GALWAY ARTIST Kathy Ross has become the first person in Ireland to be selected for the prestigious Aurifil Artisan programme, which offers artists a global platform to showcase their work.
Aurifil is a world renowned thread manufacturer, which each year hosts a worldwide open call to makers, quilters, and artists to apply for its artisan programme. Ms Ross was one of 50 artisans worldwide to be selected, and was chosen for her thread painting abilities which the company selected due to its realistic quality and fine needle-craft skills.
"I have only been working in textiles for the past two years, after having already established myself as a watercolor artist," said Ms Ross. "The move to textiles came as I was becoming more and more frustrated with the two dimensional quality of the work. Textiles has allowed my work to take on a whole new dimension.
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"I work by layering locally sourced Irish sheep wool with vintage fabrics and then painting, or stitching the finer details with hundreds of different tones of thread. The work is extremely labour intensive with each pieces taking upwards of 40 hours to complete. It is intensely satisfying to watch each piece come to life. Since starting my animal portraits I have been getting commissions from all over Europe and and the States. Each piece I make is no sooner posted on line that it is snatched up by an international buyer."
For more see www.kathyrossart.com
