This page is for students. I get asked alot about my work by GCSE, AS and A2 students and even the occasional thesis writer. If you're a student and want to ask other questions please write them to me at lisamollymacdonald@gmail.com and I'll post them on the web site too so that others may use the info. Packs of postcards will soon be available from the online shop
How long do your stitched paintings take to make?
This is an impossible question to answer because it obviously depends on the size of the piece but it's the question I am asked most frequently. I tend to work on more than one piece at a time. I have a day or so of painting and then I start to stitch. I find it easier to do this because the continuous threading of the machine holds you back and if you have blue threaded for example you may as well use it up on several pieces and then move to another colour. I do work as fast as my sewing machine will allow and on a good day I can get a fair amount achieved. When the pieces get to a certain stage I usually start working on them individually.
What paint do you use?
I use acrylic, which dries fast and has the added benefit of not lifting the paint when you add another layer. So you don't end up with a muddy effect I usually work on canvas that has been untreated. I use alot of colour theory in my work, working with complementar, split-complementary, hot and cold colours and tertiary colours. I play with colour and colour combination using all kinds of colour in the bobbin with slack tension so it pops through to the front of the canvas.
Do you stitch by hand?
I use the sewing machine and embroidery foot. For me it's about using the machine like a pencil or paint brush and drawing with it. I just don't have the same bond with a needle and thread. It's just not fluid enough.
How do you take an idea through to completion?
I create a lot of sketch books. They are all over my house in various stages on completion and I frequently have more than one on the go at one time. I like to develop my ideas and allow them to grow. I am a visual thinker so for me this has to happen slowly. As my ideas begin to grow, so does my sketchbook which I use to try out different ideas. My work frequently bears little resemblance to the content of the finished piece and I rarely work everything out in a sketchbook but my work comes from a body of work and I tend to use on going themes and ideas which resurface again and again. Flowers, maritime, landscape my own experience, the human form, journeys, my daily routine and the world around me.
Where did the idea for stitching into the paint come from?
Three places:
The first was a piece I created for an exhibition in the late nineties, an applique quilt depicting my neighbourhood and as usual, I was late getting the work finished. I had the centre panel to complete and I did not like the material I had, so I stitched over it using zig-zag. When the quilt was exhibited everyone commented on the centre panel but I never liked the jaggedness of the stitch so when a similar thing happened in my next exhibition, again in the late 90s, where I had another piece of textiles and some paintings exhibited at the Garrick Gallery in Jersey the one small section was stitched using straight stitch and a darning foot, very similar way to my work now. It was that part that again got the comments and which I found so interesting. That was the turning point, although the third thing was meeting with Alice Kettle when Pat Robson and Liz Le Gal brought her over to Jersey, and I had a chance to talk to her about my own work. Obviously I don't work in the same way as Alice Kettle because I rely very heavily on the painted surface and she builds dense stitch, she was very encouraging and really gave me the confidence to keep experimenting. I feel like I still have a lot of experimenting to do.