CATHERINE PEDDEL - TEXTILES ARTIST

I grew up with a mother who was always sewing and knitting. My sister and I had summer dresses, school jumpers, hats and scarves that were made with love. The dining table had hand embroidered tablecloths; my father’s socks were always hand knitted.

No wonder then, that I picked up on this creativity and was encouraged to follow this line of work. I went to college, and studied industrial methods of manufacturing, pattern cutting and tailoring.

This led to working in the industry, for the prestigious clothing company Aquascutum.

Marriage and family came along. I was still keeping the creativity going, making clothes for my children. With the children growing older, I was fortunate enough to retrain as a teacher of textiles. This fitted perfectly with family life and took me in another direction.

The flower pictures all started a few years ago when I wanted to give my sister a special housewarming present. I dyed old linen sheets that belonged to our Grandmother. Inspiration came from our Father’s garden which was filled with flowers and vegetables.

My life is now, different again. The children have now left home. I am fortunate to have a room which I can use as a studio and spend time experimenting and developing my work.