Meet Yorkshire textile artist Janet Browne who recreates personal journeys and maps in fabric

Janet went to teacher training college, specialising in art and education. “At that time I was very much about painting and drawing. I taught at a primary school in West Yorkshire and had a great headteacher who was also keen on art. I did a little bit of textile work with the children.”

As she got a bit older, Janet decided to go part-time so that she could explore her love of art further. "I enrolled on an evening class in paper-making but due to a shortage of numbers they combined it with textiles.” This led to her taking an HNC in textile design which was very experimental and gave her the opportunity to try out different things.

"I have always loved maps and drawing and I wanted to find a way to use fabric and stitching to create a similar affect to drawing. I experimented with lots of different things – I knew what I wanted to achieve but not exactly how I was going to get there.”In the end, she decided to draw her design and then transfer it onto the fabric, stitching the detail from the back. To make it stable, she decided to use quilters’ wadding, which also gives a three-dimensional effect to her artwork. She then stitches more detail on the front, mainly machine embroidery. The overall effect is extremely detailed and has an almost graphic-like quality.

Janet also makes her own dyes, meaning every piece is different even if she is making a copy of something she has done before.

"I’ve done the Salts Mill one a few times but every time it is slightly different,” she says.

She is influenced by her surroundings, creating maps and townscapes of journeys and places which interest her, often highlighting the unusual and interesting features that catch her eye. As a result, many of her works are recognisable Yorkshire places or journeys, although as she also loves Cornwall there are a number of pieces about her travels there.

"Luckily my husband loves the same places I do. He will drive and I will sketch what see. If I was to take photographs, there would just be too much to choose from. Sketching means I decide to include the things that catch my eye as we are driving along – it hard enough deciding what to include and what not to.”

She also does train journeys and is currently working on one from her home to Scarborough. She also walks a lot and strolls around her Addingham home are reflected in her work, especially allotments. "I love the order of allotments, and also the lines on fields,” she says.

Recent work includes Silsden Road Allotments, Addingham, Salts Mill and Allotments, Whitby, Flamborough Head to Filey and a village map of Addingham.

“Other themes develop from the map work, usually things which have caught my eye or interest me such as gardens, allotments, birds and wildlife. These developments are all based on real places or sightings but I do allow myself a degree of artistic licence.”

Janet says she likes playing around with scale, pattern and perspective and she is influenced by folk art and the way children view the world.

She also did two large-scale pieces to mark the Tour de France when it came to Yorkshire in 2014.

"The Tour came through Addingham twice. It was a massive thing here, everyone was out in the streets. Day two finished in Sheffield, where my daughter was living, and so I decided to do that too.

"The problem is they are rather large,” admits who Janet works from the attic of her home. She has also found getting a gallery to exhibit her work a challenge.

"The problem with textiles is that is still regarded as craft rather than art so many galleries just aren’t interested – they also take a hefty commission. It is very frustrating; if my works were paintings, I could charge a lot more but there is still stigma around textile art."As a result, most of her sales come from shows like the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate and local fairs as well as the online gallery on her website (janetbrownetextiles.wordpress.com).

Before the pandemic, ever the teacher, Janet used to run workshops to pass on her knowledge but Covid put paid to that.

"I did do a few online workshops but it is so hard. You really need to be with the person to help them physically so I gave up after a couple of online workshops,” she says. “I haven’t really started my physical workshops again – they take up so much time and my works also take a long time to create – and I do have other things to do.”Janet says that from the research and sketching phase if she worked constantly from 9amto 5pm, which she doesn’t, one intricate piece would take her two to three weeks. She has done commissions in the past but admits they aren’t her favourite thing to do.

"You find that people want something very specific, like a relative’s house or garden. Because all of my work is very personal and I include things that inspire me and catch my eye, it can be difficult doing something someone else wants.

"My challenge this year is to get out and see more places – especially around Cornwall and Northumberland, which I love. I have to really get to know a place, I do a lot of research before I am happy to sketch and start the process.”

For more information or to see more of Janet’s work, visit https://janetbrownetextiles.wordpress.com