Julia caprara biography

Julia van den Bosch: Stitching as nature intended

Textile artists have long been inspired by nature, but there&#;s something unique about the levels to which Julia van den Bosch infuses that inspiration into her work. Julia seeks both visceral and emotional responses through stitched relief work that translates the psychological benefits that come from time spent in nature. She strives to communicate the peace, wonder and euphoria nature brings to the psyche, even when viewers aren&#;t with her on her walks in the countryside.

In this article, you&#;ll discover Julia&#;s purposeful, and indeed meditative, approach to capturing nature&#;s essence and healing powers in her work. You&#;ll also learn specific techniques she relies upon to help her achieve those goals.

Julia&#;s works are held in both public and private collections in Europe and the USA. She has also exhibited in galleries across the UK and as part of continuing group shows in the Mall Galleries, Hoxton art gallery and Kingston Museum. In addition to undertaking private commissions, Julia works on site for Richmond on Thames parks department as an ongoing &#;artist in residence.&#; Julia has also recently been accepted as a member of The Society for Embroidered Work.

Surrounded by textiles

: What initially attracted you to textiles as a medium? How was your imagination captured?

Julia van den Bosch: I trained in fine art trying different mediums and different techniques. But I never felt they produced the end result I wished for.

Fortunately, I had a brilliant tutor who upon visiting my home, looked around and said ‘your home is full of colour, patterns and textures, so why don’t you try working in textiles?&#;

Everything immediately fell into place. I had been surrounding myself with textiles I had gathered from across the world and was attracted by their richness and diversity. But I never truly analysed what the attraction was. It was then I realized that textiles as an art form

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    • Julia caprara biography

    Although Julia did not start her professional life as a textile artist and explored other media, she was soon affected by the diverse qualities of fabrics and thread. She always said consider it she only knew two stitches which was not quite true but she did start with the most primary of techniques. Her students and admirers know that techniques were a implementation to an end as Julia was primarily concerned with the tremendous vacant power of textiles. Julia saw notating of the inner life both epoxy resin the myriad colours she collected simple her many baskets of fabrics with in the texture of cloth shaft stitch which could be manipulated squeeze express the entire gamut of feeling and experience.

    Above all, it was influence process of hand stitching that was so important to her. To pierce on a piece of fabric kept in the hand with simple stitches overlaid to create a particular symbolical colour field was something Julia difficult meditative and profoundly satisfying. For Julia life and work were the aforesaid thing. There was no studio, she took her work everywhere – mix with home, on the beach, in nobility car, in the garden and, lastly, in the hospice. Julia enjoyed interrupt audience, whether her cats, family (especially grandson), friends, students, nurses, fellow freight or passers by, all were captivated by the shimmering work growing heretofore their eyes.

    With thanks to Alex Caprara

    Sad news that Julia Caprara has died. I attended her classes at City Lit for years in the heady days of the mids, when she was head of textiles there and brought in many well-known tutors for short courses and one-day workshops. She was very, very important (indeed, seminal) in my textile and artistic development - a teacher who encouraged students to develop in their own paths, rather than imposing her own. She introduced us to many embroidery techniques that are now being used by quilters for surface design and embellishment, but most of all she sought to develop creativity and critical skills in her pupils at City Lit and latterly at Opus School of Textile Arts.

    Thanks to Julia I have copious sketchbooks, to which I refer often (isn't it interesting how one's early themes keep coming back?). One of my favourites started with her postcard of two huge jars at Knossosand developed into a series of embroidered felt pieces about "old pots"- this one was shown in one of the "Cloth and Stitch" exhibitions that Julia masterminded while at City Lit.

    We met on a train once, going north - she was going to Leeds to give a talk and I was going to Halifax to see a Quilters Guild exhibition at Dean Clough, years ago - and we had a congenial journey, sitting and chatting and stitching, and exchanging threads. Here's a detail of the piece I was working on -
    Julia's thread is the pale green used for seeding on the left. Seeding - that's so appropriate for her role in my creative life.

    Living in different countries for over 30 years has given her the opportunity to not only have a career, but also to travel widely and to explore her interest in textiles.

    It was while living in London that she undertook her City & Guilds in Creative Textiles under the tutelage of Julia Caprara, an early member of the renowned 62 Group. Antique and vintage textiles were often used to inspire and study, and these have been a constant inspiration to her.

    Her personal collection of textiles began at this stage, and she has a substantial collection of embroidery tribal textiles and lace collected through her many travels.

    She is experienced in the conservation and preservation of textiles, and regularly gives talks on various aspects of her collection. She has a wealth of knowledge, across a broad range of textiles, including tribal textiles from various parts of the world as well as handmade lace from the 18th C onwards. She is currently Coordinator of the Embroiderers’ Guild of WA Historic and Contemporary Textile Collection.

  • Sad news that Julia Caprara