Dr. Claire Wellesley-Smith is a textile artist living and working in the Bradford area. Claire completed her AHRC funded doctoral research project in Geography at the Open University having previously completed a Masters in Visual Arts at Bradford School of Art and a BA in Politics at Newcastle University. She is currently a Grand Union DTP ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Geography.
Claire grows plants on her allotment to produce natural dyes for organic fibres, which she uses to produce hand-stitched items. Her work explores the relationship between craft, health and the natural environment, and she draws on the textile heritage of the Bradford district.
Image: see artist’s website
Community engagement, teaching, and facilitating the learning and creative development of others have been an important element of her professional life over many years, and she has worked extensively with others in schools, colleges, adult and community education centres, museums and galleries, and NHS settings. Her current research, based in long term community based creative heritage projects, explores how engagements with cultural heritage through slow, localised craft practices can construct and articulate collective identity and build resilience.
Teaching, visiting lectureships and artist residencies include West Dean College of Arts and Conservation, Crafts Council, Gawthorpe Textile Collection, Brontë Parsonage Museum, Royal School of Needlework, Fibre Arts Australia, Tversted Skole, Denmark, Cultureghem and FARO, Belgium and IASPIS, Sweden. Curation and exhibition work include projects for Museum Dr Guislain, Belgium, British Textile Biennial, Bradford 2025 City of Culture, 2012 Cultural Olympiad, Bradford Industrial Museum, Salts Mill and the Haworth Art Gallery.
In particular, Claire managed ‘The Fabric of Bradford’ project (2012-15) a Heritage Lottery Funded project, concerned with the textile dyeing heritage of the city, and involving local people in community based activity; and the Out There project for Mind/Big Lottery Fund (2010-13), involving others in therapeutic activities linked to green spaces, growing plants to produce dyes, and using their creativity to make textile items. These projects were delivered for Hive, a community arts charity based in Shipley.
Image: see artist’s website
Her own work has been displayed at Bradford Cathedral, Bradford College: Dye House Gallery, Sunny Bank Mills, Leeds, and featured in the Saltaire Arts Trail.
Claire writes a blog (see website link below) and is the author of many articles and eight books, including ‘Slow Stitch: Mindful and Contemplative Textile Art’ (2015), published by Batsford, and is about materials and techniques, cross cultural inspirations, and activities to help readers explore a reflective and mindful stitching practice.
You can see Claire working and talking about her dyeing techniques and process at YouTube
Website: http://www.clairewellesleysmith.co.uk/
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