About Rosie James

Rosie James is a Textile Artist living and working in Kent, UK. She has a BA Hons Textiles degree from Surrey Institute of Art and Design and an MA in Textiles from Goldsmith College London.

Rosie started off with a small business making dyed and screen printed fabrics, scarves, ties, cushions etc, but once she discovered that she could use the sewing machine to draw with, she found herself doing less print and began creating larger and more one off pieces.
Her first stitched drawing was of a group of friends at a beach hut party in Kent. This piece won the Bentliff Museum and Art Gallery prize in 2008 and spurred her on to do more. She decided to turn her focus away from her friends (much to their relief) and thus began an obsession with people watching.
People and crowds became her focus and particularly specific groups in particular places, such as art galleries or tourist spots. She gets in amongst them with her camera and then translates these photos into drawings and then stitches them using an old Bernina and black thread.
Rosie has exhibited her work all over the world and has large-scale pieces in hotels and museums in the UK and the USA.
Rosie has published a book called “Stitch Draw” which illustrates and demonstrates her techniques..

Workshop

This course will explore ways of drawing with the sewing machine. Students will learn to use their sewing machine for free machine embroidery, as well as experimenting with stitching on different surfaces including paper and transparent cloth, we will be adding colour through appliqué techniques using colourful fabric scraps and bondaweb.
The focus will be on drawing the figure, tracing from photographs and magazines. (You do not need to be any good at drawing to do this course!)
This course is suitable for complete beginners at machine embroidery or experts who want to expand their range.
We will spend the first day building up a range of samples and experimenting and then the second day will be focused on putting it all together to create a final artwork.
Students can bring in their own photographs to work from or sketchbooks and drawings they want to use, however don’t worry if you don’t know what to bring as Rosie will bring in lots of images to work from.

*it is recommended to bring along your own sewing machine

£190 - 2 day workshop 10-4.30, includes all materials & refreshments - please bring along lunch or alternatively visit one of the two Cafes on site as well as an award winning farm shop.