Welcome & Introductions
Hello there and welcome to my brand new blog. As you have probably guessed my name is Cassandra Riley and if you're here you probably have already seen that I love to create. I'm always curious to know how other creatives have found their way to where they are presently as it can often be a long and sometimes unplanned journey. It can provide others with hope or a sense of familiarity to hear a person's tale so I thought I would give a (sort of) short account of my journey so far.
Raised in London by Irish parents, I had a lovely childhood growing up in a city steeped in history and summer holidays spent on the dramatic west coast of Ireland. Storytelling is a strong tradition in Irish heritage and I remember being captivated by my parents stories of past times.I would spend hours making up my own stories and illustrating them. Discovering the local library was like entering a new mystical forest with portholes to other worlds and my lifelong love of books began.
I went onto study Art & Design at university as this seemed to be the natural thing to do for a girl who loved to scribble and I loved the experience and met my husband there however left with little awareness of how to make an actual living from my art (this was in the 90's when the internet was in it's infancy) Hurray for Skillshare now!
Skip ahead some years after being a picture framer, Art Shop Manager and working for the local council we moved out of London so we could lay down roots and start a family. Whilst having these jobs I continued to create in the evenings and took illustration commissions but it wasn't until we had our first son that I discovered hand embroidery and a whole new world of possibilities opened up to me. I'm a self taught embroiderer and view the thread as paint and needle as a pencil.
I started to create and sell my art prints, embroidered artwork and one off sewn goods often using vintage textiles under the name Gracie's Garden Bazaar and did so successfully for many years until I became pregnant with our second son.It was a traumatic pregnancy and life was turned upside down but thankfully our son was born safely and we now joke that he is so strong willed due to his struggle to enter this world!
Some of my work created under the name ‘Gracie’s Garden Bazaar’
Whilst on maternity leave I discovered Skillshare and in particular the classes of Bonnie Christine on Surface Pattern Design. I was smitten instantly by this new way I could apply my art to surfaces and I could actually design my own fabric and use it to work with my embroidery. Having access to knowledge of how to go about this changed everything for me.The possibilities seemed endless and it meant I could finally use my natural instinct to tell stories through collections. I would often work in collections when creating my embroidered art pieces however some of them would take 50 hours+ to create so was a struggle to produce enough work and I would feel disappointed with how much I could realistically achieve.
I was so sure that this was the way I needed to head that I took the unusual step of stopping selling my work and started to sell vintage clothes and goods part time so I didn't feel any creative pressure whilst learning surface design in the evenings. My husband is so supportive that we sat down and decided we needed to prioritise moving house so our boys could have more room to grow and I could have a workspace of my own.
It took a while and a lot of hard work but luckily it worked out and we moved to our dream home just before Christmas. I really appreciate having my own space now as I had worked in every available corner in our last house and the endless trail of threads was getting a bit tiresome! I decided at the last minute to take Bonnie Christine's 2020 Immersion course and it was the perfect decision so I could focus on sharing my work again and start making my dreams a reality. Also it has meant meeting such a wonderful community of fellow creatives such as Louise Bell, a freelance graphic designer and illustrator and Heidi Vilkman, a Surface pattern designer & illustrator.
Before I had my second son I had been developing embroidery patterns and kits with the intention of adding this branch to my business as I love sharing my passion for hand stitching with others so very excited that this is to be a strong part of my new venture and that customers can purchase the patterns and kits to accompany the fabric collections and immerse themselves creatively. Understanding that not everyone is interested in sewing or embroidery, I will be selling art prints and other illustrated goods too. So exciting times ahead and hope you will join me on this journey!