Margaret Fairhead RBSA
January 7 - February 22
Margaret Fairhead began her career in the teaching profession however she now devotes most of her time to creating textiles using a variety of techniques. She finds this an exciting and absorbing medium in which to work.
The focus of Margaret’s work is to develop a range of textural and colourful surfaces in her designs, using the needle in place of pencil or paintbrush. Drawing and painting form an essential part of her work; this is mainly in preparation for the stitched piece she has in mind. The techniques available are endless and just a few have been selected for the pieces on display.
Margaret uses straight machine stitching, a limited selection of automatic stitches, and sometimes hand stitching to interpret what she sees. This involves much ‘trial and error’ stitch sampling prior to selection of a particular technique for the chosen subject matter.
Some of the pieces on display illustrate a few of the techniques available, such as applied fabric pieces for the buildings and canals, thicker threads and appropriate stitches for texture, particularly for the vertical garden. Hand stitching was worked over “gold” cord for one of the water reflection pieces and wool felt was steamed and moulded to create dishes for the fruit
In addition to membership of Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Margaret is also a member of Birmingham Art Circle, Tangent Textiles, Sutton Coldfield Society, and Sutton Stitchers.
Exhibition ends: Saturday 22 February 5.00pm
Image: Margaret Fairhead RBSA, Fieldscape