Course dates

Completed Course

Embroidered ‘postcards from Posara’

Profile

Rachel Wright is an embroiderer and blogger based in the North-west of England. A degree in French and Linguistics, and an MSc in Textile Design Technology and Design Management led her into other waters, but eventually true North pulled, and she enjoys writing about the hows and whys of stitch and thread choice, and the highs and lows of a semi-unplanned style of pictorial embroidery.

Her Grandmama first taught her embroidery when she was a child, but Rachel often wonders what Grandmama would make of the goldwork, raised work, and experimental adventures with textured threads that have marked her more recent work. As Rachel says - "It surprises me, sometimes, and I'm the one who's done it!"

For some time Rachel has been working on large project inspired by the story of excavations at Amarna in Egypt in the late 1920s, and since the beginning of the first lockdown has produced weekly "Slow TV" style videos in which she works on that and other projects while wittering gently about aspects of the design, the inspiration, or sometimes entirely unrelated matters. A book of her own, and an exhibition, are planned, and the search is on for a publisher and an exhibition venue.

Now Rachel is enjoying devising a series of embroidered ‘Postcards from Posara’ that will provide opportunities to experiment with stitch and thread textures. They are structured around some of the excursions on a painting course she joined at the watermill, and they are providing a wonderful opportunity to revisit her memories of those adventures.

The pictures here include preliminary ideas by Rachel on how to capture the spirit of the Watermill bamboozery and another couple of wonderful examples of Rachel’s innovative creations.

Your embroidering week at the Watermill will combine expert tuition, like-minded company, wonderful food and the delightful ambience of the Watermill, it's gardens and riverside walks, and outings into the surrounding unspoiled countryside of Lunigiana in Tuscany Italy.