Janine Judge creates intricate textile art inspired by her travels around the world. She begins with a sun dyed background and finishes with thread painting.
How did you find yourself on an artist’s path? Always there? Lightbulb moment? Dragged kicking and screaming? Evolving?
It’s been an evolving journey. I learned to sew while working school holidays at my brother-in-law’s dress fabric shop back in NZ. After all, when you get material at cost, you have to make your own clothes!
Over the years, I tried all sorts of crafts. I guess you could say I was a “Jack of all trades but master of none” kind of person. After a while, I would get bored and move onto the next thing, but somehow, I always seemed to come back to the sewing machine.
As the kids got older, I had more time on my hands, so I decided to give quilting a go. I’m not a neat meticulous person so traditional quilting was never going to be my thing – nice matching points, forget it! That meant it had to be art quilts which would give me the freedom to be me! I ordered a couple of art quilting books online and started playing.
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Several years later I realised there was a local association here in Perth, and quilting wasn’t just an American thing! I joined the Contemporary Quilt Group, got inspired, and attempted a pixelated quilt of Torres del Paine. That one was a big challenge; sewing all those squares together felt monumental, and the end result was disappointing to say the least. The family bluntly said I should throw it in the bin (trash). After all that work, I couldn’t do that but had no idea how to fix it.
The turning point was a workshop with Sophie Standing. As I learnt more about thread painting, it all clicked, and I realized that “scribbling” with the machine was what I had been searching for. I saved “The Three Towers” and from that moment, everything just fell into place. Thread painting brought my love of detail and realistic work together in a way that made sense. And as they say the rest is history!
Where do you find your inspiration for your designs? Is there an overarching theme that connects all of your work?
Travel. Travel. Travel. (In particular, the natural world). I have always loved to travel having been to over 90 countries and all seven continents. I met my husband on an overland trip through Africa. We both love to take photos so when we return home from a trip, we will literally have thousands of photos to use as inspiration.
Do you do series work? How does that affect your approach?
I often seem to work in a series, but it is not a conscious decision. When I get home from a trip, I am normally so enthused by what I have seen and experienced that I can’t wait to start creating something inspired by it.
That normally lasts until the next trip….. and so, the cycle goes on….
What different creative media do you use in your work?
My work invariably starts with a sun dyed background. There is generally a fabric collage and definitely lots of free motion stitching, generally in the form of thread painting. Sometimes it is on wash away to give more texture as sculptural embroidery.
Couching decorative yarn is another way of adding texture and very, very occasionally beading but that means hand sewing and I’m not a hand sewing person!
Do you plan your work out ahead of time, or do you just dive in with your materials and start playing?
I’m not the sort of person who makes samples or sketches in advance, but I always have a plan in my mind. If there is something unusual about a project I won’t start until I have worked out the best way to tackle it. I find walking the dog is a good time to plan and problem solve any possible issues.
Describe your creative space.
My creative space is well used (read chaotic!). I have the best intentions of having a nice, organised workspace but the reality is I am always so enthused by the latest project that I don’t want to waste any time tidying up! That is until it gets to the point of frustration when I can’t find what I am looking for or I can’t find any space to work in, then I reluctantly sort it out.
Regarding the physical space, I have taken over the formal lounge which I now call the studio. It is north facing so plenty of natural light (I’m in Australia so north facing is good).
As I generally start my projects with a fabric collage, I mainly buy fat quarters. I have these stored according to colour in pigeonholes along my ironing area.
I have a “thread ped” for my threads. Custom made, 11 drawer pedestal, with spice rack inserts so 4 rows per drawer. In theory it is one row for each of the 20 colours on the colour wheel neatly lined up plus extra for neutrals etc. In reality, the 4 colours for that drawer are thrown in randomly! The thread ped is on castors so can move to the machine I am using.
Scraps. Saver? Or be done with them?
I definitely hang on to scraps. Most of my pieces start with a fabric collage so I generally only need small pieces of fabric. The fat quarters live in the pigeonholes but once the piece gets smaller than about 10 x 10cm (4×4”) it goes into 1 of 3 tubs (blue, green and other – can you tell my work is inspired by nature!)
Do you use a sketchbook or journal? How does that help your work develop?
No, I’m not a sketchbook kind of person. I often admire other people’s wonderful sketchbooks and, on several occasions, have been inspired to give it a go. My enthusiasm generally lasts about a week before it is abandoned once again! I guess I like to just dive in and create and I can’t justify the time to make a sketchbook nobody will ever see.
When you travel, do you create while on planes and in waiting areas? What is in your creative travel kit?
