Her presentation began with a reference to a tablecloth that had once belonged to her great-grandmother, which is shown as the background on the first slide of the linked presentation. At the time she was working in mixed media and had not yet worked out who she was as a creative. She continued to collect little vintage teacloths not really understanding why she kept collecting until she started to collage them into her paintings. Slowly, Fleur began bringing stitch into her work, “There’s something very special about the dimension and richness that fiber can bring; that threads can bring.”
This is a link to her presentation https://www.canva.com/design/DAGfljuEd0g/70FCfGvMszPCHIIv_sRZ0Q/view?utm_content=DAGfljuEd0g&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=uniquelinks&utlId=h2bf0881382
The quote shown on Slide 2 of her presentation: “Adopt the pace of nature, Her secret is patience”, Fleur suggests really applies particularly to stitching. In her book, The Untamed Thread, as well as discussing her creative journey, Fleur has written a chapter entitled Creating with the Seasons. She stated “I have found that in my work I do not consider myself a botanical artist. I consider myself a creative who wants to capture the essence of nature. The cycles of nature, the seasons, even the growing cycle is a really informative way to appreciate the slowness of fiber art and its styles and slow stitching.” Not only is the book about her journey as an artist, but it provides elements of her practice that has found useful and ideas for projects. It’s not a “how to” but rather a resource.
Capturing that essence of form she referenced can be seen in Slide 4 of the presentation showing one of her moss pieces alongside the pictures that provided the inspiration. The piece really doesn’t look exactly like the moss, but rather gives the sense of the moss.
Slide 7 through 9 of the presentation shows Fleur’s use of punch needle work and the building of soft sculptures. Described as “nature’s textures” and working only in one color, highlights the textures and allows Fleur to consider the forms that have inspired her, like the urchins or starfish. “There’s colonies of things clustering in the crevices and growing out and spilling over; it’s rare that you see nature very ordered and compartmentalized. I pay attention and notice those details.”
Drawing a simple outline without worrying about the detail allows her to catch the essence of it. Not satisfied with a blank canvas she will mix acrylic paint with water to increase its fluidity and then “slop it all over” onto a fabric base usually old linen found in thrift shops. This is usually followed by illustrative painting and then stitch. Slide 13 is Fleur’s version of a Peony.
“My work aims to express the pure joy that I feel when I’m gazing into that flower…the energy, the seeds, the little organisms, the bugs, those are a physical mark making representation of the interconnectedness of the plants, life cycle and energy that exists around each flower.”
Fleur shared a piece that she had been creating (Slide 19). She wanted to create a soft sculptural kind of thing and during her travels around New Zealand and Australia she gathered little things; a vintage textile, a little piece of silk ribbon or whatever. One of the items found in a clearance bin somewhere was this pre-stuffed loop. It was big and red and not a color used a lot in her practice. “With these coils of red, my kids told me it looked like a brain. Over this past summer this was my indulgence project.” Adding layers onto the work, collaging or stitching in some patches of punch needle, Fleur then painted the whole thing with a whitewash of acrylic paint.
To end her presentation, Fleur gave us a quick “live tour” of her studio, showing that it’s quite tiny. In her words she described it as “a glorified cupboard”.
Questions followed:
- What size are your moss pieces? — “I’ve done them at all different sizes but the one pictured is about 15 centimeters. I often work on monk’s cloth or open weave fabric. I back it with a woolen blanket to make it soft to stitch through and give it structure”
- Do you have a favorite yarn or threads? — “I work with a variety of fibers but predominantly the woolen silk merino blend and stranded cotton ; the silk just gives it a nice bit of shine.”
- What type of paint do you sue and how do you make the paint more flexible so that it doesn’t feel too stiff to stitch through? — “Water-based acrylic paint. You only need just a palm sized squeeze then slowly mix in water. It needs to be really fluid and much more fluid than you think. What you want is heaps of water in the linen and the paint, so you can pour and paint and splosh it on. Then the water evaporates and leaves the pigment. The textile will be slightly crunchy once it’s dry, but it’s not hard to stitch through and as you handle it, it softens. “
After the Q&A’s an enlightening and informative presentation came to an end. Thank you Fleur for sharing your creative journey, work, tips and time with us.