of Jo Smith
An ancient woodland, full of mystery and story. Trees rooted deeply into the dark earth. Full of trees, many different trees, birds singing the world awake and singing it back to sleep again. Full of the bright and the beautiful and the dark and the mysterious. A stream threading its way through the earth, the life blood of the forest. All working together to create a story, their story. Will you enter the woodland? Will you stay a while and listen to the stories of the trees and the birds? Will you sit by the stream and speak with the stars? Allow the rain to fall and the wind to blow and speak of what they know? Each speaking in a different voice, each part creating a story, a message that wants to be shared. Each part coming from the beating heart, being called upon to speak up. No part can flourish without the others, each given colour and layers, bringing richness and fullness.
Learning from the wisdom of nature to bring healing words and story into the world. Listening with open ears and shining a light on pain and offering seeds of hope. In and of nature, offering a different way to be seen, a place to be vulnerable and afraid, yet a safe place to overcome these fears. A space to explore love and connection and hope.
This is my gift to the world.
About
Jo has been a creative artist all her life. Starting at a very young age as a dancer, Jo learned about story and expression through movement and creating with needle and thread, stitching and darning the many costumes and shoes of the profession.
Coming from a family of creatives, nans and aunts who embroidered, crotched and knitted, Jo continued to develop her skills.
Largely self-taught, Jo works intuitively, allowing the thread and fabric to inspire and work its magic. Studying with different renowned textile artists, it was workshops with Claire Wellesley Smith and Alice Fox which set her on her current path of working with plants and flowers, from which Jo has experimented and refined her practice to where it is today.
Her love of nature, wandering and foraging for the plant materials she uses to dye her cloth and threads, brought forth the stories that needed to be told, her stories. Taking a question or a problem for a walk amongst the trees, began to offer insights and answers would begin to emerge from the more than human world around her. Jo began to listen as the stories blew on the wind… Her lifelong love of fairy stories began with a gift from an aunt at the age of seven, a book Jo still treasures and re-reads today. Further study of story and fairy tale encouraged Jo’s own stories to emerge.
Capturing moments from these stories in stitch brings her two passions together for the first time.
Jo has been teaching her love for textiles for several years, passing on the ancient knowledge of botanical dyeing and printing and also guiding students to stitch their own stories, encouraging each fellow creative to bring their own unique style and experiences to their project.
Exhibitions
Oct 2022 Anything But Paint | Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield
Oct 2022 Flora and Fauna, Creative Arts Showcase, Bromsgrove
Dec 2022 Winter Solstice Exhibition | Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield
Jan 2023 Animal Kingdom Exhibition | Open Gallery, Halifax
Winner of People’s Choice Award
Jan/Feb 2023 Museum of Cannock Chase
March 2023 Nature’s Endurance | The Artworks, Halifax
March 2023 Sewing for Pleasure | National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham
April 2023 Quilt and Stitch Village | Uttoxeter
April 2023 Art Makes me Smile, Heart of Art Exhibition | Halifax - (a semi permanent exhibition in the lead up to Bradford being UK City of Culture 2025)
June/July/August 2023 Stitch by Stitch Exhibition 2023 - WIllow Gallery, Oswestry
October 2023 Art from the Heart | Creative Arts Showcase, Bromsgrove (including demo and Meet the Artist event)
October/November 2023 - Forge Mill Needle Museum, Redditch
Workshops 2024
- all held at LittleHeath Barn Studio, Bromsgrove- www.littleheathbarnstudio.com
Stitched Stories - March, April, May
Botanical Printing - Fabric - August 2024
Botanical Printing - Paper - September 2024