Angela Bentley began to experiment with free machine embroidery in the mid 1980's. She found this an ideal medium to express the texture and effect of light on stone, walls and foliage in particular.

 

Angela Bentley works mainly on Habutai silk, which is specially prepared for painting.  Angela using very diluted fabric paints paints the scene. The paint is then fixed by heat to make it permanent.  The work is the set into a embroidery hoop ready for stitching on the sewing machine.  The machine is prepared for free stitching by dropping the 'feed dog’ that normally feeds the fabric through the machine.  This enables Angela to move the hoop freely in any direction.  The various types of stitches are created by the speed and direction in which the fabric is moved and the texture is created by altering the stitch tension on the machine.

 

Angela Bentley further enhances her work with the use of hand stitching using a number of different specialist threads.