September 2026 Newsletter
WELCOME FROM OUR CHAIRS
As summer gently gives way to autumn, we’re looking forward to the changing season and all that it brings. September feels like a lovely moment of transition, a time to reflect, reconnect and look ahead to new ideas and opportunities within PRISM.
We’re now well into preparations for our Out of the Box exhibition at the Knit + Stitch Show in London and Harrogate. We’re very much looking forward to bringing together the work of our artists and sharing this exciting exhibition with you.
We’re also delighted to be featured in the September–October 2026 issue of Embroidery Magazine, which has just been published. The one-page feature highlights PRISM’s participation in the Knit + Stitch Shows, with a selection of work by our members, and explores the story behind the title Out of the Box. We hope it gives you a little taste of the wonderful work that will be on show.
Several PRISM members will be at the shows, making them a wonderful opportunity to catch up, chat about the work on display and connect with fellow textile enthusiasts. If you’re planning to visit, you’ll find a PRISM discount code at the bottom of this newsletter.
This month, we’re delighted to continue featuring the diverse work of six PRISM members: Geraldine Festenstein, Jo Coombes, Jeryl Church, Catherina von Isenburg, Aran Illingworth and Wendy Greene. Scroll down to discover more about these wonderful artists and their work.
We also visited Jane Riley’s studio, where spinning and weaving provided an opportunity to explore the fascinating differences between loom and tapestry weaving. The visit continued outdoors, with a trip along the coast in search of fossils, bringing together making, learning and discovery. Read all about our visit on our blog.
As we move into autumn, we hope the coming months bring plenty of opportunities for creativity, connection and discovery. We look forward to sharing more PRISM news with you soon.
With best wishes,
Wolfgang Woerner, Chair
Jane Riley, Vice Chair
MEMBERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT THIS MONTH
GERALDINE FESTENSTEIN
Geraldine’s work is all about connections. She aims to create circumstances whereby connections can be made between the present and the past. These connections become clearer in the present piece as it becomes more imbued with meaning with work from the past. She gathers together previously worked samples, bits, and pieces at various stages of construction and deconstruction, discarding parts of what lie before her and assembling and reassembling in such a way that the composition has a deeper resonance with the past.
Geraldine liberates residual marks, fragments, torn edges, curled corners, and scraps from their original pieces and creates new environments for them. She aims to create new pieces by mining previous sampling, adding old fragments, removing others, piling stitches onto previously worked stitches, working with crumpled edges, emphasising knots of discarded threads, giving prominence to the reverse side, while always hoping to allow a work of deeper meaning to emerge.
JO COOMBES
Jo’s textile ideas stem from a deep interest in human behaviour and communication. Drawing on her training as a speech and language therapist, she is inspired by how we use language to describe and influence our identity, emotions, relationships and our consequent impact on society and the environment.
By exploring visual metaphors for our moral code and exposing the subliminal influences of media and commerce, Jo has recently tried to highlight current global issues. Her current work explores the devastating communication disorder aphasia. This affects speech, language, reading, and writing after a stroke or head injury, and is a focus on her therapeutic work. She uses her original images to print on hand-dyed cloth to create unique art textile work. Jo believes that textiles can powerfully illuminate these issues and she hopes to share her vision through her work.
JERYL CHURCH
Jeryl’s passion for language and books, together with ideas being explored, play a significant role in her work. As such, its departure point is frequently paper: a container of ideas and disseminator of information. Paper’s unique qualities attract Jeryl, offering her a familiar yet versatile medium to expand the possibilities of textile art. Currently Jeryl’s work responds to the complex consequences of climate change.
She asks people to consider their responsibility to the environment and the differences they can make. Not constrained by using any one method Jeryl reduces her personal carbon footprint by intuitively using materials already possessed, as well as up-cycling past work. Research plays a key role in her work and can lead to unexpected results.
CATHERINA von ISENBURG
From early childhood Catherina has had a love of keeping sketchbooks which often become part of the journey towards a piece of work. She takes inspiration from the natural world as well as fairytales and folklore.
After gaining a BA Hons, Catherina went on to complete an MA in Children’s book illustration, where she embraced the creation of her own stories and characters. She continues to explore various story ideas and settings whilst using different medium in which to interpret them. Recently Catherina has been exploring the art of automata and enjoys adding mechanical moving elements to some of her pieces. She loves discovering new possibilities and is excited to think that one’s artistic practice is constantly evolving, that there are always more ideas and stories to explore.
ARAN ILLINGWORTH
Aran’s work sets out to present the stories of individuals whose voices might otherwise remain unheard. This combines to create a series of works presenting the experiences of women and children dealing with poverty, refugees facing deprivation and conflict, and homeless individuals living on the streets.
Fostering social consciousness and raising awareness about issues close to her heart are aims which are central to her work as a textile artist. Raising awareness about social issues such as poverty, inequality, and human rights abuses. It encourages the viewer to understand others' experiences, leading to support for change. Aran’s chosen medium is appliquéd, hand-embroidered and partly machine-stitched textile panels. They present a visual narrative, which is intended to convey a certain emotion, and which focuses on subjects carrying a specific message and meaning. Always fascinated with textiles and creating realistic images, her art sets out to combine these two to create a portrait.
WENDY GREENE
Wendy Greene wishes her audience to be entertained by her work. Ideas can spring from snippets of overheard conversations or full blown family dramas. As a contrast, the glimpse of a flower in the garden or the song of a bird at dawn can be inspirational. One idea leads to another.
Words are as important as images in Wendy’s work. She employs both hand and machine stitching but the use of colour is probably the most important element to be considered.
She wishes to lift the spirits of the observer.
PRISM: Out of the Box
Textile Galleries at Knit + Stitch
This autumn, PRISM Textile Group presents Out of the Box in the Textile Galleries at Knit + Stitch London (8–11 October) and Harrogate (19–22 November 2026).
The exhibition invites each artist to respond to a simple yet thought-provoking challenge: creating a finished piece that fits within a box while exploring ideas that extend far beyond its physical limits.
