Miniatura

My love of art and crafts began further back than I can remember.
I came from very creative parents who met at Art school. My dad was a fantastic artist and my mother was a very talented needlewoman and milliner. I grew up with a natural ability for both and after leaving school, I too went on to study at Art school, gaining a degree in the late 70’s. I picked up many needlework skills from my mother including knitting, dress making, embroidery etc, all of which continued to fill my spare time when i wasn’t working. My first job out of college was in the art department of a marketing company in Queen’s Park, London. Although it was a fairly, creative job, it was far from where i wanted to be in a career, so after a few years i took the risk and set out on my own as an illustrator and designer. At some stage during this time i created some ‘freehand’, embroidered pictures that I sold to a well-known greeting’s card manufacturer in London, which were later published.

In the early 80’s, i married and started a family soon after. When my daughter was 2 years old, we decided to give up city life and re-locate to the Somerset countryside. I continued working as a freelance illustrator and designer but after the birth of my son in 1987, i found the pressure of keeping up with clients’ demands too much with a young family, so I stopped taking on work in order to persue something more craft based that might incorporate my love of needlework and work to my own deadlines. I tried many things but inspiration finally came when i stumbled upon a book in my local library by Caroline Hamilton titled ‘Decorative Dolls’ Houses’. I found this book truly inspiring and I couldn’t help but dig deeper into this fascinating miniature world. It was natural for me to merge my various talents and I tried my hand at designing and stitching some one-inch scale ‘Victorian’ Samplers. I managed to source some appropriate wood and a miniature mitre block and hand saw, to make the miniature frames. I was pleased with the results and decided to send a ‘Sampler’ to the books author without knowing that she was the organiser of the highly prestigious, Kensington Doll house festival. I was also unaware how large and growing this hobby was. I received a lovely and very encouraging letter back from Caroline, with an invite to participate in the festival, that Spring.

So, 1992 became my first year as a miniaturist and I was thrilled to be part of such a wonderful event. I believe that it was, while I was at the fair that I was approached by Bob Hopwood, who encouraged me to take a table at ‘Miniatura’, another large and highly regarded miniatures fair at the NEC, Birmingham. I went on to do the fair for many years. Having had several years break from Miniatura, I am now making a return to its new venue.

After 30 years, my passion for miniature tapestry has grown stronger and stronger. I have expanded the variety of items I create to include cushions, foot stools, fire screens, bell pulls, seat coverings, sewing boxes, tapestry stands, rugs, carpets and wall hangings. I mainly take inspiration from actual, antique designs and with my natural ability for art and design, I find it fairly easy to adapt and also design from scratch. With only a small, restricted talent for woodwork, I collaborate with other craftsmen from the UK, such as the very talented, David Booth and the late John Hodgson. I have a huge love for the work of ‘William Morris’ and have many designs which were inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement. I also have a passion for 16th Century tapestries, particularly Aubusson.

In 2015, I was honoured to be asked to contribute three, large wall hangings for ‘Ham House’, a wonderful stately home, made by top miniaturists, Kevin and Susan Mulvany. I was provided photos of the wall hangings by Ahmed Al Thani, who commissioned the model. It took over a year and a half to chart and stitch the three hangings. The largest measured approx. 11 x 8.5 inches. Ham House is now in Ahmed’s private collection in Qatar.

In June 2017, I was delighted to be asked to make a large tapestry for the bed chamber of ‘Savage Manor’, for the KSB Miniatures collection. Again, the model was being made in the UK by the Kevin and Susan Mulvany. They provided reference to the design which was a beautiful, figurative scene from the 17th Century, Verdure, Brussels. The tapestry was large (15” x 8.5”),and unusual as it had to cover a complete wall allowing an aperture for a door.
I particularly loved the ornate border, which was a joy to design and stitch. To allow for the door, I had to make the tapestry in three parts, joining the gauze above and beside the door opening, once the design had been stitched. I stitched with silk thread on 40 count silk gauze. The central area of the wall hanging was to be unseen, as it was behind a beautiful, four poster bed. Although I stitched this area, I kept this part simple. There were several figures and detailed trees and foliage which I carefully charted on my computer but I ‘freehanded’ all the background to save time. I completed the wall hanging in March 2018.

In 2019 I submitted an exceedingly fine tapestry to the PIMA (Perfection in Miniature Award). I named my tapestry ‘From Rome to Frome’ as I was lucky enough to visit the Hall of Tapestries at The Vatican museum in Rome, where I was greatly inspired. My home town in the UK is ‘Frome’, so the title made complete sense. The wall hanging tapestry I submitted was a 24th scale version of one of the tapestries on view in the gallery. I was very proud to win first prize.

During lockdown, in 2020, I again entered the competition with an American sampler, stitched on 72 count silk gauze. This is a very challenging gauze to work on as the holes really cannot be seen with the naked eye. A magnifier is essential! This won second prize.

I have recently completed a large Savonnerie carpet commission for a customer in the US. I have also made an Aubusson, bedroom carpet and a 16th Century wall hanging for the same customer. The original design of the Savonnerie was made for Louis XIV and although meant for the Palais de Versailles, it ended up in le Louvre in Paris. I began stitching the very detailed design in October 2020, after several weeks of ‘charting’, stitch by stitch or should I say, pixel by pixel, on my computer. I completed the carpet in September 2020.

I have had a wonderful time stitching my designs over the years and I am grateful that I have managed to turn a hobby into a small business. I work long hours so that i can take the odd day off to keep up with family and friends, especially now that i have four grandchildren to spoil. I have bought doll’s houses for two of the children, in hope that they will one-day become enthusiasts themselves or at least conjure up happy memories of their miniature mad Nana! I have a small collection of random, precious miniatures, purchased over many years but alas, so far, and mainly because of time restriction, i have no doll’s house. Perhaps it is something I can look forward to if I ever wish to retire!