, something forgotten and nudge the past into the present.
TAGS - Textile Art Group Suffolk
Members include embroiderers, spinners, weavers, papermakers and quilters although many of the artists have other specialities. The mixture of skills within the group provides a broad, lively environment in which to work.
Textile Collective
As a community interest company, we aim to enable visitors to develop their own creativity, be it their sewing skills or an overall understanding of textile craft in a safe, open, and friendly environment using donated fabrics and equipment. We have developed flexible activity sessions and drop-in groups which allow visitors to connect and be inspired in their own personal way.
Textile Connections
Textile Connections is a group of textile artists from Cambridge, Suffolk and Norfolk. The group was formed after completion of an Advanced Creative Textile course. The group held their first exhibition in 2024 at Guildhall in Bury St Edmunds. Here a range of works showed the different styles of the artists from 3D exhibits to stitched quilted wall hangings. The group meet monthly to support and critique each other’s work and work towards a themed approach to their next exhibition.
Threads
We share a desire to encourage, inspire, nurture, facilitate and teach the skills of textile art and embroidery. We don’t all stitch, but those who do, range from the tentative explorers to the outright enthusiasts. Our textile techniques include ‘let’s have a go’ to ‘I know what I am doing’. Our motivation comes partly from each other, when it wavers, the friendship brought about sharing interests, skills and enthusiasm of our textile community has been an enormous support. We celebrate stitch and hope that our enthusiasm will encourage others.