Student Focus - Kate Lord - Hand Embroidery Student

We’re shining a spotlight on some of the wonderful regular students at Bus Stop Studios—starting with hand embroidery student Kate Lord, who went from being skeptical about stitching to a full-on embroidery addict!

"I’m loving my journey into the world of embroidery!

I signed up at Bus Stop Studios because I read up about Amy and realised, we had yet another world class professional artist who’d decided to move to our wonderful town.

After a hectic nonstop and often quite terrifying working life I’m always on the look out for

something that will be slower, allows me to express myself creatively and is y engrossing and doesn’t require a kiln or a forge.

It all seemed quite straightforward. We would learn stitches on a sampler and use those for later work.

In my class I was and remain the slowest and the least able. Sometimes being clueless as an adult can feel daunting.

Three terms later I found what I was looking for, stitches I could use like a paint brush. Suddenly, it all made sense. I don’t really like embroidered portraits, flowers, landscapes or a pattern that needed to be followed

Of course I can admire the incredible talent, but I really wasn’t sure where I was going with this

embroidery lark.

‘Long and short stitch’, now that was something that excited me. I have always adored the work of Egon Schiele. The way he captured emotion and movement with bold, expressive lines. This inspiration led me to experiment with different stitch techniques, blending colours and textures to create compositions as a homage to Egon’s work but with a twist that felt like my own.

Amy's encouragement and constructive feedback were invaluable, pushing me to explore new ideas and refine my skills. My embroidery journey had become a meditative practice, one that allowed me to channel my thoughts and emotions into something beautiful and tangible.

Through this process, I have discovered a sense of satisfaction and fulfilment. Embroidery had

transformed from a simple hobby into a form of self-expression, and I couldn't be more grateful for the supportive community at Bus Stop Studios and Amy's unwavering guidance.

Sewing in my group was a huge part of the process. I don’t do much at home. So now we meet every week for a two hour ‘embroidery meet up’ to sew and chat and possibly gossip a little?

I hope that my journey has only just begun, but who knows as a butterfly I might try crocheting next term"

Would you like to learn embroidery at Bus Stop Studios? We host regularly weekly classes on Tuesday afternoons and evenings. Please visit www.bustopstudios.com/classes