Joanna Teague

Joanna Teague

One of the things that amazes me is the way our language contains so many words that come from cloth and thread, they are such an integral part of our language that I don’t think many of us even notice when we say them, phrases like hanging by a thread, being on tenterhooks, being hot under the collar. Once people know how much I love anything to do with textiles, they will see my smile when they say them! The most common one is to follow a thread, so many people use this one and it’s apt for how life takes us along. I have been following a long thread for a while now which has led me here to the Voices Gloucester celebration of Threads.

Threads are hugely important to my life, I teach how to stitch with them, I read the history of how people have used them and watch the effects of people learning to make with them, so for me, it’s always very apt to think of my life following a thread.

Threads are hugely important to my life, I teach how to stitch with them, I read the history of how people have used them and watch the effects of people learning to make with them, so for me, it’s always very apt to think of my life following a thread.

It was the thread and the thousands of little stitches in Stitchstory that brought me here. The Stitchstory is a community based artwork that involved over 8,000 people in Tewkesbury adding just a few little stitches to make a 6 metre long panel portraying the history of Tewkesbury. The simple idea, that we could all add a stitch, from a 6 week old to over 100 years old, from nursery schools, to engineering firms, from dairies to sporting events, we asked people to add their stitch, to be part of something bigger, to make their mark on something that celebrates the history of the town. It has had a big effect in Tewkesbury and we are so pleased to see it here in Gloucester, at the Cathedral, celebrating those tiny stitches, community working together and continuing a long, long history of people stitching together. When people come together to stitch and make together, that moment of connection over a shared project is important.

Threads and stitches have often brought me to a point of connection with many people and Voices Gloucester has been an important part of that. It has brought me, along with other artists to explore the stories and history of Westgate Street, using stories collected by Marsha Mahoney. I have had the chance to research the way buildings and the streetscape has changed over the years, following the thread of what has stayed the same, and what has changed. The work that I produced is on display in the Knobbly Cob and shows the building opposites, blending an older photo with the way the building is used now. Look for the others by following the bobbin trail along Westgate Street. Look out for the work produced by community groups, displayed in cafes, the cathedral and shops.

I have produced 4 more of these images of Westgate Street, all of which can be seen down at the Folk where there is an exhibition that gathers together more threads, the threads of other artists who work in stitch, exploring the threads of their own life. It’s exciting to see the work together, both experienced and emerging artists who work in textiles. By using threads, many people connect with the work on a different level than they would with other media, such a familiar material, with threads and cloth literally touching our lives every day. Expressing yourself, your circumstances with stitch has been a tradition for a long time, particularly for young women. Many people will recognise samplers from visits to museums, but these are an example of self expression through stitch. This interest in samplers has led me to exploring the work of Cheltenham Female Orphanage Asylum and the needlework produced there. I am looking forward to sharing my research at The Folk as part of the Threads talks and workshops, connecting with the young women who produced the samplers and those who still make and sew today. I am also on tenterhooks to see the Folk re-open, the day we hung the exhibition, the work was almost done and we were treated to a chance to have a tour on the scaffolding and see the beauty of the original and the restoration work up close.