Having been brought up on a farm, nature and what is around us, is a clear inspiration for Suzette’s work. She described her first pieces as reflective, cutting up fabric and using machine stitching to make new work, including from her mother’s Rose Queen sash. She began to use images of birds and took inspiration from landscape and a sense of place, using old fabrics and collage to tell a story. Inspired by a dress she had as a child she has made beautiful pieces using the shape of a child’s dress, inspiring memories for many of us. One is featured below, as is a large piece with four dresses.
Suzette uses mixed media and stitch and has used emulsion paint to transfer images and now also makes good use of bondaweb. One of the pieces pictured below included some vintage Suffolk puffs and she described exploring her journey through stitch. Many of her pieces celebrate particular walks or moments in nature and some include text cut from old discarded books. She creates her background before stitching and includes laser copies, cutting out images, placing side down on wet gesso and using damp sponge to remove paper once dried. Her presentation was informative and enlightening and she was generous in sharing many examples of her beautiful work.
Her work can be seen at an exhibition from 1st July to 19th August in the Willow Gallery Oswestry. Other artists will also be showing their work. Much more information and examples of her work and workshops she offers can be found on her website https://suzettesmart.com.
We also held our usual raffle after the presentation and the bags are shown below. Since the meeting we have held our very successful exhibition, members worked very hard, in preparation and on the day, and we had lovely and enthusiastic visitors. Hopefully some may choose to join us as a result.
Our next meeting on 10th July 2023 is our summer party, featuring our competition ‘items from my stash’ sharing of traveling books and savoury and sweet treats provided by the committee. The July raffle bag colour is pink.
Birmingham Embroidery and Textile Art 