Textile Study Group

artists and tutors sharing ideas imagination and skills

The One that Got Away
Closer view

Trained as a secondary school teacher, Jenny has spent her working life teaching textiles in Primary and Secondary schools and in Adult Education. She was tutor for the City & Guilds Creative Studies Embroidery courses at Strode College, Street and Exeter College for 18 and 20 years respectively.

She was a contributing author of Needlework School and Embroidery Studio and has written articles on embroidery for various magazines.

Jenny has worked with the Embroiderers' Guild on the Embroidery Development Scheme, for which she is a Reviewer. Her work has been exhibited widely in this country and abroad.

Now retired from full-time teaching she continues to teach classes and courses throughout the country.

The obsession to stitch has been with me all my life and since retiring from teaching, I have time to develop my own ideas and work, which is mainly machine stitched but does not exclude the use of hand stitchery. A long-time interest in dress and fashion has been the source of a great deal of my recent work, thus combining my early training with my love of stitched textiles. I am fascinated by the detail of decoration on and the construction of historical costume.

Other work is influenced by places and their history. I frequently use stitched text in my work using the rhythms of lettering to produce abstract areas of texture and to emphasise the meaning of the piece.

My work is exhibited regularly in The South West Textile Groups exhibitions and at Somerset Art Works events.

Homage to Juan Gris
Closer view

Jenny Blackburn