With English and Mediterranean ancestry that includes tailors, embroiderers and dyers, Patricia   has always known  the pleasurable frenzy of a fabric and stitch environment. Many years of living overseas has helped to shape a keen interest in world textiles and her appetite for 'cloth and the human experience' continues to grow.

 

Now in her fourth and final of a full-time BA Fine Art at the Glasgow School of Art where she is studying Sculpture, Patricia, who graduated as a teacher in 1970, is also employed by Motherwell College to teach a weekly class in a Scottish prison. Involvement with this other 'inside world' is very important to her.

 

Patricia was a prize-winner in the 2002 Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork (Alsace) and her 'abhainn dhearg' (red river) was hung in the 2003 ConNections exhibition at the first Birmingham 'Festival of Quilts'. She is a member of Makepeace Quilters (Dumbarton) and the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles.

 

An accomplished speaker, Patricia enjoys talking about all things pertaining to cloth and is available to teach workshops on Natural Dyes (seasonal) and Boutis. She exercises an interest in bringing people who would not normally look at art or talk about art to do just that, in a group setting..

 

Interview with Patricia 

I know that you are a full time student, not to mention LLQS, so do you still find time to sew?

Yes. It’s important to me and  I stitch nearly every day – it’s ‘the air I breathe’ (line stolen from a favourite song lyric.) I often use textile and stitch in my sculpture too, so it is evident most of the time and I sometimes wonder if everything wrong with the world couldn’t be resolved by stitching so I’m working on the theorem.

What’s the technique that really grabs you at the moment?

It’s got to be Boutis. I love the way it ennobles the simplest of fabrics and the interplay of fabric with light. I carry small pieces in a pocket or handbag and stitch anywhere, anytime. It’s a real conversation starter – even when you don’t share the same spoken language as the person who is asking the questions!

I’ve done some really innovative techniques – but they all live in the realm of my imagination. One day?

Patchwork or quilting?  Or both?

I really do enjoy both but sometimes wonder if I’m actually a closet embroiderer because it’s stitch that really does for me. I just can’t get my points to meet as they should and you know something, it really doesn’t upset me. I must be a patchwork teacher’s worst nightmare.

Whose work do you find inspiring?

Apart from Boutis, old patchwork quilts that have wiggly bits here and there (you know what I mean) I’m inspired by Welsh, Durham, Provencal and the quilts from Gees Bend. I was privileged to visit the quilters 5 years ago and it was awesome.

What has been your favourite textile exhibition (other than LLQS)?

The one I’m going to see in June 2008 – Gee’s Bend in Denver, Colorado, USA. I’ve been imagining myself at this exhibition for 5 years.

Are there any exhibitions that you really want to see in 2008?

The Quilts of Gee’s Bend: the quilters are a ‘movement’ in quilting – you know that when you look at the work – and it’s great to witness the revelation.