Debby is a mixed media artist from Bristol whose work is inspired by nature and memories interpreted in layers and texture. Stitch, batik, painted papers and fabrics are combined to produce beautiful work and she is a regular exhibitor at events in the South West.
Debby is a former Primary School teacher who became somewhat disillusioned with teaching when the National Curriculum was introduced. She decided the time had come to pursue her creative side so did an art foundation course followed by an art degree and the City & Guilds Silk Painting and Batik course. She now teaches creative stitch to adults and has a particular interest in dying and pattern making.
Natural dyes have been used since the dawn of time and the urge to decorate things is as old as mankind. Debby described how traditional batik is done using a paraffin wax or bee’s wax resist and a bucket of dye! And it is possible to dye layers of colour with careful use of the resist. The fabrics tend to be quite stiff as it’s difficult to remove all the wax resists.
Having dyed her fabric and got the colour combination she wants, Debby then starts to stitch, largely free motion machine stitching but she does also us some hand stitching. She tends to add a layer of wadding before starting to stitch as it gives the fabric better stability.
Silk painting also forms an important part of Debby’s work. She prefers to work on smaller pieces as they are easier to manage on the dining room table! She uses digital printing onto fabric to make things like lamp shades and cushion covers and she showed us some beautiful examples of her work. Debby encourages an organic approach to her work, go with the flow and don’t worry about things being perfect. She described how salt, alcohol and hand sanitiser can affect the way dye is taken up and can produce some interesting effects.
Small or failed pieces of dyed silk can be cut up and used for mosaic work and Debby displayed some beautiful pieces made from tiny squares of dyed fabric. In fact she has moved more towards mixed media now and uses textile felt tip pens, Inktense water colour pencils, tyvec, wool fibres and scrunched up paper and anything else she can find in her work.
With thanks to Debby Bird for permission to use text and photographs of her work.
