THE BEAUTY OF BLANK SPACE, 60CM X 71CM, EMBROIDERY ON LINEN
‘My grandfather used to embroider, which always seemed unusual to me as a child. I was fascinated by his sofa, where he sat sewing.The back of the sofa was completely covered with cut threads of all colours, split and ready to use. It was a beautiful sight. ‘He had been taught to embroider by a “Lady Someone” in Durham. She took in a group of young lads who had been shell-shocked in the First World War and it must have been a kind of therapy. He continued to embroider all his life.When he died my aunt gave me his threads and left-over cloth and this prompted me to produce a series of embroideries for my post-diploma show at Glasgow School of Art in 1976. I was in the drawing and painting depar tment so embroidery was not really on the menu but I wanted to do it and I was allowed to do it. I made embroideries of Persian rugs.
‘I continued to sew and paint and draw.Very few galleries I exhibited with were interested in the embroidered work and I’ll be eternally grateful to the ones that accepted my multi-media approach.There was still very much the attitude that the works in fabric were not “fine art”, an attitude I’ve always found narrow-minded and, after Picasso with all his various creative outlets, a bit outdated.