Judy Stephens
I have jumped through the usual hoops - City and Guilds, two-thirds of a Contemporary Textile Practice degree. But what I really like are stories and colour.
Many of my older quilts have a red, white and black palette, they feature text and heads and they carry with them the tang of newsprint. I spent my working life as a journalist. The newest ones have hijacked me into an unexpected blue and orange colourway. Their inspiration predates the Ukraine war which has crept in anyway as I am an unrepentant news junkie. They are my attempt to translate a set of four tiny paper collages into fabric. I was after their spontaneity and boldness. Torn edges, random shapes, that blue. Something to do with the energy of nature, growth and destruction, family. I don’t know. Or perhaps I do. There is always a hidden narrative which is my life. |