20: The pattern for a successful creative career with Sarah Pooley

Creativity has always been part of Sarah Pooley's life. But after completing a degree in textiles her career took her into the knitwear industry where she found a job she loved designing patterns for a brand of knitting machines. When she started her family having a home based career was preferable and the beginning of the next chapter in her creative life was in soft furnishings for interiors. It was her trusty sewing machine that took Sarah on to the next stage of her creative life, and what she is known for now: her stunning free motion embroidery fine art textiles.
In our very entertaining chat, Sarah talks about her life long of wanting to capture the landscapes around her in her art, and how fortunate she feels at finding the perfect medium for her to do so. She shares her coastal inspirations for her work and how her sister's new career as a ceramicist in the north east of Scotland gave her, not only a new part of the coastline at the other end of the country to enjoy but, access to an established Open Studios network to debut her work northeastopenstudios.co.uk.
Sarah also reveals how her creative partnership with friend and visual artist Sharon Bruster sharonbrusterart.co.uk developed. With Sarah based in Hampshire and Sharon in Cornwall it might seem an unlikely way to come together to create art, but with the joys of modern technology and the more traditional Royal Mail, it has become a successful enterprise for them both.
There will be a small collection of Sarah's abstract textiles at the Byre Gallery thebyregallery.co.uk this summer, and you can also see her work at the lovely Padstow Gallery in north Cornwall padstowgallery.co.uk
Sarah is on Instagram at @sarahpooleytextiels