In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Salley Mavor. Salley Mavor is a mixed media artist whose folk-art inspired vignettes tell stories of light and dark. This is the first part of our NeedleXChange and we find out how Salley's artistic process began when she was young and has stayed strong ever since, and the way in which she creates her mixed media worlds. We also explore the world of children's book illustration, something that Salley has been involved in for over a decade. Timestamps:...
Nov 25, 2024•46 min•Ep. 67
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Melissa Zexter . Melissa Zexter is a Brooklyn-based artist whose embroidered photographs explore memory and meaning. This is the second part of our NeedleXChange and we explore tips for stitching on paper, embracing mistakes and we explore Melissa's cultural favourites. Plus, we get a bit spooky, but I've said too much!. If you like Melissa's art, you'll love my NeedleXChange with Diane Meyer . Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:02:00 - Exploring ...
Nov 18, 2024•39 min•Ep. 66
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Melissa Zexter . Melissa Zexter is a Brooklyn-based artist whose embroidered photographs explore memory and meaning. This is the first part of our NeedleXChange and we discuss how Melissa's embroidery technique evolved and the value of analogue photography in a digital world, among other things. If you like Melissa's art, you'll love my NeedleXChange with Diane Meyer . Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:02:00 - The Intersection of Photography and ...
Nov 11, 2024•46 min•Ep. 65
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Peter Frederiksen . Peter Frederiksen is a Chicago-based artist whose machine embroidered cartoon vignettes are filled with tension and dark humour. In this second part of our NeedleXChange we talk about the craft of old school animation, the joys of living in Chicago and why Peter's titles are in important part of his work. Oh, and he confesses a secret that you'll want to listen to the end for! If you like machine embroidery, then be sure to check o...
Nov 04, 2024•48 min•Ep. 64
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Peter Frederiksen . Peter Frederiksen is a Chicago-based artist whose machine embroidered cartoon vignettes are filled with tension and dark humour. In this first part of our NeedleXChange we talk about how this particular combination of form and content has become Peter's signature style and how he shines a light on a culture we take for granted. If you like machine embroidery, then be sure to check out Julie Heaton 's episode. Timestamps: 00:00:00 -...
Oct 28, 2024•47 min•Ep. 63
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Michelle Kingdom . Michelle is a Californian embroidery artist whose wistful work delivers dark delight. Her work is instantly recognisable with its nostalgic style delivering gothic undertones with effortless class. This is the second part of our NeedleXChange and we discover the meaning of plants in Michelle's work, talk about her recent decision to do a portrait piece and explore her favourite cultural touchpoints. Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Introducti...
Oct 21, 2024•41 min•Ep. 62
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Michelle Kingdom . Michelle is a Californian embroidery artist whose wistful work delivers dark delight. Her work is instantly recognisable with its nostalgic style delivering gothic undertones with effortless class. This is the first part of our NeedleXChange and we discover how Michelle came to make and share her art, how she makes her vignettes and her approach to storytelling. Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:04:58 – Michelle's Artistic Jour...
Oct 14, 2024•40 min•Ep. 61
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Pete Tarrant. Pete is a digitised embroidery specialist, teacher and advocator for this emerging craft form. In this second part of our NeedleXChange we dig into the digitizing technique and how it has evolved as a craft form, as well as exploring Pete's cultural touchpoints. If you want more machine stitched inspiration then my XChange with Julie Heaton is worth a listen! Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:02:54 - The Future of Digital Embroidery...
Oct 07, 2024•48 min•Ep. 60
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Pete Tarrant. Pete is a digitised embroidery specialist, teacher and advocator for this emerging craft form. In this first part of our NeedleXChange we find out how Pete became involved in the world of digitised machine embroidery and then we focus on a major project that he undertook last year - The Anointing Screen for the Coronation of King Charles III. Be sure to tune in next week for Part 2 of our NeedleXChange and if you want more machine stitch...
Sep 30, 2024•35 min•Ep. 59
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Diane Meyer. Diane Meyer is an embroidery artist whose cross stitched work obfuscates the present to explore the past. She cross stitches on photographic images of places and people, obscuring parts of them to reveal presentations of the past with precision and perplexity. This is the second part of our NeedleXChange where we find out how about Diane's forthcoming exhibition and how she revisits older work. We talk about her affection for Berlin and w...
