Student of the Year Award: Jane Mayhew

Hello from STITCHBUSINESS, and a warm welcome to this edition of our newsletter.

A lot of wonderful work has been made by our students since you last heard from us. And some of that wonderful work has been made by Jane Mayhew – who was recently named STITCHBUSINESS’s 2019 Student of the Year. Jane is a very worthy winner of this Award, and is a very prolific worker and dedicated learner.

Jane has been a student with us for three years. She joined STITCHBUSINESS to study City & Guilds Level 2 Certificate in Design and Stitched Textiles and is currently working on her final pieces for her City & Guilds Level 3 Diploma in Design and Stitched Textiles.

In the time she has been with us, Jane has grown in confidence and has not been shy to push her experimental ways of thinking into her textiles. She fully embraces all the briefs we have set and challenges herself (and viewers) with her quirky approach and interpretations of both subject and technique. Her work does inspire others, and we hope you enjoy reading Jane’s words, which give an insight into her practice.

Many congratulations to Jane from us and from fellow students.

ARTISTS PROFILE: stitchpickings with . . .

Jane Mayhew

STITCHBUSINESS Student of the Year 2018

I attended Goldsmiths in my late twenties to study sociology. It was at this time that I became interested in art and made small spontaneous ‘automatic’ drawings. This is still part of the process I use today.

I don’t always understand the marks I make, but I respect them. I have a keen ‘visual’ interest in science. Reason and faith challenge my inner landscape. I work with boundaries of reality and abstraction.

Sewing began for me when I joined the Embroiderers’ Guild. I met Brenda Marchbank who taught me stitch and respect for the sewing world.

Many people I have met over the past few years have inspired me: members of local groups and Guilds, fellow classmates: Eunjung, Lilian, Heather, Krys and Fiona. Julia and Tracy at STITCHBUSINESS have worked with me and allowed me to get back to basics and ‘get stuff out’. I have a lot to learn but I hope that what I make inspires others too.

Artists who have influenced my stitch are Cos Ahmet, Diana Harrison and Dorothy Caldwell, who said I should not give up my work. At times I have been encouraged by Damien Hirst’s Pharmacy. Tacita Dean allowed me to pause and take a breath.

I asked my son to write some thoughts about me, as he knows me best: “I think few can say that they have given their heart and soul to their craft in the way my mum has. I know this first hand because any conversation can make its way to stitches and sewing and this passion is reflected in her work. I am so immensely proud of my mum for achieving this Award and that she has been recognized for the talent and skill I’ve always known her to have.”

Those who know me know how much my son has given to me; I am immensely proud of him too. There are no words and that is always the starting point or point of departure. The place soon becomes inhabited and the ‘elusive’ truth is always out of reach. I don’t strive for perfection but for inclusion.

 

GOOD HOUSEKEEPING: news and views . . .

STITCHBUSINESS would like to extend congratulations to the following students who have completed a City & Guilds course with us recently: -

Marie Keen (Whitby, UK) who has gained a 
City & Guilds 7716-06 Level 1 Certificate in Hand Embroidery

Sheila Speedy (West Yorkshire, UK) who has gained a 
City & Guilds 7716-61 Level 3 Certificate in Stitched Textiles

Anthea Lilley (Durham, UK) who has gained a
City & Guilds 7716-61 Level 3 Certificate in Stitched Textiles

Valerija Peles (Durham, UK) who has gained a
City & Guilds 7716-06 Level 1 Certificate in Hand Embroidery

Heather Cawte (York, UK) who has gained a City & Guilds 7716-39 Level 2 Certificate in Stitched Textiles

We would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to Fiona Greenwood (STITCHBUSINESS’s Student of the Year 2018) who recently received ‘Learner of the Year’ Award’ from the Worshipful Company of Broderers. What an amazing achievement.

Here she is in London receiving her Award (photo credit: Phil McCarthy)