Sue Rangeley - Quarterly Newsletter

Newsletter

Spring 2022

230mm X 290mm 104pages soft-back book

Photography by Michael Wicks, over 190 colour images

Original embroideries, text and artwork by Sue Rangeley

Limited edition, exclusive to www.suerangeley.co.uk

ISBN 978-1-7397912-0-9

Full details of price and purchasing options in mid- March

Exciting news: Sue’s new book is coming soon……………..

Embroidery Atelier – Visions & Passions will be published at the end of March 2022. The book will be available to purchase from Sue’s website in early April; for updates please visit www.suerangeley.co.uk.

Though the newsletters have been silent since 2019, in contrast my studio has been a buzz of activity for the past two and half years. While we all coped with the challenges of the pandemic, creative projects swept my imagination into my embroidery atelier, and a concept for a book took shape.

Embroidery Atelier is a companion volume to Embroidered Originals (2010); this new book steps into my studio world, and shares the visions and passions that inspire a sequence of artistic embroideries.

Nature, nostalgia, and the romance of the past infuse designs; eclectic themes drive personal passions. Inspirations for stitch explore frivolous ‘flower power’ fashions, historic mementoes, nature’s world, and floral beauties from two famous National Trust gardens.

Beautiful photographic images by Michael Wicks capture the essence and meticulous details of Sue’s embroideries.

Below are some notes and images from the book, of course lots of stitch surprises await when you open the book next month!

Inside story

From time to time, a sketch can remain in a portfolio for years before it pops out to play a part in an embroidered creation.

Such is the story of the Sissinghurst jacket, inspired by the stunning White Garden at Sissinghurst Castle, Kent, which Vita Sackville West began dreaming about in the winter of 1940.

My imagination embraced the floral delights of Vita’s horticultural magic as I explored the decorative choices for floral and foliage textures to scramble across a work-wear jacket.

Over 320 stitching hours later a fashion statement is finalised!

Sketch ‘Gardening with Vita’ collection for Embroidery Atelier - Visions & Passions

Amongst the weeds

The tangled textures of weedy undergrowth take stitch into more robust earthy territory, putting aside the pretty allure of flora, explorations delve into needle-punched embellished surfaces and machine - lace moss textures.

Still in the garden, sketching soil and moss, inspiration plunges into a disorderly mode to style intriguing fashion attire.

Detail of moss textures ‘Gardening with Vita’ collection Embroidery Atelier - Visions & Passions

Detail of embellished print Suffragist Stitches for Embroidery Atelier - Visions & Passions

Curious partners

The legacy of the past guided my inquisitive mind into the era of the Suffragettes and Suffragists, in 2018 Britain celebrated the centenary of women getting the vote for the first time in 1918.

Rarely has my needle ventured into the political arena, but I was lured by a passionate interest in these remarkable trail-blazing women.

Here is a peek at a detail from an embroidered accessory which commemorates a famous march in 1913; one of three works which entwine politics with the needle’s art, fashioning stitch into modern mementoes.

Detail from inspiration tableau in Past Passions: a page from a 1916 Selfridges corsetry brochure, a colour palette of threads and fabrics, a postcard gaze from an Edwardian beauty.

Something old….. something new…. something borrowed……

Words from a nineteenth- century rhyme influenced the style of a tableau of inspiration, for another work in the Past Passions chapter.

A peachy-pink collection of vintage lingerie shades, fragments of old lace, button collections, historic underwear brochures attract attention to inspire a new creation.

Mood boards select the elements to influence colour stories, pattern and texture explorations.

The pages of Embroidery Atelier pay attention to the process of design research, illustrating the creative journey with images of studio displays. The stepping-stones of a creative embroidery project are challenging, but joyful!

Detail of stitched cords for an embellished choker

Studio Techniques

The finale of the book is a section on specialist stitch and craft processes, continuing the practical guide which first appeared in Embroidered Originals.

Sue shares studio secrets from her extensive repertoire, updating favourite techniques and introducing new ideas for embellishment. An array to inspire readers to pursue personal projects for a variety of applications: fashion, accessories, quilt embellishments, textile art etc.

There are no boundaries for creative stitching, only new paths of technique discoveries!

And finally……..

As I plan ‘Open Studio’ days in my Oxfordshire studio, during the summer of 2022 , exhibiting original works from Embroidery Atelier, here is a studio image to conclude this newsletter, looking from my worktable to the garden vista.

I look forward to opening my studio doors wide to welcome visitors!

Information on dates/ booking arrangements will be announced on my website in April.

For book collection options for individuals and textile groups in April: sue.rangeley@btinternet.com