I started in art at Art School , one bit of fame was a fellow student was the now
actor John Hurt. Had two art exhibitions, one was a exhibition that travelled
the world and another was one in Scotland. Then the I took a floristry City and Guilds and ended up having my own shop but had after ten years to give it up due to health reasons but by then the textile bug had got me and law took 6 different City and Guilds courses ranging from mixed media, embroidery part one and two and textiles and paper arts and machine embroidery. By then I was designing my own wall hangings as at the time I just loved working in large sizes. I am not a textile artist that plans a lot my work comes about by just jumping in and letting it develop . Then I found I was getting two comfortable in this art form and needed to push a few boundaries out so I started designing and making Art Dolls and getting into the journal scene which I love. There is so much art I can explore and put my own signature on it. The dolls are made of mostly hand dyed or ethnic fabric, moulded faces and hand painted, beaded and embroidered and a lot of hand painting I like to bring in as much as I can of different found objects as well as made things. My words about the dolls are' They're not only an expression of what I see but also what I feel' Jill Smith Textile and Doll Artist |
Like Minded Threads came about because I have a mobility problem and work mostly
in isolation so needed a way of talking to the rest of the world so January 3rd
2002 the group was born and it quickly grew in members from all over the world. I wanted to be a hands on moderator always being involved and also wanted a group that was friendly helpful and most of all sharing and all that and more has come true. We have workshops each week, also Virtual exhibitions, lots of projects going on and I think that is the secret why it has grown quick is that there are lots of ways to get members motivated. A lot of members have told me that before they joined they were going nowhere but the group has sparked they're creativity spirit of and they are doing fantastic work. Since the main group opened we now have a 'Studio Group for extra display and a swap group for members to sell or trade things or organise Raks. Likemindedthreads Yahoo Group |
