S5, E10 E Ailish Henderson | Art textiles practitioner

In this episode, we meet Ailish Henderson, a textile artist, writer, and educator based in Tyne and Wear, whose emotionally resonant work blends stitched portrait collages, narrative textiles, and mixed media. Beginning with playful sketchbook drawings inspired by photographs and personal memorabilia, Ailish builds layered compositions using fragments of clothing, tickets, and ephemera.

Her practice, often described as “narrative art”, explores emotional repair, family history, and mental wellbeing. Through her workshops, Ailish invites others to explore personal storytelling through stitch, offering a gentle, intuitive path to creative healing.

Episode recorded on 30 July 2025

Website: ailishhenderson.com
Instagram: @ailish_h_

Podcast details:
Podcast email: artiststalespodcast@gmail.com
Website: www.artiststales.net
Instagram: @artists_tales_podcast
Threads: @artists_tales_podcast

Transcript

Welcome to Artist Tales, the podcast thought features, and celebrates artists from different walks of life. I'm your host, Heather Martin, and in this episode we're threading through the life and work of textile artist, writer, and educator Ailish Henderson, based in Tyne and Wear in North England. Ailish is best known for her emotionally resonant stitch portrait, collages and mixed media pieces that fuse ink, watercolor and personal fragments of fabric and memory.

Her practice described as narrative art draws from old photographs, travel memorabilia, and childhood ephemera. Each element woven into a deeply personal visual story. Welcome, Ailish. Thanks for having me. It's great to have you as a guest. Tell us a little bit more about yourself and how you got into what you're doing.

Yeah, so I was born in Northern Ireland during the sort of trouble, so it was quite a, a war to time. Um, I was, uh, home taught as a child and I think that really increased my creativity, um, because of the situation over there. It was very much a period of, um, unrest. My parents chose to, um, make sure that I was safe at home during that time, and my mom took on basically most of my education.

And I remember, although we kept very closely to the curriculum, it was very much a creative input. To that curriculum. Um, so that would be very much English, literature, art, um, as well as the other subjects. But those were very much pushed as a child. And I think that kind of started me off in that way of being curious in that form.

And then as I grew up, I wanted then, of course, not to be taught by just mom. So. I went to college to study fine arts and happened to get a textile arts tutor, standin one day, and that was Julia, Tristan, some of you may know that name, and she had pink hair and was quite punky in style. Um, that kind of warmed me to her as a, a young person.

I think I was a bit rebellious and I thought, oh, this is interesting. And she was very much art textiles that got me interested. So it was very much monoprinting onto fabric and paper. So it was little bits of things that I was familiar with anyway on paper, but she just transcribed onto cloth as well.

And then of course, having come from a background where actually my mom and grandma were very much into store sewing and making their own clothes and things, but had tried to get me to do that, but to no avail as a child. And I would then would come home proudly with these little pieces of embroidery and things that I'd done in my class.

And my mom was like, well what? Why? I could've taught you this all along. I think it takes someone outside of your home sometimes and to get you interested. That's kind of where I started out. And then from that age, sort of 16 onwards, I then plowed through an art education. I went on to do different college fine art courses, but then some mixed media, some textile art.

Then went on to study my more formal education in textiles and did my degree in textiles, but kept it very much with a fine edge and very always with the undercurrent of the narrative. So kind of that's where the education side of things comes in. It sounds like you have had a real influence or a lot of, a number of people, key people in your life have really influenced your interest in art.

And you know, particularly the textile art. So was there anything in particular about textiles that you're particularly drawn to, or is that just something or that, is that a medium that because you've had exposure to you just kind of picked up? I really don't know because when it comes down to it, I love drawing and painting as well.

I think it was the idea that it could have a little bit of a mixed media edge. Yes. In another life, I'd love to just do absolute textiles as well. But I love to mix media. I love to see what you can do with media. For instance, I'm very into using, I like the idea of things that should be on paper, putting them onto fabric just because I can.

