My name is Jessie Chorley. I grew up in the hills of North Wales, close to the foot of Mount Snowdon. My childhood home was a traditional Welsh miner’s slate cottage, nestled at the bottom of a valley. I was home-schooled with my elder brother by our mother, the well-known textile artist Primmy Chorley. Art and embroidery were at the heart of our education, with a special focus on traditional crafting techniques.
It all began with my very first stitches. My mum would take her big wooden case down from the shelf, hidden out of reach from little fingers, and let me choose my own cloth and threads. I started playing with fabric before I could walk or talk, and was soon introduced to more materials, tools and techniques – so began my adventures with stitches, paper and ink, all under my mum’s expert guidance. My remote countryside upbringing, through art and crafts, formed the germ of the life that I now live as a London-based artist and travelling stitcher.
Today, I consider myself a Londoner. I moved from Wales to London in summer 2002, just before starting a BA in Fine Art Textile Practice at Goldsmiths College, University of the Arts London. While studying, I chose to dedicate my life to making beautiful things by hand and, shortly after graduating from university in 2005, I established my business, committing in earnest to being a full-time artist, designer and maker. Over time, I have also become an author, social artist and tutor and independent shop running was my life between 2007-2021.
Hand stitching, traditional embroidery, printmaking, collage and needle-turned appliqué techniques, are at the heart of my practice as a maker. My needle and thread are my drawing tools of choice. I use them to create scenes and stories, combining stitched images and words, largely on pre-loved fabric and paper. I use a mixture of contemporary embroidery flosses, alongside an ever-expanding collection of vintage threads in a variety of different strengths and thicknesses. I am always on the lookout for new colours to add to my collection, while relying on a core palette of soft off-whites, sharp yellows, rusty oranges, moody greys and a bright ruby red (a personal favourite). Soft pinks and various shades of green are also parts of my world of colour.
All my work revolves around story-telling, inspired by events from my life, which I then embellish with make-believe based on folklore. My work divides into two parts – large and densely-stitched embroidery panels, alongside smaller objects, including wearable items and altered books. My useable items draw on a handicraft tradition of making mementos, such as the hand-illustrated metal tokens that were traditionally shared amongst family as a way of marking significant events –the arrival or departure of life, or the occasion of a loved one embarking on a long journey are examples.
I am continually searching for old materials that have a unique history attached to them. By incorporating these into my work, I give them a new life as objects that are often functional and always beautiful. The items that I most frequently gather and work with are vintage hardback books, pre-loved clothing, paper and cardboard, sometimes combining all these ingredients into one piece. I frequently use stitches to secure found objects and fabric fragments, such as printed illustrations, an old shirt-collar, or even a boot-fastening, integrating them into my personal world of symbols and imagery. A worn linen button, for example, might be given new life as the heart of a richly stitched moon against a night sky! I might deconstruct a vintage envelope and its hand-written contents, transforming them with my hands, scissors, ink and dreamy white hues of emulsion paint, along with fine hand-stitched details, into the stormy, whirling waves of an epic adventure at sea.
The belief that “small is beautiful” has been an inspiration to me for many years – I have kept these words close to my heart across my life as a maker. Making work personally and by hand, either in small series, limited editions or as a ‘one-off’, has always been at the core of my approach to managing my business as an artist. When working with and alongside other craftspeople, I collaborate exclusively with UK-based studios and printers, who help me with larger-scale prints, using both digital and silk-screen techniques. All items that are printed offsite then come back to my studio and are hand finished by me in person.
In addition to my original and one-off art works, I design and make an ever-growing collection of embroidery kits and DIY projects that go hand in hand with the work that I do as a social artist, personal mentor and tutor. I choose to share my skills as a maker with like-minded individuals, who share my passion for both traditional handicrafts, and the slower, mindful pace of life that these techniques evoke – in particular, hand-stitching and embroidery – through my ongoing workshops and bespoke masterclasses. Each year, I travel around the UK and internationally to run embroidery workshops, as well as hosting masterclasses here at my South London studio
From 2005-2021 my life as both an artist and shop owner was situated on Columbia Rd flower market in East London.
I now run my workshop & studios from my South London riverside studio here at Thameside StudiosSouth London.
Please contact me directly for information on visiting, for private shopping and in person Masterclasses.
