York Textile Artists launch debut show at York Cemetery Chapel on Remembrance weekend

The new collective came together from the 2018 York Open Studios intake. "Each of us has a passion for textiles and fibre, and we've combined to create a vibrant and dynamic group committed to promoting textile art as a fine art form," says YTA member Alison Spaven.

"Our core aims are to act as advocates for textile arts, both locally and nationally; to display and sell our work in joint exhibitions; to support each other in developing our work; and to develop networks with emerging and established groups of textile artists at national and international levels."

Scarborough Rock V, by Carol Coleman

Alison is joined in the group by Fran Brammer, Carol Coleman, Jill Shepherd, Angela Anning, Bridget Bernadette Karn, Justine Warner and Rosanna Johnson.

Alison says: "From childhood, art has been both a passion and a solace, but it wasn’t until a craft workshop four years ago that I realised it could be more than just paint and clay.

"Since then my art has been invigorated by the energy that using wool and other fibres has given to the wildlife pictures and sculptures I love to create.

Givendale, by Fran Brammer

Fran Brammer has always played with cloth, loving its variety and versatility."I now focus on exploring ideas of landscape using freehand machine stitching," she says. "Created with layers of found fabrics and stitch, the images share personal experiences and histories.

"They are built up and cut away revealing forgotten surfaces, ethereal edges and textures."

Carol Coleman describes herself as "compulsively creative". "I find textiles the most versatile and satisfying medium to express my inspiration," she says. "My work is usually created so that it looks interesting from a distance and details become revealed as you draw closer, until the smallest stitches of how it was worked can be seen. "

Red Boro, by Jill Shepherd

Jill Shepherd has been stitching since she could hold a needle and thread. "Probably not safely!" she says. "Dolls clothes, my own 1960s' clothes, then two more generations. Alongside, I ran a textile craft business with my sisters in the 1980s, and studied City and Guilds Embroidery.

"Decades on and I’m even more passionate about the texture, creativity, colour and therapeutic stitching that is textile art. I can never stop stitching, nor would I want to."

Angela Anning turns her passion for fashion and textiles into creating highly textured art. "I use wet felting and dry needle felting techniques to bond and sculpt natural materials: predominantly dyed silks and cottons," she says. "Sometimes the layers of textiles are overlaid with hand or machine embroidery, and my work includes fine and decorative arts."

Sunrise In The Lake District, lampshade, by Angela Anning

Bridget Bernadette Karn's journey into felt picture making began in 2010. "That's when I was taught by a member of my craft club how to felt. By 2016, I was exhibiting one of my felt pictures at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition," she says.

Justine Warner is a textiles and mixed-media artist from Sheriff Hutton. "I use recycled men’s dress ties and layered experimental textiles to create landscapes of North Yorkshire and the Howardian Hills. Making marks in fabric, my work is highly textural, tactile and rich in colour," she says.

Emerging artist Rosanna Johnson takes an interdisciplinary approach to her practice. "I'm primarily a mixed-media painter and work on a variety of surfaces, manipulating various art resources, textiles and thread," she says.

"I exploit the inherent characteristics of my materials, always searching for new textures, patterns, shapes and forms".

Cushions by Rosanna Johnson

For her latest body of abstract work, Rosanna has taken inspiration from urban construction sites. "My work incorporates complexities of line, layers, colour, tone and composition as I explores the contrasts between disparate materials and their interaction with light and shadow," she says.

"Each piece conveys the notion of a history and the passage of time, and my mark-making is deliberate and considered. The result is a small collection coming together in a harmonious whole that incorporates all the formal elements of art.

Rosanna, who took part in York Open Studios for the first time earlier this year, is studying for an MA in Creative Practice at Leeds Arts University. She  will launch her surface pattern design brand in 2018.

Glorious In Defeat, by Bridget Bernadette Karn

Aware that they will be taking over a sacred space on the Armistice 100 weekend, the York Textile Artists have decided to create a joint wall hanging of poppies. "These will be individually sold from the piece, and 100 per cent of the money raised will benefit SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, and the British Legion," says Alison.