Jill Milne
Welcome to my gallery and online shop
About Me
I have always loved to create images and 3-D forms, drawing inspiration from many sources; landscape, the human body,
natural forms, poetry, paintings, history, colour. Sometimes a collection of materials on my work table will give me
an idea; it could be a random collection of threads, scraps of fabric, or a palette covered with dried paint.
As an artist I am very much a 'work in progress', having gone through several phases of re-inventing myself. I used to do a lot of hand embroidery using fine threads and tiny stitches. Lately, stiffening hands and worsening eyesight have led me to experiment with new ways of making images and objects without having to hold little needles or peer closely at the work! I am using dry and wet felting techniques to create surfaces, using hand-painted and hand-dyed fabrics and natural fibres. It's an exciting new phase of the journey. If you would like to read my 'history', then carry on; otherwise skip the rest of this page. As a child I always wanted to draw and colour. The blank end-papers of my story books were covered with spidery line-drawings of spiky figures and animals, and the black and white illustrations were often clumsily coloured in with wax crayon. My grandmother was the inventor of all kinds of fun, and with her I made paintings, drawings, models, and puppets. I wanted to go to art school at the age of 17 but my parents were horrified at the idea, so having a love of words and poetic images, I took an English degree, did a post-graduate teaching diploma, and worked as a teacher. I went to pottery classes at night school, then in 1990, was accepted as a full-time mature student on a foundation course at Manchester Metropolitan University, where I intended to study 3-dimensional design. This was a very exciting new beginning, but illness intervened and I had to leave. Bored while recovering from an operation, I went (fairly unwillingly!) to a creative embroidery class, where to my surprise I became instantly 'hooked' on making landscapes with needle and thread. I then did a year's full-time study on a course in ceramic design at Burslem Art School. Here, as well as learning quite late in life to drink Guinness and blackcurrant at lunchtime, I expanded my experience of drawing and painting, and had the opportunity to experiment with sculpting and casting. Fate intervened again, and I became allergic to clay, so I returned to working with threads and fabrics. I began to design tapestry and embroidery kits, and was lucky to be asked to produce readers' projects for several magazines. I also taught embroidery students and gave talks to branches of the Embroiderers' Guild. For several years I worked for a bridal couturier, decorating silk gowns with hand-painted flowers, embroidery and beading. It's tricky to summarise so many years in a few sentences, but I have found that the set-backs I've encountered have always led me to try something new and that one experience can enrich and enhance another; nothing is wasted in the end. I've had a lot of help, support and encouragement along the way from teachers, friends, magazine editors and customers, and with an artist son and an IT consultant husband, I never lack inspiration, technical advice or criticism! My thanks to all of them. |
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