MARY BROWN DESIGNS FOR GOLDWORK EMBROIDERY

Mary Brown Profile

Mary graduated with a Diploma of Art Education from the Newcastle National Art School and Teachers' College in 1969 and for 25 years was a Visual Arts and Ancient History teacher in Senior High Schools. Her practice as a Visual Artist during those years included many forms of printing and painting, but in the 1990s she was becoming increasingly interested in textile art.

In 2000-2001, she went to England to do the Certificated Course at the Royal School of Needlework. Mary's silk shaded fritillary flower was used on the cover of the Royal School of Needlework's brochure the following year. Last year, the Royal School of Needlework asked her to write about her experience as a CC student and on her embroidery career since her graduation, which now appears on their website. On her return to Australia, Mary eventually resigned from the classroom to set up her own embroidery design business, specializing mainly in goldwork embroidery.

Mary runs workshops in goldwork embroidery for needlework shops and at the Concord headquarters for the Embroiderers Guild N.S.W. She has just finished her Creative Goldwork workshops at the Guild and those who attended are encouraging others to join next year's C.G. workshops. The Victorian Guild has recently approached her to run a workshop in 2008 and the South Australian Guild has formally booked her for goldwork workshops in 2008 and 2009. This year for the first time, Mary ran a workshop for a regional Embroiderers' Guild Group.

Express Publications profiled Mary in their Cross Stitch & Embroidery Magazine in 2005 and have since published four of her designs in two of their publications. Recently two designs were submitted for publication at the request of the editor.

Sally Milner Publishing contracted her to publish a book on gold work embroidery in 2005. Mary spent five months in the United States of America, Britain and Europe doing research work for her book. She made appointments with numerous museums and private individuals to closely examine gold embroidered costumes and textiles for her book. As many of the costumes and textiles in her book have not been published before, the museums were prepared to do new photography specifically for her book. The 208 page book, which is titled Goldwork Embroidery: Designs and Projects, is about to arrive in book stores in Australia and New Zealand. It will be distributed in the Northern Hemisphere by August 2007. In the first half of the book, the reader is given a substantial history of gold work embroidery in Britain and France, plus technical information on the metal threads and how to use them. The second half features fifteen projects designed by Mary with visual and verbal instructions.

In 2006, Alastair Macleod, chairman of Hand & Lock, the prestigious embroidery firm in London, approached Mary to see if she would be interested in being the firm's liaison person in Australia during the preparations for its Prize Giving Conference at the Powerhouse Museum on the 5th November, 2007. Mary had become aware of the Prize that is offered to tertiary students internationally, well before she spent time at Hand & Lock's in 2005. Mary did not hesitate in taking on a role to support what she had always felt was a great initiative on the part of this firm. (For more information on the Prize and the Conference, visit the Hand & Lock website.) As well as liaising with heads of departments in Australian Universities and Colleges and with the Powerhouse team for Hand & Lock, Mary is one of the speakers at the Conference, and as guest curator at the Powerhouse, she will be curating an exhibition of archival material from Hand & Lock, Wendy Birch (nee Lock) and Catherine Walker (one of Princess Diana's designers).

Mary approached the Embroiderers' Guild of N.S.W. in 2007 about advertising the Guild as a resource centre for Senior secondary and tertiary students. Once the Guild gave their blessing to the concept, one of Mary's initiatives was to approach artist embroiderers, whose work would be inspirational to this demographic, and who would be prepared to run workshops at the Guild. Their work will be showcased at the Guild's 50th Anniversary Festival opening on the 10th October 2007 in the Southee Pavilion at Homebush Olympic Park. Mary will also be showcasing her work in this exhibition.

Very recently, Mary exhibited a gold embroidered work and gave a talk on the History of Goldwork embroidery at the Guild's The Art of Needle and Thread Exhibition at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre in Gymea, Sydney.

Mary is currently working on exhibition pieces and continues to prepare for the Hand & Lock Prize Giving Conference and the Guild's October Festival.

Mary Brown Designs