OUR TUTORS AND COMMENTS ON THE CLASSES

                   

JENNY ADIN-CHRISTIE    

 

Winchester  -  19 June  -  Stumpwork Orchids                                                                      

                      -   16 October  -  Stumpwork Orchids   

 Jenny is a freelance professional hand embroiderer and designer, with an innate passion for creating individual work; for the study and repair of antique embroideries and for inspiring others through her enthusiastic teaching.  Having developed and managed her own business whilst still working at the Royal School of Needlework, Jenny embarked on her  freelance career in 2009.  She teaches widely throughout the country and continues to teach for the RSN.  She also develops and sells a unique range of contemporary embroidery kits in stumpwork, metal thread and whitework.

Jenny  has been practising her love of embroidery since childhood.  On graduating from the Apprenticeship in 1999 with distinction, Jenny continued at the RSN for nine years as a member of the commercial Studio and teaching staff.  She became Assistant to the Head of Studio and then a Studio Project Manager, playing a key role in major  commissions, in the production of new product ranges and in creating individual work. 

 

 

    Some of Jenny's millefiori button brooches

Millefiori  - a thousand flowers - was originally a glass-makers' technique which  Jenny has adapted to make sumptuous embroidered  designs. 

°°°°

 

   

JESSICA ALDRED       

Having completed her RSN apprenticeship in 2004 Jessica worked in costume production at the Royal Opera House for three years, buying and maintaining the materials used to make the costumes. In 2008 she returned to the RSN where she now works as the Education Coordinator and Student Support Officer. She is also the Consultant to Bridging Arts, an organization involved with cultural collaboration with previously isolated and excluded communities.

Throughout her career Jessica has remained self-employed, taking on private commissions and teaching embroidery. She is also a Volunteer Tutor at Wandsworth Prison, for Fine Cell Work, a registered charity that teaches needlework to prison inmates and sells their products. Most recentlyJessica has joined forces with designer Emily Peacock to write a book which will be published in 2011 by the Guild of Master Craftsman (GMC). The book will include four chapters covering four embroidery techniques- Canvas Work, Appliqué, Silk Shading and Goldwork. For more information you can visit her website at www.jessicaaldred.co.uk

 Saturday's Project

  Winchester  -  17 April  -  Silk Shading Figures         

    Yesterday's Girl (Joan of Arc)

Joan of Arc

            

 

 

 KELLEY ALDRIDGE   

 

Winchester  -   18 September – Silk and Gold

                         

 Kelley Aldridge graduated from the Royal School of Needlework in 2005, since when she has been growing a successful freelance career in teaching, designing and creating  kits as well as textile restoration projects.

She particularly relishes private commissions from individuals and institutions and hopes to exhibit in specialist galleries throughout Britain in the near future.  She teaches  a range of traditional embroidery techniques as well as offering talks on various embroidery-related subjects. 

Inspired by the flowing shapes of the  natural world and the beauty of the natural form she carefully creates intricate pieces using diverse, at first sight unrelated,materials such as linen and leather. For her class with us this year she teams gold with silk employing traditional techniques.

    

In an accolade to her career, from September this year (a busy time for her!),  Kelley will be running the RSN's accredited Needlework Certificate and Diploma Course, based on Downend Folk House in  northeast Bristol. Further details at www.royal-needlework.org.uk

 

°°°°

 

 

FLORENCE DAISY COLLINGWOOD 

 Flo has decided not to offer her bootees class this year but we hope she will be with us again in 2011.

  A collection of felt bootees

 

A freelance embroiderer and tutor, Flo takes on a variety of private commissions and teaches the RSN Certificated Course and on private classes around the UK.  She especially enjoys the design stage before starting any embroidery and loves quilts and coverlets that combine silk shaded work, delicate fabrics and contemporary design ideas.  Some of her work can be seen in the  book Contemporary Whitework by Tracy A Franklin and Nicola Jarvis.

Having studied textiles at school, Flo studied Silversmithing at the Cotswold Guild of Handicrafts  before deciding to return to her love of embroidery.  She joined the RSN Apprenticeship in 2001 and on completion of the course Flo became a full-time Studio stitcher and tutor, also completing a Certificate in Education from Greenwich University. Flo is based in Hindhead, Surrey where she lives with her husband, their two young daughters, and the dog.

  

 

 °°°°

  ELIZABETH ELVIN  -   

 Winchester  -  20 March  -  Gold on Canvas

  Cow Parsley

   Liz  has enjoyed a long and varied career teaching hand embroidery.  She joined the RSN in 1964 when it was based at Princes Gate, Kensington and where she went on to specialise in teaching goldwork and silkwork.  Her part-time teaching included work for the Inner London Council and church work for the Royal School of Church Music.  She also worked with Beryl Dean on a number of important ecclesiastical commissions and between 1982 and 1987 taught goldwork on the RSN Apprenticeship.  She became Principal of the RSN in 1987 when the organisation moved to Hampton Court Palace.  Liz Elvin has taught throughout the UK, in Canada , Australia and the USA.  Having taken early retirement from the RSN in 2007 she now lectures on and teaches hand embroidery.

  °°°°

HELEN McCOOK - 

:        

Blackwork is a counted thread technique said to have been introduced to England by Catherine of Aragon and examples are frequently found on Tudor costumes. The stitches form geometric patterns which can produce stunning and sophisticated effects especially with architectural themes or portraits.

Learn the elements of this technique by working a purse with traditional blackwork stitches, but not necessarily in black. The design is in monochrome, but there is choice of colours in which to work and a choice of  linings to match.

Helen McCook graduated in Printed & Dyed Textiles in 2000 and then spent three years training in hand embroidery at the Royal School of Needlework. On completing the RSN apprenticeship, Helen worked as Head of Costume and Textiles at Bonham’s Auction House where she developed her expertise in sixteenth and seventeenth century costume. Helen continued to teach and lecture for the RSN while she was at Bonham’s and also during a year spent as Atelier and Production Manager for the embroiderers Hand & Lock. In 2009, she launched a freelance career teaching and lecturing throughout Britain and in America. She teaches regularly on the RSN Degree and Diploma courses at Hampton Court Palace.

 °°°°

Kate  completed her three year Apprenticeship with the Royal School of Needlework in 2002 and now pursues a career as an embroidery artist and teacher.  Her work concentrates on using plant forms and pattern as imagery.  From 2006 to 2007 Kate was the Textile Project Supervisor for a team of volunteers working vestments, copes and four altar frontals for St Paul's Cathedral to mark its 300th anniversary.