Hello, I’m Amelia a calligraphy and embroidery artist based in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.
My calligraphy obsession started in 2014.
On a cold, and wet January night I set off to a weekend copperplate calligraphy course. I was immediately hooked, and after starting to learn the strict rules and regularities of copperplate, I set about corrupting them into a modern calligraphy hand. I would spend all my weekends practicing, and through it I found my way back to all the creative things I’d loved, that had got lost along the way of a degree and job in pharmacy.
My love for hand embroidery started both earlier and later…
My mum first taught me hand embroidery when I was a child, but having never been that inspired by cross-stitch patterns, I’d largely stopped until I came across the beautiful work of Japanese embroiderers such as Yumiko Higuchi and Kazuko Aoki. When I was pregnant with my son I had hyperemesis gravidarum, a nausea and vomiting that left me bed bound for many weeks. Even through the hell of that time my hands wanted to be making and embroidery was the perfect thing to do in bed, almost horizontal; there was no mess and I could do a couple of stitches and then put it down until I felt up to doing more. A little shimmering bit of joy.
After his birth, the small one loved a contact nap and again I could carry on sewing whilst he lay in my lap. Now I’m back to moving around to my hearts content, but I can’t stop sewing!
Other than that…
I want to build a business that’s as kind to our planet as possible, so I’m always trying to come up with ways to repurpose materials and make things that will be kept, and reused. I love sewing my own clothes and have a particular weakness for Liberty print dresses. I eat copious amounts of spaghetti (it is better than all other pasta shapes, and I’m half Italian, so I think you can take my word for it). I’m always listening to audiobooks, particularly murder mysteries. I love gardens and I’m currently trying to make mine match the vision in my head, with my little “helper”.
If you like the sound of what you’ve read and would like to work together then please…