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‘Disturbing domesticity’ is a key theme in Sarah’s Home Inyasion series

Sarah creates gorgeous textureby layeringelements

Sarah calls her style of embroidery ‘drawing

An interuiew

ildhood e art’

The founder of Guerilla Embroidery reveals how she tui love of stitching into an exciting career in the world

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Interuiew by Judy Darley

Not many stitchers have been in the top 10 for the prestigious Hand & Lock Embroidery Prize while stiil at university -but Sarah Terry managed it! The honour of being a runner up played a big part in spurring Sarah on to make the transformation from student to Professional embroiderer, and she hasn’t looked back sińce!

“It was an incredible feeling,” she says. “In the first year of my degree in embroidery I learned so much about traditional hand stitching techniąues, and it was really encouraging to see my efforts recognised on a professional' scalę by Hand & Lock. It really helped me build confidence in my work, which is a must ifyoure out there trying to sell it every day! ”

Sarah’s embroidery work falls into the category of‘textile art’ - a gorgeous form

of painting with thread that creates pieces of stitched work with wonderful stories and philosophies behind them. Sarah calls it “drawing with a needle and thread”. Many pieces end up hanging in galleries or on the walls of collectors, to be seen and admired in the same way as a Gaugin or a Gainsborough.

Sarah was drawn to textile art from an early age, partly because she had a teacher at school who was very passionate about it. During her foundation course, Sarah had the chance to explore a lot of other techniąues, but it was embroidery that she loved best ofall.

She says, “After graduating from university I worked in a non-arts job for a while, so I started making embroidered items such as bags and purses as a way of staying creative. I soon had lots of things, and needed a way of selling them!”

It was at this point that Sarah realised she would never be completely happy unless she followed an artistic path in life.

“I opened up Guerilla Embroidery in 2007, and concentrated at first on making embroidered gifts and accessories. I took them to all the Manchester Christmas markets. Since then the business has evolved, and I now concentrate on artwork for workshops and exhibitions.”

As a result, Sarah’s work has appeared in galleries and museums across the UK, and even as far afield as Australia and the USA. The biggest highlight for Sarah was having a piece accepted at the Tatę Britain. “The piece is actually in the Tatę collection, rather than on display, but knowing my work is even in the vicinity ofthe Tatę is pretty awesome!” she says.

The starting point for nearly all Sarah’s work comes from initial drawings, which then get transferred on to fabric in different stitches. “My favourite stitch is the French knot, as it creates a wonderful texture. I’m also a big fan of backstitch for creating solid lines. Recently I’ve been exploring using different thicknesses of

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JULY 2011......