In 2011, my class at NCAD, was tasked with curating and hosting a group exhibition - given only the prompt: The Shirt. 

The exhibition was hosted at the iconic Powerscourt Townhouse in Dublin city centre, in the high ceilinged atrium on the top floor. 

My response to the prompt which informed the direction of my piece for the exhibition was: 

A Civilised Frog A Shirt Will Make

I had been enamoured with frogs since travelling to India and seeing them in all of their various and wonderful colourful variations. I had a rich visual library of frogs and once again wished to bring a sense of storytelling to the piece. 

The preparatory work for this piece, really enabled me to grow my composition skills. I photocopied my drawings and embroidery samples, collaging potential compositions - before moving on to playing with the fabrics themselves and thinking more in-depth about colour composition. 

The final piece was a richly textured embroidered wall hanging - depicting the frog in his newly made linen, alongside the natural elements which inspired his new attire. Decorative artichokes and thistles sit alongside the frog, on a deep aubergine background. 

The techniques used include multi-head and free hand machine embroidery as well as hand embroidery. Much of the textured machine embroidery in the artichokes was done with a unique Singer sewing machine - the machine had both a foot pedal for controlling speed, and a knee pedal for controlling the width of the stitch. Using this in freehand mode I was able to create curled and spindly calligraphy like tendrils that embodied the artichokes and thistles wonderfully. 

I wrote a poem which became part of the piece, embroidered with a multi-head embroidery machine in calligraphy. It read: 

Or even a frog in this strange case. ​​​​​​​