So I, we, well, a few years ago now, I was doing some. Etching work at a printmakers. 'cause I'm very into sort of the drawing side of things still. And I was doing some portraits of my grandmother and I decided that I was gonna put some old vintage pillowcases through the, the roller presses that had only ever been used for paper.

And they, they held their breaths as they, as the role I went through. And I didn't know if it would work or anything, but it did. And it was that idea that, oh wow, I could actually. Make a drawing onto cloth and then add extra at that time. Um, so it, it it's that idea of play. I guess the curiosity. I, I've always loved Alice in Wonderland as a child, and I think it was that kind of seeing what was behind the next corner drives you on really.

That idea of, of always having that interest. And I think that comes with having a real love of textiles. A a genuine love, not just doing it for, for art's sake really, or for money's sake. And I think I always knew as I was coming out of, I remember the panic coming out of sort of those years of a level art thinking.

What next? I can't leave this. I can't just go on and have a nine to five job and do what normal people do. I have to be an artist, but how do I be an artist? 'cause you can't just, you could sell your own work and expect to be famous with it. And again, that was how I got into teaching, which is kind of a, another subject there.

So I'm getting onto a, a, a different tail there. So before we get into your teaching, I was just, you know, when I was listening to you, it, it, what struck me was kind of a certain freedom in what you're saying in terms of, and we'll get onto kind of themes you're exploring. You're right, it, it is mixed media.

So you are using, you know, textiles, using ink and watercolors and that sort of thing. So it kind of feels like a bit of a free, it gives you a bit of freedom to explore the themes that you're exploring in your artwork. Yeah, I think you're right. And when I'm hearing you say that, it's the word freedom.

Now that's an interesting one because I've been, this week and next week, I'm leading a workshop online and it's on sort of the idea of capturing the magic of someone. And I've had a lot of questions surrounding how I don't overthink or overwork work, and how do you know when to stop and. I always think of it as there's enough to overthink in life and when it comes to art, if that's the only thing that we've got in our lives that we don't overthink, then keep it.

And for me it was never about being the perfectionist within my art. So I never try to make perfect. I, I try and just think, well, there's enough anxiety in everyday life just. Enjoy the freedom that you can dabble, and again, it's that childhood dabble. If I'm going away, say for a few days and maybe a caravan break or something, they will always be packed.

There might not be a needle and thread there if it's a, because that might be an extended project, but there'll always be the start of something that's maybe just a pen and paper or some watercolor palette. There'll always be something that you can just dabble with. Like a child dabbles when you know, maybe they've gone out for the day and they just paint what they see.

And that's what I enjoy about art. It's that freedom. You don't have to put constraints on yourself. So I dunno if that quite answers your question, but Yeah. Well, I think it does in many ways. Now, I did mention in the introduction, you know, some of the themes that you're kind of looking at or exploring, you know, things like memory and, you know, uh, your childhood, you know, or childhoods not, maybe not, not necessarily yours.

And in kind of having a very deep personal visual story. So could you tell me a little bit more about how you explore themes and kind of what, explain more about your themes that you're looking through? Yeah, I think I'm quite a sentimental person, but explain to it from different, a few different strands.

One, I. It, it's very much about never having arts for art's sake. I could never be someone, I'm always someone who's genuine, honest, and I can't be dishonest within my own work, um, neither to myself or to my audience. So, although I, I'm not going to say this is how I feel on this date on paper, and I'm gonna write it for everyone to see.

I will probably weave that thought within my work. For example, I might say use a fabric or a cloth that I'm very much drawn to because it's personal. Maybe it's an item for instance, maybe something that's passed down from a family relative, like a grandmother. I was very close to my mom's mom and a lot of my work is based on her.

So she's, you know, she died when she was just before her hundredth birthday a few years ago. And that even that grief, you can put that into your work. Not that you automatically talk about the grief in your work, but it might just be woven through there. That might be subliminal. And a lot of the, that is about kind of celebrating I ancestry, who you are working out who you are as a person, but also where you've come from.

