Profile

Jenni Cadman originally graduated with a degree in Printed Textile Design in 1980 and has been making textile art since 1992, having for the previous twelve years worked with stained glass and decorative paint finishes.
In 2000 and 2001 she received Crafts Awards from the Arts Council South West and since then has established herself firmly as an inspiring West Country textile artist and teacher.
Her work is concerned primarily with abstract imagery and the translation of drawn and painted marks into fabrics and stitch. From her initial explorations on paper to the finished textile the whole process is crucial in forming the structure of a piece and in developing a personal response to the subject.
She has over the years employed a wide range of techniques, media and materials involving machine embroidery, appliqué, transparent fabrics and paint for example along with the manipulation of fabrics by fraying, bonding, distressing and forming.
Recent work, begun in 2006, has concentrated on a daily walk through a deer park near her studio in Dorset. For this collection stitch has become the predominant feature, a laborious procedure of using the small to create the large. Employing the rhythmical action of the sewing machine she applies threads in both broad flourishes and intricate details to suggest brushed colours or the spontaneous flow of a drawn line.
Along with this new direction emerges a more narrative content to her work evoking memories of this past journey, the resulting images revealing a quirky mix of pathways, cattle grids, gates, trees, flora and fauna.
Alongside making her exhibition and commissioned pieces she has continued, in her role as a teacher, to develop a portfolio of work to demonstrate embroidery and appliqué techniques within schools, colleges and to regional embroidery guilds.
Jenni exhibits her textile art widely in the South West and throughout the UK. She is a member of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen.

www.axisweb.org to see CV and biography