Forage & Stitch

"Consider, for a moment, if every surface was entirely natural, or that all of us could create art from our natural surroundings for free. I can remember making daisy chains as a child, feeling that first thrill of discovery that I was creating something directly from nature. Taking inspiration from the natural world allows for art, healing and nature to all come together in one big creative adventure."

Using natural materials in textile art is way of connecting a place directly with its artistic representation, but it also makes the artist tap into and observe the true rhythms of the natural world: the seasons, the weather and, in both of these, time. Incorporating consciously foraged goods in art gently forces you to slow down, to take note of each season's bounty, and kindle or rekindle an awareness that we are all part of one big eco-system.

In this book, find a wealth of instruction and inspiration on how to incorporate naturally foraged materials such as leaves, grasses, lichen and dried flowers into your artwork. In the process, discover a range of textile techniques - suitable for all levels and abilities - to support and complement the design your natural materials create in your pieces. These include hand and machine stitching, solar dyeing, felting, hapa-zome and more.
Each technique forms one of many backbones in Caroline's large body of work, and she has carefully created a small project, based on her own artworks, after each newly introduced method, so you can put your new skills into practice. Throughout, Caroline stresses the importance of taking your time with each method and working organically, letting your foraged goods guide your design.

This is an approach that not only encourages an intuitive creative process, but develops a more mindful, positive experience for the artist too.

Interwoven with practical guidance and projects are Caroline's stunning gallery of works, offering inspirational examples of how to take your work farther, and simultaneously demonstrating nature's abundance and its variety.
This is an enriching book on textile and natural art that celebrates and propounds the maker's relationship with art and the natural world.