On the heels of our conversation from last week, I thought the sewn textile canvases of illustrator Laura Amiss would be the perfect follow up. The pieces from this series are made using a variety of new and found materials and free hand machine embroidery.
Now, if you had no visual reference for these pieces, and only had the previous sentence to go on, the quilting craft, quite fittingly to last week’s post, might come to mind. However, once you see these canvases, it becomes glaringly clear that these pieces are absolutely works of art: uniquely designed and completely original.
I admire the way that Laura is able to effortlessly intertwine her sewing skills with her talents as an artist/illustrator, while still maintaining a balance between the two. I’d love to know your thoughts about Laura’s work in comments in relation to last week’s post on art vs craft.
And for more Laura Amiss, visit her contemporary textiles and art shop on Etsy.
Brittni Mehlhoff is the editor of the 
Tara
I love d the title “Art vs Craft” I have always thought that they were one and the same. The ability of Laura to incorporate two skilled talents into a work of art is a balance as you say. We all use so many of our skills and abilities to create into projects or works of arts and do not realize what we have done. I am happy for a person when they have found thier niche . Thank you for bringing this to us.
I am sure that she had to learn the craft of sewing/quilting before her art could evolve to where it is today. Truly masterful, and painterly effects she has achieved. No doubt about it. That is the finest blend of art and craft I have seen.
Thank you for sharing.
Enjoy the day!
Erin
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Darlene and Erin- Thanks for stopping by and leaving your thoughts. Erin- you bring up a very interesting point, that Laura most likely had to learn those traditional crafting techniques before she could break the rules and create these beautiful works of art. Great point!
-Brittni
Thank you for the post Brittni, I am very flattered!
I did a Textiles degree at a very Fine Art orientated Art school in London. To cut a very long story and explanation short the fundamental teaching was to use and explore Textiles and the language and associations it has to produce art work whether that be in the form of installation, video or more traditional uses of textiles. So yes, I come from what I suppose is a contemporary textiles background (something that is pretty big in the UK, lots of very exciting artists my favorite being Freddie Robbins – http://www.freddierobins.com/)
As you can see I could talk all day on this topic! Thanks again, Laura
Great article! It is always a very interesting subject and a fine line to walk! Thank you for making me aware of Laura Amiss’ work. Absolutely stunning. So detailed.
Birgitte