The Goldwork Embroideries of Hanny Newton

With most of us homebound due to COVID-19, these past months have seen an increase in hobbies like stitching, quilting, and embroidery. Such pastimes have a long history behind them, and many sources of inspiration to draw from. Recently, we’ve taken to Hanny Newton’s textile art.

A graduate of the Royal School of Needlework (FDA Hand Embroidery 2013) and Falmouth University (BA Contemporary Crafts 2014), Newton leans on her formal background but adds to it a contemporary and rather playful twist. Using metal threads she explored new ways of incorporating goldwork into her embroideries.

“Goldwork is an area of embroidery which is sometimes perceived to be somewhat traditional and has many rules,” explained Newton in an interview with Textile Artist. “To me, a rule of how something must be worked was at some point a new invention itself, and that excites me and keeps me inspired to explore what metal threads can do, without worrying if I am doing it ‘right.’”

“As kids, we were always encouraged to be creative, in quite a freeway,” she notes. “Creating a mess whilst playing wasn’t particularly a problem for my parents. I think this gave us quite a lot of freedom to create and imagine.” Now running her own embroidery workshops, Newton encourages others to make a mess as they explore the ancient craft of embroidery.