Image: Framed collection of strawberries, Bridget Bailey. Photographer Tas Kyprianou

Textile artist Bridget Bailey will be teaching an online workshop for us in September - Silk Strawberries, Virtual Workshop. Bailey has been making for 35 years in her studio in Camberwell, south-east London. Trained in textiles and with a background in millinery, her artworks bring together the qualities of these two disciplines – colour and textures from textiles and a sense of line and elegance from millinery – with original subject matter, from flora and fauna to insects. Bailey’s silk strawberries combine her use of colour, stitching and attention to detail. Her textile interpretation of strawberries evolved from observing the way they ripen and grow, as well as the lovely quality of the fabrics themselves.

Image: Egg collection made from silk and found feathers, Bridget Bailey. Photographer Tas Kyprianou

In Bailey’s work millinery straw is rolled into elegant pea and bean pods, with perfect points and delicate curves, and silk is layered to make the glow of ripening strawberries. Velvet is pushed through veiling to give a furry effect to a bumblebee. These intimate relationships with fabrics and what they can do are the conjuring tricks that create the magic of Bailey’s work.

In 2019 Bailey exhibited at MADE London: Meadowscape and Lawnscape, are framed pieces that represent a handmade survey of what species might be found in a strip of lawn or meadow, and the Flora and Fauna installation; individual plant and insect sculptures that are shown as a mass, but can be bought individually as a ‘pick your own’ arrangement. Watch Bailey talk about Flora and Fauna in this short film.

Bailey is an allotment gardener and she considers her allotment a key influence. “I have been very lucky to be able to keep tending it during lockdown. Finding beauty in the unexpected and telling stories about observing nature – it’s a constant source of inspiration.”

For more information visit brigetbailey.co.uk

To learn how to create your own fabric strawberries, book your place via our Workshops page.