Doodles and the Written Word “Te addition of machine stitching builds on my fascination to explore the written word in my images.” Róisín uses a Janome Horizon sewing machine in exploring her creative direction. As a doodler, Róisín soon found the creative rhythm of free form stitching that quilters so often use in finishing a quilt. For Róisín and others, doodling is a form of spaced thinking, brainstorming. It becomes a continual thinking process, linking the words in different ways. Immediately her brainstorming took the shape of words and meaning on the various felted background. “What is happening is the layered meaning is coming together further. Before the stitch, the meaning was too abstract. Stitching to me is completes it. In graphic design, I studied typography for two years— studying lettering. Tis machine mimics doodles and writing;
it is wonderful to do it in stitch, with the machine.”
Treaded Stories In Waterford, Róisín recently completed “Treaded Stories”, a participatory arts commission project for the St. Brigid’s Family Resource Centre. Róisín’s efforts brought together stories and memories of 25 years of social history. Te words were then stitched by community, staff and board members on to fabric and eventually woven into a St. Brigid's Cross now on display at the Centre. Along with the spoken tale, these threaded stories as artefacts, documents, photographs, newsletters, newspaper articles, annual reports, strategic plans and more, now serve as a metaphor of the fabric of society.