Nelson Suter Art Society

to promote and encourage the cultivation and production of work in the visual arts

Jill Richards

Having been interested in sewing and textiles from a young age, I progressed through dressmaking, quilting (I have a stash of fabrics to use up!) and onto mixed media art and am now exploring painting with acrylics on fabrics. My artistic journey often changes course as I try out new mediums and experiment with new ideas, endeavoring to develop a style that is less eclectic as I explore new techniques.

My backgrounds are painted, hand dyed, printed on silk, organza, cotton or paper. I use techniques such as flour paste resists, bleach resists, batik, rust dyeing, shibori dyeing – whatever whim takes me at the time as I work intuitively on my next piece! I also enjoy incorporating hand and machine stitching into my work – detail that draws the viewer in to explore the piece more.

I am mainly self taught but have attended a five day workshop with renowned collage artist Joan Schultz from San Francisco, and as a result now also incorporate collage, monoprinting and photo transfer techniques in my work as well. I also teach classes exploring background techniques and enjoy the enthusiasm, interaction and amazing ideas that emerge during the lessons.

Currently I am a member of the Wall To Wall Art Gallery collective in Nelson where I enjoy the involvement with other artists which gives me inspiration and motivation as well as a connection with my work to the general public.

Mailable art (6” x 4” fabric postcards) using all sorts of mixed media techniques have also been a large part of my work and have proven very popular with buyers.