Embroidered Portraits With Susie Vickery
by Polly Leonard
Susie Vickery has seen a great deal of the world, thanks to her amazing career in textiles and development projects. As a craft consultant, Susie works for income generation projects in India, Nepal, Tibet, Myanmar and Turkey, responding to local materials and artistic traditions. Susie has also worked with USAID in Tibet, the Smithsonian in China, the British Council in Nepal, and the Wellcome Trust in India, Nepal and Mexico, running workshops. She has been a mentor artist for projects with women’s groups in informal settlements in Mumbai, in rural Nepal, and with indigenous Mexicans and Australians, making art with recycled and local materials.
Susie is no stranger to the Selvedge – she won a subscription for her work in the Opus show in January 2007. In what must feel like a previous life, Susie worked in London as a theatrical costumier for twenty years, specialising in men's period tailoring. Then, after moving to Nepal, she worked with women's handicraft projects and studied embroidery by correspondence with the Opus School of Textile Arts. She has also researched Tibetan costume and embarked on product development with a handicraft group in Tibet.
Suzie is returning to London on 11 May and giving a workshop on Embroidered Portraits. In this workshop, participants will learn how to embroider a portrait using free form straight stitch. Beginning with a sample image, Susie will demonstrate her technique of sketching with thread. Participants will be able to experiment with this technique using an image of their choosing, following Susie's guidance on interpreting a portrait.