Liz Ashurst trained at Chelsea and Goldsmiths’ Colleges of Art where she obtained the City & Guilds Embroidery Certificates Parts 1 & 2 and the Goldsmiths’ Diploma in Art & Design. She is a member of the Society of Designer Craftsmen, Embroiderers’ Guild and Chair of the New Embroidery Group.
She began her career as a teacher in primary & secondary schools but has spent most of her life in adult education. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally and has work in public and private collections; it has also been reproduced in many books and publications.
Liz works as a freelance artist and lecturer from her own studio in Reigate, Surrey. Inspired by her sketchbooks and watercolour paintings, she designs embroidered panels, wallhangings and handpainted silk for scarves & banners. Her most recent commission has been the installation of her four major embroideries ‘Changing Elements’ in the entrance of Farnham Road Hospital, Guildford, Surrey.
Residences have included: the Roman Palace, Fishbourne, Chichester, Warden House Primary School, Deal, Kent, The Downs Primary School, Walmer, Kent, Benenden School, Kent, Oxted County Secondary School, Surrey, Court Lodge Infants’ School, Horley, St Andrew’s Primary School, Cobham. St Matthew’s Church of England Infants School, Cobham, the Royal Kent school, Oxshott and the International School, Cobham.
Day workshops for the National Trust & National Gallery, London., branches of the Embroiderers’ Guild.
‘Light, colour and energy are the key factors in my work which draws its inspiration from landscape, plants & gardens, folk art and my travels in Europe & India.
Nothing is static in this rapidly changing world and my personal journeys help me to gain insight and make connections between both my inner and outer landscapes. To help me with my observations, I am continually exploring ideas through my numerous sketchbooks, notebooks and photographs. This in turn, creates the alchemy which generates the work.
Interacting with people of all age groups is an essential aspect to balancing my life: teaching and lecturing locally and in many different venues throughout the UK provides that dialogue.