Sep 23, 2024•39 min•Ep. 58
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Diane Meyer. Diane Meyer is an embroidery artist whose work obfuscates the present to explore the past. She cross stitches on photographic images of places and people, obscuring parts of them to reveal presentations of the past with precision and perplexity. This is the first part of our NeedleXChange where we find out how Diane makes her work and how her artistic method evolved. Diane is a Professor of photography and our conversation touches on that...
Sep 16, 2024•37 min•Ep. 57
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Diana Weymar . Diana Weymar is an embroidery artist and curator, and founder of the Tiny Pricks project, a collaborative needlework project that immortalises quotes from Donald Trump as a crowdsourced documentary of an unusual part of American history. Diana is the author of Crafting A Better World , a book focusing on collaborative craftivism which is a great addition to your craft library and one of the topics in this second part of our XChange!. Ti...
Sep 09, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 56
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Diana Weymar . Diana Weymar is an embroidery artist and curator, and founder of the Tiny Pricks project, a collaborative needlework project that immortalises quotes from Donald Trump as a crowdsourced documentary of an unusual part of American history. Diana is the author of Crafting A Better World , a book focusing on collaborative craftivism which is a great addition to your craft library. In this first part of our NeedleXChange we talk about how th...
Sep 02, 2024•45 min•Ep. 55
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Dr Susan Kay-Williams . Dr Susan Kay-Williams was the Chief Executive of the Royal School of Needlework from 2007 to 2024 and is a recognised expert on the history of colour and textile art. In this second part of our NeedleXChange we talk about the history of the Royal School of Needlework, and Susan's role within it (something that ends in August 2024). I get her take on the Embroidery as Art debate and we cover a lot of random ground, as I had so m...
Aug 26, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 54
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Dr Susan Kay-Williams . Dr Susan Kay-Williams was the Chief Executive of the Royal School of Needlework from 2007 to 2024 and is a recognised expert on the history of colour and textile art. In this first part of our NeedleXChange we cover the history of colour in textiles, as well as how tapestries evolved from a utility product to an art statement, and all manner of topics in between. Susan's perspective on the topic is unique and I really enjoyed n...
Aug 19, 2024•46 min•Ep. 53
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Emma McKee. Emma McKee is a Chicago-based cross stitch artist whose work is adored by hip-hop artists and basketball icons. This is the second part of our NeedleXChange and we explore Emma's relationship with Chicago, her love of her Dad, how she has evolved as a designer and we check out her cultural recommendations! If you enjoyed the show, please leave a review on your podcast platform so more people can share the love! Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro...
Aug 12, 2024•51 min•Ep. 52
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Emma McKee. Emma McKee is a Chicago-based cross stitch artist whose work is adored by hip-hop artists and basketball icons. This is the first part of our NeedleXChange and we talk about how Emma came into cross stitch and the circumstances in which her work came to the attention of the hip-hop community. I love chatting with Emma and this conversation flows in all kinds of directions. Tune in next week for the second part of our XChange and if you enj...
Aug 05, 2024•50 min•Ep. 51
In this 50th episode (yay!) of NeedleXChange I interview Marcia Bennett Male. Marcia is a textile artist and stone mason, whose stitched works explore her personal experiences as a black woman living in modern Britain, and focus on black historical figures. Marcia's work uses simplistic form and hidden meaning to address topics that are deeply personal, whether it's her own mental wellbeing or the cultural context of black identity. In this second part of our NeedleXChange we discuss black repre...
Jul 29, 2024•51 min•Ep. 50
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Marcia Bennett Male. Marcia is a textile artist and stone mason, whose stitched works explore her personal experiences as a black woman living in modern Britain, and focus on black historical figures. Marcia's work uses simplistic form and hidden meaning to address topics that are deeply personal, whether it's her own mental wellbeing or the cultural context of black identity. In this first part of our NeedleXChange we talk about her forthcoming show ...
Jul 22, 2024•53 min•Ep. 49
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Aaron Fein . Aaron Fein is a mixed media sculptor whose work plays with perceptions, both luminant and psychosocial. This is the second part of our NeedleXChange in which we discuss how Aaron's work has evolved since the White Flags project, how he began dying fabrics and threads, we nerd out about scaffolding for a bit and we explore Aaron's cultural touchpoints. If you enjoy the show, please share it with anyone you know with a sewing machine - it m...
