Eileen Harrisson
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Biography
 
My maiden name Eileen Grace Cairns, I was born in Newtownards, Co. Down, N. Ireland.  This town lies at the head of Strangford Lough beneath Scrabo Tower on the hill above and I grew up in and around the nearby town of Bangor, living almost always within sight and sound of the sea. 

This close association with nature and water has left me with an abiding love of sea and shore, which love was shared by my grandfather,  an artist and embroidery designer during the heyday in the 20th century of the Belfast linen industry.  The craft of the needle came to me as a small child from my maternal grandmother when she introduced me to decorative embroidery, then, later in my teens, through my paternal grandmother's skill as a dress-maker.  However, it was some time before I included textiles in my artistic practice.

Training

2009  -	MA Fine Art	Currently being undertaken at Aberystwyth University
2007	Unfolding Thought- Contemporary Book Art	Tate Modern, London Short Course
2005	Master Class in Stitched Textiles	Opus School of Textile Arts  - now the Julia Caprara School of Textile Arts
2004	Textile Art Summer School              West Wittering, W. Sussex	Julia and Alex Caprara, Opus School of Textile Arts
1975	Joint Hons. BA in Italian and Art	University of Wales,  Aberystwyth
1973/4	Study Year	Accademia di Belle Arti di Ravenna, N. Italy

 Concentrating on Etching and History of Art at university in Aberystwyth, I also studied these subjects in Ravenna, N.Italy, with the addition of Lithography and Mosaic.

 After graduating from university, I undertook employment as an Italian Translator and Art Therapist, among other things.  Marriage occasioning a move to England, I then began working as an artist in pen and ink and watercolour, which I continued to do while bringing up my two children.  During this time, working to commission and for  exhibition, I began experimenting with soft  pastels, which became my preferred medium for several years.  My work was shown in various galleries in the UK, including with The Society of Women Artists  at Westminster Hall, London.

Partly owing to the onset of a neurological illness affecting my muscles, I began experimenting with embroidery in 1993, finding the varied nature of textile art invaluable for my condition.

Over the years, I have taken part in other activities besides art, including singing in serveral choirs and in church, writing music and playing piano.  While living in East Anglia, I also attended Suffolk College where I did some studies in Theology including New Testament Greek and Old Testament Hebrew.  During this time I made a little foray into the world of broadcasting through bible-reading, presenting and reviewing the religious press on BBC Radio Suffolk's "Sunday Best" programme and having a once-fortnightly slot in the regional "Thought for the Day".

Literature has also been a passion and love since childhood and I have been
published as a poet in anthologies including, "Her Mind's Eye: Images and Poems by Women" and "The West in Her Eye: Poems by Women" both published by Pyramid Press, London.

I am currently studying for my MA Fine Art part-time at Aberystwyth University.  My work can be seen regularly in Oriel y Gader, Dolgellau  and is held in private collections in the UK and abroad.


© copyright Eileen Harrisson 2010.  All text and images are the sole copyright of Eileen Harrisson and are not to be reproduced without permission.