Jessica Coote, Creative Hand Embroidery and Textile Artist based in Brighton, England

H

ello and welcome to my website www.JessicaCoote.co.uk. I am a creative hand embroidery / textile artist from East Sussex, England (I live in Brighton but was born and raised in Lewes). Through creative hand embroidery and textile art, I attempt to interpret the beauty and tranquil ambiance of the natural world. The great richness of each scene that I depict is explored through its colours, textures, patterns, organic forms, light and shadows.

To create one of my textile landscapes, I must carefully select fabrics and materials (including silk, beads, satin, chiffon, sequins and many types of thread), which must then be cut, dyed, weaved, painted, pieced, patched and stitched together. This painstaking process often takes many weeks to complete. The final product is a relatively large artwork that combines a multitude of materials, fabrics and techniques to achieve colour, texture and relief. As a real hand embroidery purist, no machine techniques or glues of any sort are ever used in the construction of one of my textile artworks – I do everything by hand and by eye. All of my work is professionally framed and mounted by a local craftsperson – in each example, the pricing includes the frame shown in the photograph.

Since childhood, I have been inspired by the changing moods of South Downs, and fascinated by the diverse range of flora and fauna which thrive here (including rare birds, snakes and lizards, butterflies and grasshoppers, and many species of fragile native plants). To my delight, on the 12th of November 2009, Hilary Benn (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) announced that the South Downs has received National Park status, and confirmed its boundary. The South Downs National Park officially came into being on the 31st of March 2010. My project, ‘Textile Landscapes of The South Downs National Park’, is a celebration of this important event.

As a Brighton Conservation Volunteer, I’m actively involved in many environmental projects throughout Sussex (including coppicing, chalk grassland management, woodland conservation, pondwork, footpath building and maintenance, fencing and meadow management), which allows me to spend lots of time in the countryside studying the landscape in preparation for my next piece of work. I make these pictures because I love being in these places. Commissions, large and small, are warmly welcomed. Though I predominately work as a creative hand embroidery / textile artist, I also love painting watercolours and you will find a selection of my watercolour paintings of East and West Sussex here on this website, which can be purchased frame or unframed. If you are interested in purchasing something from this website, or would like to know more, please do not hesitate to contact me. I sincerely hope that you enjoy your visit!

Jessica Coote