There’s a neatness to Chloe Redfern’s embroideries, a simple appeal that ties to both her choice of subject and material. Inspired by nature, her embroideries tend to center around birds and plants, specifically wildflowers which seem to be an almost inexhaustible source of inspiration.
“When I was growing up we had a caravan in Wales and I loved the wildness of the landscape,” recalled the Birmingham-based embroiderer in an interview with Ballpitmag. “I think going there instilled in me a great love for nature and the outdoors.” After completing an art foundation course in college, Redfern worked with mixed media textile and paper collage for around six years, before starting to work with hand embroidery in 2015.
Now her work centers around hand embroidered hoop art, a small selection of which can be found on her Etsy shop. She also designs downloadable embroidery patterns which you can download for a reasonable price. “I love the fact that it takes quite a long time to stitch a piece, so it is quite a meditative process,” reflected Redfern, “and I find all of the materials really pleasing; the colorful threads, beads, lovely natural colored fabric (natural calico is my fabric of choice) and the wooden hoops.”
Drawing is an important part of her process, and when starting a new piece of work she usually makes preparatory drawings, based on photographs or her imagination. “One of the things I find most rewarding about creating embroidery patterns is the thought that they are hopefully bringing enjoyment to people, so I would like to keep creating new patterns, as well as working on new original pieces to further explore my favorite subject matter,” she says.
