It was a busy Saturday at Harrogate Creative Stitchers this weekend with a full day of activities. In the morning we restarted our 'bring your own sewing' which was an informal set up allowing members old and new to catch up and get to know one another while we stitched and chatted over a cuppa. Mid morning, we received First Aid, CPR and defib training from Gloria Cooke and then after lunch we welcomed textile artist, tutor and lecturer Jessica Grady to talk to us about her colourful textiles and embroidery.
So in the morning after an hour or so of stitching, many of who worked on their 'Coronation Crown' squares, Gloria Cooke delivered a really informative talk on first aid, how and why to use CPR, and the use of a defibrillator. She also brought 2 manikins and a training defib machine. We saw the actual machine held at on the premises of Quaker Hall where we meet and now know where it is kept! Gloria demonstrated the use of CPR and the defibrillator and we had the opportunity to have a go and get the hang of what to do, if this is ever needed in the future. Hopefully we won’t need to do any of this whether or not at our meetings. We also learnt that the use of the emergency number 112, is better triangulated than the 999 number. Both numbers will be in all modern phones, under the emergency folder and they do not need a pass code to get into the phone.
So onto the highlight of the day, Jessica Grady's talk. Jessica uses all kinds of different materials, many that we would not often associate with art or craft. Much of her inspiration came from growing up near Whitby, and she then studied for her degree in Art and Design at the University of Norwich.
Her work is beautifully colourful, with influences from other cultures including those from South America. As she said “bright colours make you feel happy” and colour is a big part of everything she does. She always carries a sketchbook and camera with her to capture the images around her to use in her art and design. Jessica is also a commercial designer of fabrics and prints for all kinds of products e.g. bags, clothes, curtains and much more. She has also taken part in many projects notably The Big Stitch community installation project in York in 2018, a public commission with Leeds City museum in 2019, the Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival in 2020 and an exhibition called Found in 2022 - the artists residency project at Huddersfield University.
Jessica has won a number of awards including the Raw Talent award in 2017 and the under 30s Scholar award for 2018-9. These often lead on to being asked to exhibit her work at prestigious events. We were also able to look at many of Jessica's textile and embroidery pieces that she had brought along for us to see. A truly colour popping and beautiful display, thank you Jessica.
For more information please look at her website, www.jessicagrady.co.uk. Also look out for her forthcoming book entitled Stitched Mixed Media which is due to be published in May 2023 by Crowood Press.
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