Sarah Wiggs

I have been tutor on the OCA Textiles courses 1 and 2 for more than 10 years; I was a student on the course the year it first it ran and found it a very enjoyable and creative experience. The course book is excellent; I find it a pleasure and a challenge to be sent students work to look at and give what I hope is useful and encouraging advice.

My area of expertise lies in embroidery and textiles; I have City & Guilds in Embroidery Pts 1 & 2 and Textiles Pt 1, a Dip HE in Fashion and Textiles, and a BA Hon’s in Art and Design.

I have exhibited my work in solo shows, and with Strictly Textiles of which I was a founding member (currently going through a re-launch) as well as various open exhibitions.

Examples of my work can be found in Valerie Campbell-Harding’s book Bead Embroidery.

My hand painted fabrics and paper collages have been used for record and CD covers.

Currently I teach children's art classes, I very much enjoy working with children, and the challenge of having to think on my feet, to keep up with their creativity. I have previously taught weaving, embroidery, fabric painting, print-making and enamelling to adults, I have a certificate in Adult Education.

For sometime I ran my own business producing hand painted fabrics and clothes to commission, these were sold through a gallery/shop co owned with my sister.

I have 2 sons, an aged mother and 5 cats. I love textiles, fabrics and old clothes I am in the fortunate or unfortunate position to have been able to keep most of the clothes I have ever worn and inherited garments even older than my own.

The starting point for work I have made most recently have been my own photographs of family or images that please me (flowers given to me by my son) I enlarge the image using a grid, then paint on to canvas I then embellish using hand and machine stitching. I have empathy with students who fell under pressure with family or work demands, but we all need to set aside time to for fill our creative needs.