Meet Ruth
The Ideas Behind Ruth Peel's Art
Ruth has been involved with textiles from an early age. Her mother and grandmother were knitters and sewers. The challenge of earning a needlework badge at Girl Guides was the start of her journey. It took two years to make a blouse and involved repeated unpicking to pass the test. Despite swearing that she hated needlework, at school she was encouraged to make her own clothes and a life love of fabric and construction was born. She trained as a teacher in Salisbury and took art and textiles as her main subject.
Her A-level English teacher went on to work for the BBC and produced a TV series called Embroidery presented by Jan Beaney highlighting modern. This fuelled Ruth’s passion and she made patchwork, firstly over papers but later, on joining the Quilters’ Guild, pieced by machine. In more recent years she undertook many courses in Quilting and a Stitched Textiles . Ruth combines photography with her own hand dyed & printed fabrics with machine and hand stitching.
On an early morning train to Bristol I noticed and photographed a sleeping man. He was unaware of the beautiful sunrise and the landscape zipping past the window. The scene brought several themes of my work together: my interest in the subconscious, my fear of speed & the landscape. The sleeper I identified with could be dreaming and in touch with his deeper self. I had come to understand my fear of speed was connected to a feeling I was not in control of my own life. Process The photograph was printed onto fabric. Then this was combined with my drawing of the reclining woman and other hand dyed and printed fabrics The composition was enhanced with further hand stitching, then finally the whole piece was photographed, the colours enhanced and printed back as reflected pairs onto fabric again.
Learning by Failing
This piece was an experiment with a new dye technique. It didn’t work — the dyes didn’t set as expected, and the colours washed out. But the process was worthwhile. If you don’t push the boundaries and stay safe, then you’re never going to find where the limits are, You probably learn more from what doesn’t work.
Creativity
For many years I have been interested in painting and drawing. Recent exhibitions by Vincent Van Gogh, Gauguin, Bacon, Picasso and Matisse have enabled me to see artists’ paintings for real, actually to see the texture of the paint. The brushstrokes themselves excite me. However I don’t want to be a painter and leave textiles behind. My interest very much marries the two. The textile element is the creative exploratory aspect that perplexes, challenges and tests me. Ultimately it’s what keeps me curious and intrigued. I liken it to a science experiment with lots of variables. I have to isolate and test various aspects and bring them back together to see if they work. Can I find an answer? Can I get nearer to a resolution that’s satisfying? I struggle with it, but ultimately find it rewarding. There’s a third element that I’m trying to convey. That is a personal expression of one’s experience. What resonates with me? Why am I drawn to a certain image, artist or work of art?
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