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| Angie Hughes 'Trinity' detail |
Angie Hughes
Noted for her bold use of colour and sumptuous use of materials such as velvets, layered organza, metallic threads & transfer foils, Angie's work also demonstrates a finely tuned aptitude for free motion embroidery, peppered with handstitch, rich in detail. Angie is based in the market town of Ledbury, Herefordshire, surrounded by beautiful, rolling countryside and close to the home of the Dymock poets. In such a setting it is little wonder that Angie draws inspiration from poetry, text and the natural world - plant forms being a recurring motif.
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| Angie Hughes 'Hung with Stars' |
Found objects are not a usual choice of material for Angie's practice so how did inspiration strike and what direction did she choose to take with this tiny, white collar, one of the smallest in the project?
"When
I started making this piece for the Group Gathering exhibition I had grand and
highbrow ideas about dog collars, religion, hair shirts and guilt." Little cameo saints began to appear, free machined with a hint of gold thread.
"I had started
to make little saints after I'd researched the lives of saints looking for the really BAD
ones with colourful stories, then my mum passed away."
"This
sort of brought a halt to proceedings but after the funeral I sat down and had a
think about the project and decided to turn the saints into angels, though not
religious mum had a spiritual side and she felt that there were guardians watching
us. Mum also enjoyed a good portent like Halle’s comet, aliens, horoscopes,
crystal skulls, spirits… she loved all that kind of stuff."
Although predominantly stitched in black, shots of blue & purple thread have been added to the angels robes with handstitched gold highlights, enhanced with sequins and beads .
"I decided to call my finished piece, 'Open Up Them Pearly Gates'. It is a magic collar with all the archangels, St Christopher, magic feathers and
wings, shooting stars, a bee and a butterfly to help mum on to the next big
adventure."
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| Gold foil transforms the 3d bee & butterfly |
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| A handstitched smattering of gold stars |
The words, 'Open up them pearly gates for the next big
adventure', has been free machined onto the inside of the collar, punctuated by a 3d butterfly and a bee.
A vibrant red heart with golden wings, stabbed with seed stitch adds the finishing touch to the front of the collar piece.
For the exhibition Angie has taken the heart & angel collar motifs and recreated them as individual brooches for sale.
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| Angie Hughes Finished Collar Piece: 'Open Up Them Pearly Gates' |
A poignant & joyful piece of work