Skip to main content

Jenni Cadman

Dorset
Artist/Maker based in Dorset. Her practice pursues an interest in recreating the painted and drawn line with stitch. Recent embroideries and monotypes form a project to celebrate her Mother.

In my practice I have pursued a continuing interest in recreating the painted and drawn mark using fabrics and threads. From initial explorations on paper to the finished textile the whole process is crucial in forming the content of a piece and in developing a personal response. For the last two decades the landscape has been my constant inspiration.

Over the years I have employed a wide range of techniques, media and materials involving machine embroidery, applique, transparent fabrics and paint for example along with the manipulation of fabrics by fraying, bonding, distressing and forming.

I now specialise in the technique of free-machine embroidery to create my artworks, panels and hangings and enjoy the repetition of stitching, the intensity of focus needed tempered with a freedom of expression and movement.

'Conversations With My Mother’ is a new project, started in 2021, and heralds a completely new change of direction in which my Mother has become the subject and focus of new embroideries and monotypes. Through the creative process of making these works I have discovered a positive way of grieving and the means to become emotionally absorbed in a renewed relationship with her.

 

Qualifications

1980 HNDipAd, Printed Textile Design, Reigate School of Art and Design

1997 City & Guilds Further Adult Education Teachers Certificate

Competitions, Prizes and Awards
2001 - Craft Award, Arts Council, South West
2000 - Craft Award, Arts Council, South West

Membership

2017 onwards - Making Dorset, Dorset Visual Arts

2000 - 2012 - Devon Guild of Craftsmen 

1995 - 2002 - Sherborne Contemporary Arts - Founding member, committee member, curator and treasurer of SCA an organisation with a membership of 70 artists at it peak from all over Wessex. 

Solo exhibitions

2010 - Member's Showcase, Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey, Devon 

2005 - Stitched Textiles, The Terrace Cafe, The Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey, Devon 

2001 - Coastworks, Black Swan Arts, Frome, Somerset

1998 - Stitched Textiles, Bell Street Gallery, Shaftesbury, Dorset

Group exhibitions

2024 - Making Dorset, The Sherborne, Dorset

2024 - Housework, The Sherborne, Sherborne, Dorset

2022 - Dorset Art Weeks, The Old Timberyard, West Bay, Dorset

2018 - Dorset Art Weeks, Dorset Makers, The Tasting Room, Furleigh Estate, Salway Ash, Dorset

2018 - Art Auction Exhibition, Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Honiton, Devon

2017 - Making Dorset Winter Show, Allsop Gallery, Bridport Art Centre, Dorset

2017 -  FIFTY DORSET MAKERS, Wolfeton Riding House, Charminster, Dorset

2016 - THE YARD, Pop-up Gallery, above Vida Comida, Swan Yard, Sherborne, Dorset
2013 - Strand: Textiles with a Contemporary Twist, Allsop Gallery, Bridport Art Centre, Dorset
2012 - The Art of Textiles, L'Artishe Gallery, Swanage
2011 - Interwoven, Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk
2010 - A Few of Our Favourite Things, Dorchester County Hospital, Dorchester
2010 - Present Makers, Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Honiton
2010 - Thelma Hulbert Open 2010, Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Honiton
2009 - Between the Lines, MKGallery, Somerton, Somerset
2008 - Boundaries, The Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey
2008 - Journeyland, The Brewhouse Gallery, Taunton
2008 - Trig Point, The Study Gallery of Modern Art, Poole, Poole
2007 - Sherborne House Open, Sherborne House, Sherborne
2006 - Craft Focus, Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey, Devon
2006 - Full Spectrum, Sherborne House, Sherborne
2006 - Journeys: The Art of Making, Sussex Barn Gallery, West Dean College, Chichester
2006 - Summer Exhibition, Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey
2005 - Art for Giving, Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Honiton, Devon
2005 - Brighton Art Fair, Corn Exchange, Brighton
2005 - Landmarks, Walford Mill Craft Centre, Wimborne, Dorset
2005 - Summer School Tutors Exhibition, Sussex Barn, West Dean College, Chichester
2003 - Colour Shift, Subscription Rooms, Stroud, Gloucestershire
2003 - Land, Sea, or Sky, Peacock Gallery, Poole, Dorset
2003 - Loose Threads, Rufford Craft Centre, Newark, Nottinghamshire
2003 - Lure of the Sea, The Jointure Studios, Ditchling, Sussex
2003 - Millfield Open Summer Show, Atkinson Gallery, Street, Somerset
2003 - Raising the Roof, Walford Mill Craft Centre, Wimborne, Dorset
2002 - Christmas Show, Maltby Contemporary Art, Winchester
2002 - Christmas Show, nobleArt Gallery, Cambridge
2002 - Cornucopia, Fibreart Gallery, St. Ives, Cornwall
2002 - Hemmed In, Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey, Devon
2002 - Unravelled, Dorchester Town Hall, Dorset, during Dorchester Festival
2001 - Christmas Spice, Walford Mill Craft Centre, Wimborne, Dorset
2001 - High Fibre, Sherborne House, Dorset
2001 - The Sea, Arts in Hospital Project, Dorchester Hospital, Dorset
2001 - Bus Stop Gallery, Year of the Artist touring exhibition, South West of England
2000 - South West Open Studios, Penzance, Cornwall
2000 - Spirit of the House, Sherborne House, Dorset

