Welcome to the Stitchery Witchery World of Louise Gardiner.
Louise has been exploring on her sewing machine for 17 years since graduating with a BA(Hons) Textiles from Goldsmith's College in 1994. In 2001 she completed an MA at Manchester Metropolitan University in Illustration and you could say that her work is now an exciting fusion of drawing, painting, fabric and thread. She has completed a huge variety of commissions for many clients across the UK. Her colourful and often humorous embroidered work is highly original and collectable. It has enabled her to exhibit as far afield as Delhi, India, however, this year, she will be exhibiting in London at The Saatchi Gallery.
- Louise has been selected for the Project Space at COLLECT, The Saatchi Gallery, May 2012 where she will be exhibiting a sequence of 5 large embroidered canvasses. COLLECT is the premier annual fair in Europe for international contemporary craft of museum quality.
- Please VOTE for Louise in the Craft and Design Selected Awards from this link OR the 'VOTE FOR ME' link on the contact page. The aim of this competition is to acknowledge excellence in craft and design skills and to help designer makers in Britain and Ireland to promote and sell their work.
- Louise is presently working on various commissions including a large embroidered artwork for The Royal Oldham Hospital and Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust. She has been liasing with the staff and patients at both Rochdale and Oldham Hospital in her research.
- She was recently awarded 'Best Northern Maker' at the 2009 Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, described as 'one of Britain's Best Loved Embroidery artists' in 'Embroidery Magazine' October 2009. Louise was interviewed about contemporary embroidery by Jenny Murray on Radio Four's Women's Hour.
- In November 2009 Louise was featured on 'Kirstie's Homemade Home' teaching Kirstie Allsopp a Master Class on how to draw with a sewing machine. Kirstie exclaimed that Machine embroidery was the 'crack cocaine of craft' as she whizzed around on Louise's machine. Louise will be teaching on a creative retreat at Bedruthan Steps Hotel in April/ July and will also be running her SUPERSTITCHERS Courses at Quarry Bank Mill in June. Please see the workshop page for dates and information.
- As one of the UK's most contemporary embroidery artists, Louise was invited overseas to promote her dynamic approach to embroidery for the Association of New Zealand Embroiderer's Guilds biannual conference for a three month tour in 2010.