Um, so there's a lot about that in my work. And that example of kind of. Making, I guess, a level of security through your work. Recently I've been looking at my dad's side of the family because his mom and dad really died before I was born. And he, because of his upbringing, it was quite a, a boarding school, quite a posh upbringing.

So he didn't really know much or he didn't get his time much with his parents. Um, he wasn't close to them. And because of that, I don't know much about them. So he can't tell me much about 'em. But that may be even more curious. And again, it's interesting when you're an artist, you then other people would look at their family tree and think, oh, I'll just do it for the ancestry sake of it.

But for me, I've been looking at it from an art side and you know, what can you say about someone in an artistic mannerism when you don't know them very well, but technically they are your relative. So there's that link, but that's all you've got. And you've just got what people. Have told you about them.

For instance, I can look at a picture of his mom and there's a certain warmth there. I know she was a nice person. I know that she was kind to animals. I know that she enjoyed playing bridge. I know that she was Scottish and that she wore bits of tweed and she was very quintessentially Scottish. But apart from that, I don't know anything about a real personality.

I think there's, there's that kind of element that can really fascinate you. So art can become a, almost an aga Christie find out project as well. And that it just, it's that kind of sentimentality and fragility that you can bring into your work. And again, personal narratives. Art can be a a therapy. It's not gonna take away your problems, nor it's not gonna fix them, but it can become a way of getting through a problem.

For instance, my father, he's still around to tell the tail, but he had cardiac arrest about a decade ago, and at his bedside, what he was hospital bound for, for a good few months. But I often used to stitch at his bedside, and it used to irritate the life out of him watching me do these intricate stitches while he couldn't really potentially move.

But for me, it was therapy because it was something that I could negotiate and was in control of. So there's a lot that are, and textiles, I say art because it, it's the generalized term. I don't, I don't try and go, oh, it's textiles at, oh, it's fine art. Or, oh. I think art can be across boundaries. Whatever form of creativity you take on, it can be a real blessing for you, that you maybe need more at certain times in your life than others, but it'll always be there, ready to pick up again.

I find that really interesting because then what I'm hearing is it sounds like art is the avenue for you to explore your family, your family history, family tree, but also it's kind of that intergenerational history, the personal history, memories, you know, or lack of, or gaps in memories or not having those memories and the curiosity as if, as you've spoken about earlier, you know.

I think it's quite natural for many people, most people, if not everyone, to kind of understand where do they come from, but also find a way to how to actually interact with that. And yeah, I think art also has a, an element of mental health, being able to deal with things as well. So I'm kind of hearing different aspects to, to what you're.

Yeah, I think that, uh, I think you, you're right there. I was talking to someone just today and we were getting a, uh, some plus ideas together for some teaching in the community, and it's a lot of, there are a lot of vulnerable ones who do enjoy textile art or art based. Creativity, and that's really good, but it's how much they can maybe overshare or share during that class and how much that is allowed, disallowed or whatever.

But the, the thing is, it, it, it can be a therapy to a level without getting too deep into that. And I think it can be made just a light. Moment for someone that it doesn't have to be that we talk about anything or worry about anything at the time. It's just, oh, it's a bit of a release, it's a bit of a distraction.

It's a, it's a nice glimmer in the day. If you're a bit stressed. It doesn't have to be any big deal that's going on in your life. It can just be, oh, it's a nice break. It uh, I know someone else who, another artist who teaches in people's lunch breaks. They have that hour where they're eating their lunch and they're able to sew at the same time.

And it's that kind of element of creativity where it becomes a little bit of a relaxing medium, I guess, a break in a day, something different, but you also feel like you're getting somewhere with something. Um, it can be a community thing as well as I'm sure you're aware, it can bring people together.

