Viva Lewes Issue #140 May 2018

THIS MONTH’S COVER ARTIST
This month’s cover was created by local textile
designer Michelle Hockey. Michelle designs handmade,
often embroidered, patterns, which are reproduced
as fabrics for home furnishings and upholstery.
While there’s a good chance you’ll have
come across something with her work on it, you
might not have heard her name before. “It’s a necessity
of the job really,” she explains. “When I sell
one of my designs to a client, I sell the copyright,
so my name isn’t attached to it.”
Michelle sells all of her work through local agent
Alistair Boyd, who brings her designs to clients
around the world. Her patterns have been selected
by brands including Anthropologie, Crate & Barrel
and Pottery Barn, and she’s just found out that several
of her designs have been purchased by IKEA.
“Alistair is a really lovely person to work for,” she
says. “He’s quite unusual in that he’s stayed away
from doing too much digital work. We try to keep
lots of handmade processes involved. I use all different
techniques in my designs – embroidery, collage,
screen printing and painting – and I think
people are really going back towards those techniques
which look more textured and hand drawn.”
Michelle started developing her skills at a young age:
“I was always the one in the family who liked sewing.
I grew up learning from my grandmothers, who
both sewed, and I remember just being fascinated by
it, by embroidery in particular. I went to Brighton
University to do the Textiles BA course there and it
was at my degree show that Alistair spotted my work
and offered me a job. I hadn’t done any furnishing
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