a little personal history

Before I talk about what I plan to do during the residency, I should explain a little about how I came to be here, as an artist who works primarily with cloth.

I grew up surrounded by textiles stitched by family members. I never knew my mother's father, who died when my mother was a small child, but he had a large presence in my life through the legacy of his silk embroideries, stitched as he lay bedridden and slowly succumbing to the tuberculosis which took his life at the age of 34.


This image, which you might have noticed also appears behind the blog title above, shows part of a faded cushion cover embroidered by my grandfather, Harry Sinclair, more than 80 years ago. It is one of my most precious possessions.


My grandfather stored his silk threads between the pages of magazines in an old shirt box.

My father's sister, Violet Taylor, was a painter who also embroidered her household linen. She was particularly fond of depicting Western Australia's unique wildflowers, sitting for hours in the bush studying the flowers, making detailed drawings and notes in exercise books.

From her I inherited my love of wildflowers and my desire to be an artist.

My mother exchanged her school books for the workroom of Shirley's Frock Shop. Employed for her fine sewing skills, she soon found herself responsible for designing and executing the beading on the elegant gowns made for Perth's high society. Her work books recorded each beading job, costed by the hours taken and number of beads used.


This Chinese embroidered kimono in its silk bag, given to my mother as a young woman and brought out for me to fondle on special occasions, set me on the path of exploring Asian textiles.


I learned to sew before I learned to write. My earliest efforts at dressmaking involved dressing small dolls with simple cut circle skirts. Of course I needed to make a set of match-box drawers to store these fabric skirts.


Fabric and thread were never far from my hands. I stitched at school, and I stitched at home. Some of you might recognise the school samplers among this collection of my childhood stitching.


With all those old textiles in my family history, it is no wonder that I found my way to the Society's doorstep, eager to explore its historical costume collection.