There's all different angles to it that it, it can become if you want it to become. And I think that's the beauty of art in, in the sense it can be the light end of things of, you know, an an hour's lunch break or 15 minutes. I just need a bit of a break from work, let's say, to actually then the, maybe the other side of it to explore, I dunno, some of the mental health strains that people perhaps are grappling with and needing to express or, you know, even some of the community art in terms of.

Expressing, let's say, I'm thinking GR Phil, you know, the, the tower block in West London that burnt down eight years ago. You know, I've heard of the Grenfell quilt, which is a community initiative to kind of really kind of, I guess, allow the community or give space to the community to have that collective grief and working through it, work through it, but also like give it a voice.

Yeah. So I think there's probably a lot of. Different aspects to art and it can go, you know, from the light as you say, through to other things that can be a bit more serious. Yeah. You know, reticent obviously to say book titles, but there is a book coming out soon that it discusses that topic and the idea of protest.

And it can be a voice for anyone. It can be a, a way of being allowed to say something in a way, and that can be a, again, a real release for someone or a real empowerment. So it's amazing really, it art sounds so, so gentle on paper, doesn't it? It, it sounds so sweet and light and just something that maybe you might enjoy when you're at school, but it can be so much more.

I think that's what I would encourage. What I hated to see as someone growing up was art was never encouraged by a lot of parents, maybe teachers. It was always seen as the subject that maybe you would do if you weren't very good at other subjects. I think that's a shame because. Art can give you a life that no, um, certainly no advertisement for making you riches, but it can make you a life in a different way.

It can make you happy. And isn't that the most important thing? You can find a way if you're intelligent enough just to make a living out of it or, uh, maybe by a slight side job if you need to, but you should make what do what is happy in this life, really, because the it, it goes fast. It does. Yeah. Life does go by too quickly probably in some aspects, but I think, you know, I, I do hear what you're saying and it's, I feel a bit disheartened at the moment because in the UK and elsewhere, not just, uh, in the uk.

The classes in school that get cut are the arts classes, whether it's drawing or that sort of thing through to the music. And even if you don't pursue it as a career, the benefit for people is, is astounding, you know? And, and it gives people exposure to perhaps, even if they don't explore it immediately, to then.

Further down the line, maybe explore it later in the future, or at least give them a bit more of a balanced yeah. View in the world. But also some of the people who I know who are very scientific or very technical in what, whatever field they're technical in, can also be incredibly, incredibly creative people.

You know, whatever that art form is. So I think it's, it's. It's a bit shortsighted just to see people as one thing or another because it, we wanted to develop well-rounded people. Exactly. And I think, uh, what that brings to light something that often happens in the, um, sort of class workshop situations that I teach, I have a little, kind of, little bit of levity, sometimes levity inside sometimes, and I try and work out.

Everyone's career is outside. You know what everyone's job is before they tell me. And, and then I'll, I'll ask them generally within the class, and generally by the way that they come to their creativity, I've got it on head. Whether they're very much into, say you get teachers, you get, maybe you get ones who, yes, that they are moms and just maybe that they, they asked the stay at home moms, but often you get ones that are looking into other things.

Theology or they'll come into it from some other angle and you'll see it with what they produce, even if it's just very subliminal. For instance, you'll get what I've had chemists come into some of my classes and they are very, very detailed, very analytical, find it very hard to break free of the straight line, and it's interesting to see and learn what everyone's career is.

Just because of the way they've come to art, you know, whether they're free or very caught up in themselves. Yeah, you're right. Yeah. I think the art can reflect the personality of the person. Yeah. And well it does, I think in, in so many different ways. You did now have touched on teaching, so you have touched on it a couple of times.

So you said in earlier on that you, you know, when you finished schooling you thought, how am I, how am I gonna make it as an artist and. You were drawn to the teaching, so it sounds like that was the route that you decided, I'll start that way and then possibly expand or tell us a bit more about that journey.

Some days you feel like you're having a, I guess, a breakdown as an artist inside because you have got too many folks going on because to make ends meet, I've been editor online for arts magazines. I've, but at the same time I've been teaching outside of the home and doing a hundred, one of the different roles.

