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| Louise with her display at Hoopers |
LOUISE TURNS SEWING INTO ART
Artist Louise Gardiner has become a celebrity through nimble
finger work on the sewing machine.
Louise, who has a studio at the family dairy farm in Cheshire, took up embroidered art after studying at Manchester
Metropolitan University
and graduating from the prestigious Goldsmiths
College with a degree in
textiles.
Now Louise, whose family is the fifth generation to farm on
the National Trust estate at Styal, teamed up with TV celebrity Kirstie Allsopp in a
new hand-craft series this month at Hampton Court Palace.
She was invited to take part after previously collaborating
with Kirstie in her Channel Four television series Homemade Home. Her work was also selected for exhibition at
the Saatchi Gallery and Liberty in London.
Louise uses a sewing machine as her tool to produce
flamboyant and highly colourful intricate pieces of embroidered artwork. More
recently she has used the original embroidered designs for top end silk scarves
printed in limited editions at Bollington, near Macclesfield.
Her work has been described by a connoisseur as making
“antiques of the future” and Kirstie Allsopp believes the tricks and
self-taught techniques she employs with the sewing machine have made it an
addictive form of craft.
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| Louise and her sewing machine |
Examples of her work have been on display in two windows at
Hoopers of Wilmslow as part of the town’s first ever art trail showcasing the
work of 30 local artists in 17 locations this month.
In November she returns to the store to set up a month-long
pop up shop.
Louise’s output and her series of workshops, more recently
at Quarry Bank Mill, Styal, are contributing towards a nationwide surge and
revival of interest in embroidery and sewing.
The creative art is centuries-old and famous examples of the
craft like the Bayeux tapestry depicting the Norman invasion of England
continue to attract thousands of visitors.
“People have a cosy image of embroidery as some sedate
pastime making seat covers and samplers, but in my world that couldn’t be
further from the truth,” said Louise.
“The sewing machine is a dynamic medium to work with, and I
can often feel more a spontaneous chef than an artist.”
She returned to her roots in Cheshire
to set up the studio after a spell of working in Bristol. “Farming has been very much part of
my life and is in my blood,” she says. “If something wants doing on the farm I
still occasionally get involved.”
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| A model showing one of her scarves |
Louise can be
contacted on her mobile: 07736081423
Pictures: Emma
Williams Photography 07976795494
*
Click pictures to enlarge
This website:www.countynewsandpicturepost@blogspot.com
Sister site:www.blogsfromthebongs@blogspot.com
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| An example of machine embroidery |
The Leave campaign's success in the nail-biting battle over Europe was given a boost with one of the biggest turnouts in the country in Cheshire East. Remain support faded as more than 77 per cent of voters hit the polls in the area, including many in Goostrey. Leave comfortably won the referendum locally with 51.2 per cent of the votes against Remain's 48.8 per cent. But in neighbouring Cheshire West and Chester it was a Wellingtonian near-run thing with 50.7 per cent for the Leave campaign and 49.3 for Remain on a turnout of 74.5 per cent. Tony Collier, a leading supporter in the Leave campaign in Cheshire East, described the result as "fantastic." The relatively large vote for Remain in both Cheshire East and West is thought to result from fears among many in the farming community over future agricultural support. The NFU officially favoured remaining in the European Union, but despite this some farmers have complained that subsidies are still outstanding from last year.
