Vendulka Battais – Meet the Artist

A little textile inspiration from my YouTube ‘Meet the Artist’ Collection. Today it features the work of artist Vendulka Battais.

Vendulka and her husband Oliver work together on designing and creating the quilts.

“I started with traditional squares and triangles, which gave me good skills I can now build upon,” Vendulka says. “My passion for free motion quilting took me away from piecing and more into whole cloth and art quilts. I’m also very lucky I can share this passion with my husband Olivier.” 

The intricate design of the quilts in this exhibition have been designed by Olivier and quilted by Vendulka. They then explored the use of glittery and metallic paints to bring more colour and, more interestingly, ‘bling’ to their work, which is not often seen in textiles.  

Browse and purchase the Marabu Metalic & Glitter Liners on Amazon.

Catch up with Vendulka and her stunning artwork at the Festival of Quilts 2022.

Vendulka and Olivier Battais’s Artwork: https://www.oliven.co.uk/

Each piece is dedicated to a different woman who inspired or influenced their textile journey. Since embarking on her textile art adventure, Vendulka has won awards at major quilt shows, including first runner-up in Wearable art at PIQF in California.

Artwork by Vendulka Battais
Artwork by Vendulka Battais

The couple won third place in the Great Northern quilt show in Harrogate and Best in Show at the Festival of Quilts 2021. 

Artwork by Vendulka Battais
Artwork by Vendulka Battais

Watch this space! – join the mailing list and be first to see some wonderful artist interviews.

Jean Bennet – Meet the Artist

A little textile inspiration from my YouTube Textile Collection. Today it features Mixed Media work of artist Jean Bennet.

How are Textiles used in Art Therapy to capture feelings & emotions? Jean works as an art therapist and as a Lecturer in Theraputic Arts. In this YouTube, she shares ‘The Nep of Life’ Exhibition and explains some of the pieces.

Each art work starts with a foundation of thread and stitch before being combined with different mediums and discarded objects. Each piece tells a story.

I’ve recently rediscovered this footage – it was filmed at the Knitting and Stitching Show 2019.

It seems rather strange to hear the bustle of crowds in the background – feels like a lifetime ago.

Art by Jean Bennet
Art by Jean Bennet
Mixed Media Art starts with thread and stitch
Mixed Media Art starts with thread and stitch
Each piece is combined with mediums to create figurative sculptures.
Each piece is combined with mediums to create figurative sculptures.

Sabine Kaner – Meet the Artist

A little textile inspiration from my YouTube Textile Collection. Today it features textile art by artist Sabine Kaner.

Sabine has a stash of old knitted garments and wool yarn, that she uses as the base for her textile art. The garments are discarded family jumpers or sourced from charity shops.

She uses her own life experiences to create her work. Each piece tells a story.

Sabine is a member of Prism and the The Society for Embroidered Work

Images courtesy: https://sabinekaner.com

image showing five shapes of long gloves - textile art created from old jumpers.
Reunion-Unity by Sabine Kaner
Sabine Kaner standing in front of her work
Sabine in her studio
Greensleeves. image showing showing the sleeve from a green jumper embroidered in multicoloured shapes
Greensleeves
Blended Stitches. image showing parts of a purple jumper and embroidery - textile art created from old jumpers.
Blended Stitches

Pop over to my previous ‘Aran Illingworth’ post for more textile inspiration featuring pre-loved cloth.