Iris Bell is a former Registered Nurse who over the years has escaped into the world of textile art, who now creates her art from her studio in Port McNeill. Her passion for sewing started with her mother and grandmother who were both talented seamstresses. She has enjoyed the full spectrum of textile exploration from sewing clothing and quilting, to spinning, weaving, and knitting,
Inspiration for her textile works comes from the texture, patterns and colours that surround us. The base of the majority of her works goes back to the root study of photography and recording of the world around us.
Following high school Iris pursued a formal education in Photography at Langara College in Vancouver but changed career paths and headed for the medical field. Art and creating always remained part of her life and she has always had a thirst for more knowledge and has over the years attended many workshops. Maiwa Handprints for courses in dyeing and surface design, Emily Carr School of Art for color theory and Photoshop skills, Plas de Arts for workshops in spinning and weaving as well as attending many workshops provided by Langley and Vancouver Guilds of Weaving and Spinning as well the Embroidery Guild Victoria, More recently the Vancouver Island School of Art. For the past 10 years, Iris has been studying with Gail Harker at the Gail Harker Center for Creative Arts for a greater understanding of textile and fibre arts.
StatementI am a mixed media artist, enjoying the freedom in the ability to work with several different medias. I am currently experimenting with working on creating complex imagery using digital tools like the iPad and computer and transferring those images to textiles and fibre using different substrates for further exploration in stitch, by hand, thread painting and embroidery machine. Machine stitching and exploring the world of machine embroidery has been an area of exploration for many years and one that I wish to spend more time studying. The world of AI in the art world is exciting me and I am starting to explore this new digital medium and how it can be combined with the world of textile arts while maintaining the integrity of the textile work
My works are created using reclaimed fabrics obtained from garage sales and thrift stores as well as limited new materials, Fabric is hand dyed, using both procion and natural dyes and embellishing with paint and other surface design techniques
