ABOUT
I spent 20 years working in the City, but after the birth of my daughter, decided I wanted a change of pace and a change of lifestyle. Whilst initially deciding to become a full time mum, it was after I was looking for pictures to hang on the wall in my daughter's nursery, but couldn't find anything quite right, that I decided to make my own!
I chose fabric as a medium because it gave me the warmth and texture I wanted for the nursery, something tactile and inviting, and a little bit different from the usual pictures sold on the high street. Family and friends seemed to like them and after I'd had a couple of commissions, I decided to set up my small business, creating textile artworks from which I also offered giclee prints and greetings cards.
I'm completely self taught but a great believer that if you want to achieve something then there's nothing that can't be achieved with a bit of hard work and dedication!
Initially I also licensed some of my images to a local greetings card company, Green Pebble, who were very encouraging and supportive of my fledgling business, and then after a while, I made the leap into selling wholesale direct through my own business, taking a stand at the British Craft Fair, following the recommendation of a local gallery who sold some of my work.
After being invited to run a workshop for an Essex quilters group and various local women's groups, I decided to offer tuition as an amateur 'professional' to like minded people who wanted to learn the art of painting in thread, based upon the experience I had gained over the years. I enjoyed the teaching aspect very much, so much so that I eventually took on another new project, to become a qualified secondary school Maths teacher, which has led to my textile work being put on the back burner for a while.
It is something I fully intend to return to, so for the moment, I am releasing a limited number of new designs as greetings cards each year, and occasionally selling an original artwork alongside this!
Heidi Meier
DESIGNER MAKER