Goddess Pele – often known as Madam Pele – is associated with volcanoes and is regarded as the natural embodiment of fire. She is important in mythology as the creator of the Hawaiian Islands and the destructive force that can reshape them. Legend says she was the daughter of an Earth Goddess and the Creator of the sky, earth and heavens. In one…
Pronounced Kal-yakh – Cailleach is the powerful goddess of wind and winter storms in Scottish and Irish legend. She is sometimes depicted as a hag and is a fierce and intimidating natural force of nature, whose moods and actions have direct consequences on weather. A divine woman linked to the landscape she is neither all bad nor all good. She is responsible for creation, destruction and…
PACHAMAMA – the Earth Goddess Pachamama is a central spiritual and cultural figure in the Andean region of South America. She is said to be the mother of Inti the sun god and Mama Killa the moon goddess. She represents the connection between nature and the importance of living in harmony. She embodies the Earth – a living…
The Goddesses of the elements exemplify the central theme of our exhibition, Mother Nature – Power and Chaos, out of which ideas and artworks have grown. Each member of the Alchemist’s Needle has contributed complementary elements to the final group pieces which have been designed and compiled by Sarah Maddison. Our first Goddess represents water.…
What a day! So much amazing work beautifully arranged in a fantastic venue. We open tomorrow at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and welcome you to join us over the next two weeks to share in our excitement. Our Goddesses are at the centre of a varied show demonstrating a wide range of skills and techniques…
We are delighted to introduce you to another guest artist, Amelia-Rose. Amelia-Rose’s award-winning Global Textile Waste dress will be on display as part of our exhibition at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens which starts on Tuesday this coming week. Amelia-Rose was taking part in the 2026 Schools Fashion Design Competition at the Fashion and Design School…
We are very excited that two very talented guest artists will be joining us at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens next week. First we would like to introduce you to Louise of @feltlikemagick Louise is a felt artist based in Hampshire. She is a self taught artist who started needle felting 13 years ago following a…
Anne Hellyer is a Hampshire artist who creates hand-painted textile art by combining her love of paint and textiles with free machine embroidery. Anne regularly takes part in craft shows, gives talks and demonstrations and leads workshops.Anne is innovative in her art, experimenting with different materials such as teabags and has created unique items for…
Dee loves anything to do with textiles – fabric, threads, fleece, yarn so she flits from spinning and weaving to sewing, mainly by hand, and fabulous knitting. Texture and colour are what really attract. Recently, Dee has revealed her talent as a poet which can be seen in her work for exhibition at Sir Harold…
Janice has been stitching since the early 1960s making clothes for her dolls. After graduating onto making her own and sisters’ clothes, she discovered the joys of ‘needlework’. This has morphed into a love of any and everything textile. Influences and loves are natural patterns, texture, prehistory. For the exhibition, which opens next Tuesday 21st…
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First Workshop of the Year
Alchemist’s Needle member, Sarah Maddison, has been making beautiful embroidered purses for a while now and she sells them in her Etsy shop. We were delighted when she said she would show us how it was done. It was a workshop of two halves. First we created the stitched design directly onto the felt, which was slightly daunting as it was done completely freehand. Then came the assembling which required concentration and lots of direction from Sarah. The results are unique little purses, perfect for presents.
The Alchemist's Needle 