It's just you do anything that can make ends meet in an artistic mannerism. So teaching I love because I always forget how much I love it because I find it very nervous. I want my students to enjoy it, and that can create a lot of anxiety before you actually go into a classroom and you think, oh, have I done this lesson right?

Are they gonna enjoy it? Have I brought the right equipment? Have I brought enough equipment? And you want you because you care. And I think you create art because you care. And that can really leave its mark on, on your emotions as well, because you want to teach and give the best that you can give. So for me, teaching, I do a lot of teaching.

Online as well, which I find a lot easier now, especially since COVID that's come out and that's been a real blessing. So you don't have to obviously, travel far so you, you can then teach different audiences, sometimes worldwide audiences and sometimes. You will get a different type of audience because they are online and that maybe those are the ones who can't get out themselves into a classroom.

So there's all those different scenarios as well as in person getting to do. Like last weekend I was in an art gallery teaching and that's lovely for its own sake. So that there is the multifaceted idea of how you make ends meet. And that's really where I came out of being 16, 17, 18. I did my first days, I taught the Knit and Sit shows around 18.

You know, giving myself many heart attacks. 'cause I'd taken on far too many classes all at once. Yeah. I was probably very inexperienced, but thought I knew at the time, and I think you live and learn and gradually you, you come less and less and less or more if you can. So it, it's, it's getting it right.

And then for me it's been about working out, getting a balance and I still not got that balance right. No, but you get a little bit of teaching. I know how much I can take on personally. You know, at what level I, I can cope with how much I I take on, and then how much I do maybe writing in textiles.

Obviously coming from an education where I loved English literature, the narrative, the story, I always can go back to that and love the idea of journalism, writing about other people's textiles. So there's all those angles that you can do. It's just important to remember you can't do them all at once.

I'm just wondering you, you mentioned the teaching. Is it more adults or is it kind of a range of Of ages? I have always taught more adults. I have, when I was a lot younger, I started off teaching children and that was lovely for its own sake, but I've always found it more rewarding to teach adults, or at least those who.

Have decided to take on textiles or art themselves, especially those who pay for courses maybe rather than maybe the schools, because they've not, they don't just have to be there. So that's quite a nice, I guess it's, it's luxury as well in a way, but it's nice to be able to teach people who really want to learn.

And then we'll come to it from that because often it's, it is not that they know anything, it's just that they're, they're coming at it a bit more zealous to learn. So that can mean that they're more responsive. You can feel like you can get, you're getting somewhere with them. But as I say, I'm not to say that I would never teach children again, but at the moment I'm teaching more adults.

Yeah. You've touched on the writing, it sounds like more journalistic kind of writing, so could you tell us a bit more about the writing? I enjoy finding out, I guess, as a bit of a curious and nosy person, other people's stories or where they've come to their own art or practice. And I say art practice 'cause I think you can bring anything into it, whether it's anything from your garden to.

Nature to anything that's interesting to find out about these multifaceted lives. And also, I do a lot of book reviews and sometimes reading about other artists and authors who have come to it from different points of view. I remember reading one that about a man who was a gardener. But he was also an artist.

You know, it is that kind of knowing what's more about someone helps you understand their art better, and I think that's better than going into maybe an art gallery and we just see a name on a wall and we don't really know what's behind that painting. But it's a whole life out there that is underappreciated.

And I think that's what's lovely about when you get to see people sketch books or interview them. You'll get that a lot yourself. So there there is that kind of area where. You, you get to find out more about the person and appreciate the person. And then consequently you can appreciate their art better, um, because you know what's behind it.

And how much does the teaching and the writing and the research influence your own practice? I would say it influences a large part of it because often when I'm teaching students who are maybe at a very low level, maybe they've never really done narrative arts or looked at portraiture before, but it makes me itchy.

