Meet: Abigail Brown

Abigail Brown 

is a textile artist, hand-making animals and other creatures. We met her in her studio at Cockpit Arts...

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 “My grandmother was a seamstress, so I grew up with the smell and feel of the fabric. That’s still a part of me. Even though she died when I was very young I come to think of her every time I work.”

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“Years and years ago, someone bought my entire stock off my online shop, and I had no idea where it went. When I put up something new it happened again. And then after a while, a guy got in touch and told me he was building a 6 feet wire tree and had been equipping it with all my animals. He then commissioned 6 more. The best part was when I found out that he worked with traumatised children and that my animals helped him communicate with these kids by making them feel safer.”

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“It’s a budgerigar. But we just call it a budgie.”

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"I was recently commissioned to produce some of my papery maché animals for Paul Smith shops in Paris and Milan. I wanted to recreate some of the most unusual animals, certainly I didn't know most of them existed until I researched them and I hoped other people wouldn't either. Did you know there's such a thing as a Numbat? or a Jerboa?"

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"After my degree I saved to buy a new sewing machine and had in mind to buy one of the newest models available. In the shop the owner asked why I felt it needed to be new and said the older ones were far more reliable and so away I came with this lovely Bernina from the 1970's! I've been incredibly happy with this machine... I hope it's got a lot more life left in it! I wouldn't want a new one now!"

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This pheasant is watching over Abbie when she works. 
And no, it's definitely not a toy!

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To see pictures of Abbie's wonderful creatures and find out what a jerboa and a numbat looks like, check out her website, www.abigail-brown.co.uk, and her blog, abigailbrownscreatures.blogspot.co.uk/.