Allison James
I have always loved to sew. Since picking up an embroidery needle as a child, I have kept this passion by my side throughout my education, motherhood and my working life as an academic. It is a resource that has always enlivened me and now, in retirement, has full rein.
Completing a City and Guilds Diploma in Embroidery, led to a brief dalliance with felting and traditional quilting, before I found my textile community in art quilting in 2019.
My work
My inspiration comes from both natural and built environments and I frequently use photographs as a starting point. Often these have been taken by my husband with whom I have worked collaboratively (see: imageandstitch ). The colours, shapes and textures prompt me to want to translate what I see in these environments into fabric. Usually graphic and abstract, rather than figurative, my work is a response to the sense and quality of these spaces.
I enjoy the challenge and freedom of improvised, scrap piecing, often combining this with the greater precision that fused applique permits. This process of textile layering is finished with machine quilting and, sometimes, further detail is stitched in by hand. I am excited by the additional textures and complexities that these different processes and stitches bring to the piece.
CV
Exhibitions and Memberships
2024
Doors, Portals & Windows ( 20 perspectives exhibition) Australian Quilt Competition, Australia
Bearing Witness (juried SAQA exhibition) Heidelberg & touring )
Nowhere Gallery, Holmfirth
Art Week, Holmfirth
Derbyshire Open Arts, (Ecostitchers' Exhibition) Beeley
2023
Nature ( 20 perspectives exhibition) European Patchwork Meeting, France
Festival of Quits, Birmingham
Summer, Open Gallery, Halifax
Art Quilts Uncovered, Solo exhibition, Holmfirth Tech
Landscape and Abstraction , Somerton Art Space, Holmfirth
No Rain, no Flowers (Ecostitchers' Exhibition) Beeley
WOVEN Festival - Huddersfield Art Gallery, Abrcafabric
Exhibition & Somerton Art Space
Ruby Exhibition ( Art Through Textiles), Derbyshire
2022
Winter Open , Gallery180, Leeds (Juried exhibition)
Festival of Quilts, Birmingham
A Sense of Space ( Art Through Textiles Exhibition) Derbyshire
Haven (juried SAQA Exhibition ) Houston International Quilt Festival & USA touring )
Trees for Life (Ecostitchers' Exhibition) Derbyshire, UK
Bonsall Arts Trail (invited) Derbyshire, UK
Bridges (20 Perspectives Exhibition) Meiningen Germany, France & Mancuso Shows touring USA 2022-3
Fronteer Gallery (Juried) , Sheffield, UK
2021
Festival of Quilts, Birmingham,UK.
Food for Thought, (Ecostitchers' Exhibition) Sheffield,UK.
2019
Material Matters, (Art Through Textiles Exhibition) Derbyshire,UK.
Festival of Quilts, Birmingham,UK.
Collective Stitches, UK, Australia and Holland
Open Up, Sheffield, UK.
2018
'Tis the Season’, Sheffield, UK.
Holmfirth Art Week, Holmfirth, UK.
2017
Follow the Thread, (Art Through Textiles Exhibition) Derbyshire, UK.
Current Memberships & Offices held
Studio Art Quilts Association (Member & European & Middle Eastern Rep)
Quilters Guild of British Isles ( Member)
20Perspectives (Member- www.20perspectives.com)
Ecostitchers ( Member - www.ecostitchers.com)
Art Through Textiles (Member )
Media Engagement
Magazines & catalogues
2024 Featured artist in Patchwork Professional 02/24
Featured artist on www.createwhimsy.com
2023
Quilt - A Visiti to Margate , in exhibition catalogue , Summer , Halifax Open Gallery
2022
Quilt - Mariupol- lest we forget - was featured in Quilt Mania - Simply Moderne, Issue 31
Quilt - Holme Valley - was pictured in the catalogue for the Haven exhibition which premiered at the Houston International Quilt festival and is,on tour 2022-5. Quilt sold in Houston.
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