Dorset Art Weeks (various venues) 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2018, 2022

1997 to 1999 - Off The Shelf, Art Supermarket, Sherborne Contemporary Arts, Sherborne House, Dorset

Curated projects
2001 - High Fibre, Exhibition of Wessex based Textile Artists, Sherborne House, Sherborne, Dorset

Residencies
2006 - 5 day Residency, Textile Workshops, Colyton Grammar School, Colyford, Devon
2000 - Project to create work in response to the historical building of Sherborne House, Sherboorne Houe Arts, Sherborne, Dorset

Projects
2007 - Crumpety Tree Project, Arts Council Lottery community project to make a banner, Quangle Wangle Choir & Acorn Centre , Weymouth

Educational experience - primary
2001 - Textile Workshops, Chickerell Primary School, Weymouth

Educational experience - secondary
2012 - Textile Workshop, Clayesmore School, Blandford, Dorset
2011 - Textile Workshop, Millfield School, Street, Somerset
2010 - Textile Workshop, Leweston Girls School, Sherborne, Dorset
2007 - Textile Workshop, Kings School, Ottery St.Mary, Devon
2006 - Textile Workshop, Honiton Community College, Devon
2005 - Textile Workshop, Cowes High School, isle of Wight
2005 - Textile Workshop, Honiton Community College, Devon

Educational experience - tertiary
2003 - Visiting lecturer, BA (Hons) Textiles and Surface pattern, Somerset College of Arts and Technology, Taunton, Somerset
2003 - 2006 - Visiting Tutor, Textile Workshops, West Dean College, Chichester, Sussex
1999 - 2002 - Visiting lecturer, BA (Hons) Costume Design, Bournemouth Arts Institute, Dorset

Site specific
2001 - Year of the Artist, Commission to create showcase work in a double decker bus touring the West Country, Sherborne Contemporary Arts, South West

Publications

2017 - FIFTY DORSET MAKERS, published by Making Dorset and Evolver magazine
2008 - Textiles Now by Drusilla Cole, published by Laurence King
2006 - The World of Embroidery, July/August feature 'Beneath the Surface' published by the Embroiderers' Guild
2004 - FibreArts Design Book 7, published by Lark Books 

Other
2008 - Fashion Embroidery & Stitch, Exhibitor/Demonstrator, The Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate

2004 - Craft Festival, Exhibitor/Demonstrator, Bovey Tracey, Devon

 

Become a member

We support our members with: insurance, networks, space, opportunities, R&D awards, profiling, advice and mentoring.
Become a member

Join the UK’s Leading Artist Community

Be part of a caring, mutual aid network. Connect with fellow artists and access insurance, space, opportunities, and support to grow your practice.

Become a Member