Meet the Artist

Sue Pritchett

My interest in arts and craft came at an early age and by the time I was five I could knit and sew. My father inspired me to draw with his own drawings of ships and trains.

By the time I got to secondary school there was no stopping me. I fought to do Metal work and Technical drawing at exam level, along side this I also did Art, but not content with this I did evening classes in Life drawing and Silver smithing as well. Having left school I attended various courses to further increase my knowledge. As a Brownie Guider I taught children craft as well as the Adult leaders, eventually I became Division advisor for arts and crafts.

In 1987 with two small children I decided to do a course with the Women’s Institute at Denman College. This was a two year course in Hand knitting, after which I went on to do the Demonstrators Certificate and a Judging Course. I also became a member of the Knitting and Crochet Guild and the Embroiders Guild.

I worked at Raynehurst Infants School as a volunteer doing craft work with the children including visually impaired and disabled children. We worked on a tapestry of Noah’s Ark; this was worked on by most of the school. This piece of work was both visual and tactile with removable animals. The tapestry has since been moved to Saint Adian’s Church, Gravesend.

In the mid nineties I began tutoring textile with the Kent Children’s University and also worked in various primary schools as an LSA. When I gave up work due to other commitments I went back for a day each week into Riverview primary school in Gravesend as a volunteer and worked with the entire school on a panel for the Golden Tapestry, a Commonwealth wide project involving 1,800 schools to commemorate Her Majesty’s Golden Jubilee. I led the school’s part of the project from design to finished product during which every student made at least a few stitches in the panel. The finished tapestry was first shown at the 2006 Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne where over 30,000 people visitors saw it, and has been shown across the Commonwealth since then.

In the past I have exhibited work in various shows, I have also made bespoke pieces of work to commission, and now I want to go to the next stage and expand upon my past experience and knowledge.

The one thing I have learnt throughout the years is the therapeutic benefits of art and crafts, the joy it brings to me and others with each completed piece of work, the curiosity of others on how a project was done and their wonderment on how I conceived the idea in the first place. My inspirations for a piece of work come from nature and other items around me. It certainly helps me to maintain my health problems and I am never without a piece of work in progress.