New Work for 2026 and an exciting residency!

Art Forms

Textiles

Exhibition and News

Jane Charles, a textile artist working in Milton Keynes. Jane has always been inspired by ‘place’ the places she has lived, the social history, landscape and cartography.

Since 2020, she has been exploring eco printing to give an actual point of reference to her work with leaves from a specific area. Be it in a simple walk to create a long piece of work or representing an historical place, for example: Secklow Mound, the meeting place in Central Milton Keynes where the Anglo  Saxon Secklow Hundred met.

The eco printing can also be a starting point to introduce other techniques: Indigo dye and batik with eco printing, fabric painting, free motion stitching and hand embroidery.

In February this year, Jane was awarded The Muir Trust art bursary. Starting in May 2026 she will spend one month at Discover Bucks museum, inspired by their exciting new exhibition ‘The Saxon’s are coming!’ 

Jane is thrilled to have been given this opportunity to explore the treasures from the Buckinghamshire digs and is very excited to have time to explore so many ideas already brewing in her sketchbook! The outcome will be a blend of natural dyeing and printing techniques, illustrating with oak gall ink, exploring layers and hidden treasures. Being a textile artist Jane is also looking forward to playing with gold work embroidery and Bayeux stitch hand embroidery.

Biography

Jane is a textile and community artist based in North Buckinghamshireover, she has a degree in Fashion and Textiles. Over the last 16 years Jane has developed her skills in Creative Textiles: dyeing, lino printing and adding embroidery to her work. More recently she has been exploring eco printing with leaves and eco dyeing enhanced with hand embroidery.

Jane aims to tell a story with her work: inspired by a place, a person’s life or a simple walk. She has been taking part in BAW for around 10 years and is excited to be in a new venue this year. Jane is known far and wide for her ‘cotton reel trees’ using heritage fabrics and lino prints to create wonderful little trees on vintage cotton reels, that people love to collect.

She takes part in Saltaire Inspired in Bradford and the Compton Verney Textile Fair in Warwickshire. In 2023 she created work for the garden at 78 Derogate in Northampton, creating work inspired by the illustrations of Charles and Margaret Rennie McKintosh.  In 2024, she took part in her first outside sculpture trail at Raveningham, South Norfolk, creating a washing line of inspirational textiles celebrating the importance of being outside and positivity in these worrying times.

Since 2024,  Jane has been an artist working with the Learning Department of Waddesdon Manor, working with around 1500 children to create amazing artworks for the Coach House gallery.

Contact

Jane is always happy to discuss new projects, she also gives talks to art and textile groups and can offer bespoke workshops. 

 

Get in touch

stitch@smallbeans.co.uk
https://smallbeans.co.uk

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