Harriett Chapman has always had an passion for things as well as places, their connection and their memories. They are what fuel her colorful textile designs. In every piece she gives a meticulous attention to the shape patterns, colour, and shape.
Picking a treasured item, Harriett chapman simplifies its shape to create a template ready to be used for collages made of plain and patterned fabric. She selects her color palettes carefully, and she prefers to create them in a bold way yet balanced. The result is spectacular and you’ll be able to see that the combinations of fabrics truly sound great.
She embellishes her designs using stitching using contrast and complementary threads to create depth or create shapes that recede in the backdrop. She often uses scraps of fabric left over from cutting out shapes. This adds a unique abstract dimension in her art. This is due to her love of Matisse and his “painting using cutting tools” style.
The objects that inspire Harriett Chapman are objects with a story, a connection or a connection to the emotional. The work you will love is “The cottage” which she painted in the year her daughter was leaving home to go to university. This piece evokes the precious memories of Harriett’s Chapman former home with her family.
Learn the way Harriett Chapman utilizes shape and colour and how a prized object can be used to inspire stunning textile pieces that tell the personal stories of each.
The Treasure chest
Textile Artist.org: What were your first influencers? how did your childhood/lifestyle influence how you work?
My dad was a painter as well as lecturer on Fine Art at Camberwell School of Art, as well as other universities. He was in the evenings away from home during term and returned home on weekends. My parents would invite people from London to stay with us during the summer months. They were mostly students who were taught by my father, with whom he were friends. This was exciting for me.
A few of them were able to purchase houses in the region and also Helen Messenger, a lovely woman who was a lecturer in textiles for the Hornsey College of Art. In the summer of 1986, Helen created a dress for me with my mother’s vintage treadle Singer sewing machine. I was awestruck by it , and that’s where my fascination with textiles started.
What was the first thing that drew you to the idea of using textiles as an art form? What was it that got your imagination caught?
I fell in love with textiles due to my mother who owned an antiques store as well as an artist was a collector of all kinds of collections, including ceramics ship paintings wooden spoons, and a lot of gorgeous textiles.
As a youngster I would take my mother to the auction houses in Wales in which she would take home all the treasures she had. She had two vintage chests of drawers for her bedroom that were packed with gorgeous textiles. When I had no activity in the house, I frequently would go upstairs to take the drawers out and examine all the fabric.
I started sewing when I was about 10 years old, but I didn’t have the time or patience to master it. It wasn’t until I reached my 30s and doing my studies that I realized that working with textiles was something I could pursue and turn into my own career.
How did you go about your path towards being an artist?
I had already tried two different courses in my life, when I was in my 30s I decided to enroll at the London College of Printing. It was here that I truly began to be involved with my work and inspired me to revisit my passion for textiles.
I spent the next few years raising my daughter, and following that, I went back to school to complete an MA in Surface Pattern Design at Swansea College of Art. The course taught me the necessary skills to sell my work. I started making items such as bags, purses, and scarves by using my designs printed digitally on fabric.
At the conclusion of the course, I was picked to participate in The New Designers show and I was invited to The Quilt Show at Birmingham. It led me to sell my work through exhibitions that are located in London in addition to Brighton. In addition, I was curator of an exhibit in the Makers Guild of Wales, Cardiff, of which I was since the beginning of time.
Associative objects and objects
We want to know about the work that you have done
I am intrigued by the story of objects as well as the feeling of comfort I get when I gaze at them. Things and objects are a symbol of connection to individuals, places and also a particular period of time. My belongings are often associated with families, and have personal stories that connect to memories, meaning and emotions.
Form, color, and pattern are at the heart of my work. I combine ideas from still life photographs, arrangements of everyday life and other images, putting them all together to create an exciting composition. I also paint in addition to creating paper collages and textiles. These activities help me explore my subject, and I discover that my works are influenced by each other.
After l will chosen my color scheme, I select the appropriate shapes to compose the design. After that, I put together the cut-out pieces and iron them on the backing fabric. Stitching can be used to emphasize the shape of a piece or to make a shape appear more aesthetically the background.
We’d like to know more about the methods you’ve chosen and the way you employ them.
I have a lot of fabrics from thrift shops along with my collection of passed down materials. I love the delicate nature of fibres and the shiny , shiny textures of satins and silks and recently I’ve used wool as an underlying fabric.
To help strengthen the fabrics and to make it easier for me to cut the shapes, I employ Bondaweb (a paper-backed, iron-on adhesive). I reduce the shapes that I reference from my sources and usually make use of leftover pieces of the cutting process that would typically be missed.
I love using vibrant bright colours. Colors that complement each other really make fabric combinations sound. To stitch, I prefer to stitch a basic horizontal running stitch with threads with contrasting colours to create a series of drawn lines . This can increase the effect.
Who/what currently inspires you?
I’ve always been awed to some degree by Henri Matisse. His work is characterized by an easy, relaxed style. He was a part in the Fauvism movement and liked to employ colour, instead of shading, to create the appearance of volume and structure the work. In the initial lockdown, I came across an online class that cut out forms in an Matisse style. This truly inspired a fresh method of working with the field of textiles to me.
Alfred Wallis is another artist who inspires me. His compositions are simple simplicity. In his work, the perspective at times looks as if he’s watching a scene from afar.
Another artist I love one of my favorite artists is Julia Griffiths Jones. I love looking at the artwork that tells a tale, and her topic in the field of Eastern European folk art really excites me. We share a love of women playing their household roles, telling their personal tales of their lives through samplers and quilts.
The Cottage
Let us know about a piece of work that holds special memories. And why?
My piece “The house” was a work I painted while my daughter was heading off to university. I was at ease for the first time since a long time. I was in Swansea and contemplating returning into West Wales. I would visit the cottage frequently and am blessed with many memories of my time there. It was referred to as “Abermydyr” and was the coachhouse for the mansion in Llanerchaeron close to Aberaeron. Both houses are under the control of The National Trust.
While traveling around Wales I would often see Red Kites swooping. They’ve always been my favorite birds. They were brought back to the region in the Eighties and during the funeral of my father I remember that Red Kites were flying overhead.
This was my parents’ final home my father and mother owned. It was located in a stunning spot in which two rivers join at the bottom of the garden. There was a huge London Plane tree that covered all part of the garden. This work includes all of the important parts of my memory; The tree, my cottage, as well as my beloved Red Kites.
What did your work evolve since you started and how do you expect it to evolve in the near future?
In at the start of my professional career I was primarily focused on creating my own fabrics, and then making them into items. Over the past five years, I’ve gone from creating items into making one-of-a-kind, high-quality art pieces.
I’ve used a variety of methods, including screen printing, foiling paper and painting directly on cloth. Every piece I create incorporates stitch. I create collages and paint to inspire my work in textiles. Making use of a variety of methods is thrilling to me. I am always looking for innovative ways to use these methods to engage with my topic.
The most Important Lessons to take away
- Picking a contrast or complementary color scheme can provide an even balance to your design
- Treasured objects are great objects to create textile art that have significance
- Experimenting with other media could help you with your textile designs Explore art or paper collages to help you create your concepts
