Sarah Lyte, textile fibre artist, combines wet felting with up-cycled fabrics, free motion embroidery to create a range of artworks. She uses sustainable and ethical natural products and by-products, up-cycled and recycled fabric that would otherwise go to landfill.
Buttercup Fields, Upper Bents Farm. Image: see artist’s social media.
Sarah, who lives at Wilsden, studied initially at Bradford Art College in the 1980s before continuing her studies at Bretton Hall (University of Leeds) to study sculpture and painting as part of a teaching course. Although Sarah experimented with a free motion embroidery machine at Bretton Hall, and later attended some felting workshops, she is largely a self-taught textile artist.
‘Saltburn’. Image; see artist’s social media, below.
The use of up-cycled and re-cycled materials is an important element of her work. She was encouraged by her parents to be creative with discarded material and has said:
I hate waste and today’s throwaway culture. At one time you bought good quality items that were made to last, nowadays it doesn’t feel like that. We have a lot of upcycled furniture in our house, second-hand carpets and things we’ve collected that others have thrown away. My husband is good at making things out of pallets and waste wood or stone. We try our best to be as eco and responsible as we can.
Dawn Sky, Shay Lane, Wilsden. Image: see artist’s social media, below.
Sarah sources her materials from a range of outlets, including charity shops, scrap charities, ethical recycling companies, small business that use wool products, as well as donations from her followers on social media. The frames for her designs are also made from discarded wood, including from unwanted palettes. She is drawn to the tactile nature of her artwork:
Wool and fabrics are very tactile – it’s amazing what you can do with them: rip them, thread them, layer, pull, cut and so on.
Her inspiration for her designs comes from the natural world around her:
I started walking daily during lockdown and have kept up the habit. When I’m out I take photos of anything that interests me, whether it be the landscape itself, the light on the moor, the textures of a wall.
‘Morning Walk’. Image: see artist’s social media, below.
Sarah’s fabric creations include textile landscape scenes, abstract designs, brooches and other jewellery items, bags, home decorations, prints and greetings cards.
Image: see artist’s social media, below.
Sarah’s work has been displayed and sold at craft shops around the region and in galleries, including The Bingley Gallery, and the Coles Gallery in the Leeds Corn Exchange. She has also facilitated and led workshops at The Little Craft House in Saltaire.
Her work is also sold online with Folksy under the name ‘Seven Hands’, inspired by her love of ancient art and in particular hand stencils and paintings in caves. Sarah also enjoys making videos demonstrating her artwork; these can be accessed via her Facebook page at Seven Hands Designs