Jahn’s textile journey began in her late teens, with traditional embroidery, leading to where she is today, having crossed over into areas that include many forms of art/craft, but at the heart of everything is still stitching.

In the early 1990’s she learned about the City and Guilds qualification, with its approach towards Creative Embroidery, which encourages the expansion of the traditional needlework techniques. This saw her journey veer into areas that required a more experimental approach. From that point on she was hooked, inspired by the work of others who preceded her, she took a leap and decided to question, what would happen if ……? A question that she continues to ask herself, as part of her practice.

This experimental, process-driven approach has taken her down many rabbit holes, making her the artist she is today, with stitching, still, however, at the heart of it all; hand stitching, machine stitching, anything that gets the ‘thread’ attached to its background or making its own background. At times it can be difficult crossing that bridge, to actively break the rules, to see the same stitching, presented in a different manner.

Jahn uses a wide variety of media to achieve the end result; dyes, paints, glues, thread, or any media that resembles that description, paper, canvas, calico, organza, and my favourite ‘Found Objects or materials’. She will burn or rust, tear or make from scratch, sometimes there are no limits. It’s therapy, play, creation, movement, always thinking “what next”

Jahn likes to encourage people to come and join in the journey.

Course outline

The programme will be multi-faceted, but at the core will be a focus, an old embroidery technique called Needle-Lace aligned also with Needle-Weaving. The outcomes will be as a result using some or all of the processes described above. Taking known techniques in new directions. Learning how to free up your mind, reaching out beyond your comfort zone, to ask what could happen if I tried this instead….?

There will be a lot of sampling. You may come with a theme or a colour palette in mind, but be prepared to use them with a different approach or to change direction completely. You will go home with ideas and examples as to how to alter or move in other directions, within your own textile art practice.