No, I don’t create while I am traveling. I don’t have time! As there are so many amazing places in the world, I only have time to visit a place once. That means we are extremely busy trying to get the most out of each place we visit. Any time on planes is used catching up with the travel diary or sorting through photos from the trip.
How often do you start a new project? Do you work actively on more than one project at a time?
My projects vary in size from 10 cm (4”) up to about 150 cm (60”) so obviously the time for each project varies enormously. Saying that I like to work in the 60 – 90 cm (24-36”) range so I am not stuck on the same project for too long (I get bored easily and I have so many ideas of things I want to do). What this means is a generally complete between 15 and 20 projects a year.
I prefer to finish one project before I start the next. If I am struggling with a project and leave it, chances are I will never get back to it. I consider it a waste of resources if I don’t finish something, and I treat it as a challenge to get the best possible result. Sometimes, the end result is completely different to what I had originally envisioned, but that is fine as it is all a good learning experience.
Can you tell us about the inspiration and process of one of your works? How does a new work come about?
I started sailing in 2018 when the Mirror Worlds were held in Sydney. Our sons both sailed Mirrors but with university commitments only one boat was being used. My husband came up with the bright idea that we should sail the other boat in the Worlds. How about we don’t know what we are doing! I knew nothing about sailing, and he had only done a bit of crewing on a keelboat. What could possibly go wrong! Long story short, we rapidly learnt the basics and sailed in the Worlds finishing 44 out of 60.
A couple of years ago SAQA had a call for an exhibition on Wind. I thought something sailing related would be an option and searched through our photos choosing one of us sailing at the Mirror States in Albany, WA. (We are sailing on 70546). It was honking and there was a capsize on the start line – plenty of wind so perfect!
I started with the background which was sun dyed. I roughly pleated the bottom half to make the waves, used a darker colour for the hills and randomly sponged stormy colours for the sky. A quick squirt of water and it was left to bleed together.
Next up the fabric collage. I create a pattern from the photo using freezer paper. I generally hold the pieces in place with a tiny bit of glue ready for stitching. With all the numbers on the sails I used fusible web as I was concerned about fraying.
Finally, the fun part – thread painting. This one was a labour of love. Everyone in the picture is a friend. I wanted to do them all justice and make sure everything was as accurate as possible. All the sheets (ropes) are in the right place etc
As it happened, I ran out of time to get it finished for Wind but the next call was for Red – even better!
I called it “Seeing Red” as besides the obvious red sails of the Mirrors, it is a start line and very tense, everyone is jostling for an advantage, and it doesn’t take much for someone to lose their cool and “See Red”
It didn’t get into the SAQA exhibition, but it has gone on to win several major awards and be featured on the cover of Art Quilting Studio magazine.
Which part of the design process is your favourite? Which part is a challenge for you?
My favourite part of the process is adding all the details to make realistic artwork.
I’ve always been drawn to logical subjects like math and science, where there’s a clear right or wrong answer. This preference carries over into my art, as I enjoy adding details and layers to make my pieces as realistic as possible. That makes knowing when a piece is finished easy—if it looks realistic, it is right, and I’m done. If it doesn’t, it is wrong, and I keep going until it does.
The most challenging part for me is creating abstract work. Since I don’t come from a formal arts background, I find it hard to know when to stop and call something finished. With abstract art, there’s no clear right or wrong, and it’s more open to interpretation, which I really struggle with.
How has your creativity evolved over the years? What triggered the evolution to new media/kinds of work/ways of working?
I have always done craft, and I guess you would say I was a Jack of all trades but master of none. I would do something for a while then get bored with it and move on to the next thing. That was until I found thread painting and textile art.
What do you do to keep yourself motivated and interested in your work?
I only start a project if I have a connection with it. If I am going to potentially spend hundreds of hours staring intently at something I want it to be something I love.
Do you critique your own work? What is your process?
When I am thread painting, I work on a section at a time. I build up the layers of stitches, adding the shading and details until it looks realistic. I take lots of photos on my phone as I find that makes it easier to work out what is needed. When I am happy with that area I move on to the next.
I think you must be constantly critiquing your work so you can learn from your mistakes. As my art is so time consuming, I’m always trying to think of ways to streamline my process.
Where can people see your work?
I am on social media (Facebook and Instagram) as @janinejudgetextileart and my website is https://www.janinejudgetextileart.com/
You can sign up for “Janine’s Journey” my monthly newsletter at my website https://www.janinejudgetextileart.com/email-newsletter which is my textile journey, the story/process of my current project, and upcoming events/workshops.
Interview posted November 2024
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