Rachel Howard turns the mundane to marvellous
People's postures, their facial expressions and general mannerisms are the inspiration behind the stack of spontaneous sketches which are central to the work currently on show at the Weekend Gallery.
Rachael Howard uses her unique and insighful drawings to capture the very essence of her subjects, transporting the mundane and every-day into something far more beautiful and enticing than the sum of its subject matter parts.
Her fascination with the passing world, and her habit of capturing it on paper, may be the start of the process – and an important one at that – but it is just a beginning.
Those early drawings are transplanted into graphic, screen-printed, appliqued and machine embroidered narrative images – beautifully crafted and exactingly worked motifs.
And in doing so, the sort of events and people which normally would not raise an eyebrow – such as mums with prams or passing dogs – become the centre of our attention, causing us to examine the beautifully intriguing real-life canvasses which surrounds us, but are so often taken for granted.
Rachael was one of the Royal College of Art's first six embroidery postgraduates in 1992, and since then she has become renowned for devising new ways of combining screen-printed drawings with appliqued fabrics and machine embroidery.
She has been involved in a variety of projects, including the prestigious Jerwood Textiles Prize (1997) for which she was short-listed.
Head to the Weekend Gallery and let her drawings, fabrics and stitch skills remind you just how interesting everyday life can be.
The artistic equivalent of an afternoon spent people watching.
The show runs until June 27 at the Weekend Gallery, High Street.
For more information, visit: www.weekendgallery.co.uk.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Bexhill-on-Sea
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 3 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North west