Jul 15, 2024•48 min•Ep. 48
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Aaron Fein . Aaron Fein is a mixed media sculptor whose work plays with perceptions, both luminant and psychosocial. Inspired by the fading colours of American flags after 9/11, Fein embarked on a project to create white flags that represented grief and unity. He initially experimented with bleaching and sewing, but eventually discovered the power of machine embroidery. Over the course of several years, he created 193 white flags, each representing a ...
Jul 08, 2024•36 min•Ep. 47
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Danielle Clough, aka Fiancé Knowles. Danielle is an South African artist known for her vibrant and expressive embroidery work, characterised by bold colours, movement, and layering, creating a visual impact that evokes joy. She believes in the inherent goodness of people and the power of support and validation in fostering self-confidence. This is the second part of our NeedleXChange and we explore Danielle's colour theory, discuss some of her other p...
Jul 01, 2024•42 min•Ep. 46
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Danielle Clough, aka Fiancé Knowles. Danielle is an South African artist known for her vibrant and expressive embroidery work, characterised by bold colours, movement, and layering, creating a visual impact that evokes joy. She believes in the inherent goodness of people and the power of support and validation in fostering self-confidence. This is the first part of our NeedleXChange and we discuss how Danielle became a stitcher, how she became a viral...
Jun 24, 2024•52 min•Ep. 45
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Liz Kueneke . Liz Kueneke is an Ibizan-based artist whose community created maps plot personal paths through urban environments. This is the second part of our NeedleXChange in which we discover how Liz came to needlework, how the Urban Fabric concept came to be, Liz's relationship with Ibiza and we cover the usual Favourite questions. Finally, as is the way of these interviews, we learn another fascinating aspect of Liz's creative expression. Be sure...
Jun 17, 2024•40 min•Ep. 44
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Liz Kueneke . Liz Kueneke is an Ibizan-based artist whose community created maps plot personal paths through urban environments. Her Urban Fabric project involves embroidering maps of different cities and inviting communities to weave their own narratives into the maps. The project aims to change people's perceptions of place and foster a sense of connection to their surroundings. Liz has conducted these participatory mapping projects in various citie...
Jun 10, 2024•35 min•Ep. 43
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Kate Kretz. Kate Kretz is an acclaimed multidisciplinary artist known for her intricate, time-intensive works that tackle challenging societal issues. In this second part of our NeedleXChange we talk about how American politics shaped Kate's work, how her book evolved from her work with artists and we discover an interesting fact about Kate's hobby for collecting... well, you'll have to listen to find out! Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:02 - Using...
Jun 03, 2024•44 min
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Kate Kretz. Kate Kretz is an acclaimed multidisciplinary artist known for her intricate, time-intensive works that tackle challenging societal issues. In this first part of our NeedleXChange we talk about Art from the Core, Kate's new book, we discover Kate's creative background and take a look at the experience of using human hair as an embroidery medium. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:01 - The Power of Art to Shape the World 00:08:06 - Finding Y...
May 27, 2024•44 min•Ep. 41
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Kathy Halper . Kathy Halper is a mixed media artist from Illinois whose art takes a leftfield look at life. Her embroidered pieces explore slices of normal life with wit and style but they are just part of Kathy's creative repertoire. In this second part of our NeedleXChange we discuss Kathy's fearless approach to problem solving and how she plays with media to bridge reality and fiction. And we have a good old chinwag about British TV as well. Timest...
May 20, 2024•36 min•Ep. 40
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Kathy Halper . Kathy Halper is a mixed media artist from Illinois whose art takes a leftfield look at life. Her embroidered pieces explore slices of normal life with wit and style but they are just part of Kathy's creative repertoire. In this first part of our NeedleXChange we explore the Joy Of Missing Out - the topics of Kathy's most recent series - and how Kathy's 2012 series looking at the emergence of teenage expression on Facebook turned out to ...
May 13, 2024•39 min•Ep. 39
In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Audrey Montoya . Audrey Montoya is a needle felting artist whose melancholic characters are strange in all the right ways. Her affinity for childhood icons and kitsch pop culture began at an early age, but after an education in the world of fine art, her adventure into needle felting has truly crystallised her vision. This is the second part of our NeedleXChange where we discuss Audrey's solo show, how she fits into the artistic realm and find out the...
May 06, 2024•31 min•Ep. 38
