Jo Gallant

Jo Gallant was born in Hertfordshire and brought up in Norfolk.  She attended Birmingham Polytechnic to study constructed textiles, and gained a BA Hons in Fashion/Textiles, and a PGCE (Art).  Though she had specialised in weaving and knitting at college, she soon branched out into using combinations of dye-painting, appliqué and machine embroidery.  In 1987 she set up her Studio Textiles workshop in Durness, Sutherland, then in 1992 moved down to Galloway, first to Kirkcudbright, then to Mossdale.  She has worked professionally as an artist/maker throughout that time and exhibited and undertaken commissions, both public and private, across the UK.  She has also worked as a Primary Art Specialist in Schools and runs workshops for adults and children.
Her work is very much influenced by the natural world, birds, animals, plants and trees.  She uses cotton, linen and silk fabrics in various weights and textures from thick velvets to fine silk gauzes.  These are painted with dyes, pieced, appliquéd, quilted and machine embroidered, putting together different fabrics to give the desired textures and exploiting the way different fabrics take the dye, particularly the richness of colour that can be attained on velvet, and the way it is affected by the light falling on it.  In her cushion designs her ideas are interpreted into strong graphic images, which often incorporate the zip as part of the design.  

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