ARTISTS / STEPHANIE REDFERN
BA [ Hons ] Member of The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Art Textiles: Made in Britain and Eclectica artists' groups.
A ceramist for 20 years, I began working in textiles and mixed media in 2003. I now concentrate entirely upon these media, enjoying the immediate sensation of colour, design, line and shape using drawing, print, textiles and text.
Textile work starts with an interface of design and material. I paint and print my fabrics using a variety of media, and construct my work using collage and stitch. Many of the best things that happen are a combination of personality, experience, life and the patterns and spaces that move me. I also draw using mixed media, and write the texts I use in my work.
My influences are the suburban landscape, observation of the natural world, architecture, and ancient and contemporary artefacts. I make illustrative work, pattern based pieces and occasionally work which moves towards abstraction. My work consists of artist’s books, large wall hangings, and smaller pieces of textile work, prints and drawings. My work has been extensively exhibited and purchased and resides in many parts of the world.
I have taught children, adults and special needs students for 30 years, and have been artist-in-residence at many schools, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, and several times at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists. I have also curated and organised exhibitions, both in textiles and ceramics.
I have published several books. Into the Cacao Grove, The Stone Bird and Shadow and Light are facsimiles of three of my mixed media artist’s books, and Thoughts, which is a collection of texts used in my artist's books. These are now sold out, but Search Press has recently published my fifth book, Stitched Textiles:Nature, which explores how my work is inspired by the natural world.