It makes me itchy to wanna go home and create. And I'll be honest, it doesn't very often happen these days. I hope that I'll come back when I get a bit more space. But as artists, um, you do go through a period of time where. You. It's a horrible expression, but you work off the back of your old art. And it's not that it's not good, it is just you.

You're constantly reflecting back on what you've done previously because you haven't got time or space in your life to create the new. And you can do that for a while and then you think, no, and I need to create more from our own health sake and emotions sake. I don't wanna talk about old. In the past anymore.

So it's again, getting that balance as an artist. And again, I guess it all fluctuated into the, the boot narrative textiles, um, which I made and that got published last year. So that in itself was really a happenstance where you feel like you, maybe you've. A lot of your work's being lost or just, that's been it, but then it can get really appreciated by a new audience.

And that's nice because as an artist, you'd appreciate, you can only have so many exhibitions and that work is just gonna get stored. But if you can talk about it in a book sense, then that book can be delivered into a lot of homes and a lot of other people can see it, who you'd never have reached before.

And what, um, sort of engagement or feedback have you gotten about your art or your writing or some of the other. Avenues that you've, you've discussed? I think I've always prided myself on being a nice person, and I think that's what I've got from workshops and things. Even the one I'm teaching now, I think being someone who's approachable and who's just.

A nice person to be with in a class setting who makes them feel maybe secure or relaxed. Things like that are really important to me. It's not just, it's about your name. I was brought up very strongly. Um, I think my, it was my mom's upbringing as well from that side of where her dad, you never bring anything on the family name.

I think that strikes down to an arts name. If you try not to upset anyone within your artistic practice, that can be maybe. Always making sure that you, you try, at least, I've made mistakes, believe me, in the past of always appreciating someone else's artist and using their name. If you're showing their painting to someone, you know, as an example of something and maybe as a past student, things like that, you always try and use them and get their permission for things.

So all those little things that give you a name as an artist, but more as a good person. Can make you into a more appreciated artist. And that's the kind of feedback I get. I get a lot of feedback about the kind of what people see in my work. Maybe the, the fragility of the nature or the, the emotion that is, is backed up in the work.

And it's interesting what people can. See into work that you haven't thought was there as well. I think that's, uh, probably common for a lot of artists. You know, that feedback of what people actually see in your art. So looking forward, what's next? Where do you think your career will take you? I came off the writing the book and thought, oh, I'll write another book.

Yes, I think I have got other writing within me, but you also need to take a break and as an artist, I think I need, or I need to allow myself the time to create new work so then you can have something to give others again, so it can be a period of maybe learning for yourself. So that then you can give out again.

So for me, I think thinking this, this year, the next few years, looking at, yes, the art exhibition work, the odd bits and pieces, see what comes along the way. Teaching work is a, is a constant, see, you know, making sure that you can get some form of income out of it. Also being able to maybe do my ma form a study and I've, I'll be choosing to do that in fine arts, but then mixing media as well.

So, you know, there'll be a lot of different angles to bring to the table again, but maybe being after a period of education for me as an artist, so that then I can give out as a as, as a better human to other people. It sounds like you have, you know, some plans or some things you want to work towards, which is always positive.

Thanks ish. It's been great having you as a guest and talking to you about, uh, your journey as an artist. Thank you so much for having me. It's been really nice to talk to you and, um, discuss the work and remind myself as well. Thanks for tuning into my conversation with Eilish. I hope her reflections on textiles in writing offered you a fresh perspective on how art can hold memory, identity, and transformation all in one stitch.

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out ish's website and social media presence links are in the show. Note, if artist Tales is finding a place in your creative life, spread the word, share it with friends and fellow makers. In the next episode, I'll be speaking with Sukhy Hullaitt. A multi award-winning storyteller photographer whose work explore themes of home, community and social justice rooted in British social documentary tradition.

Sukhy’s visual narrative, shine a light on everyday lives and overlook voices inviting us to see the world through the lens of empathy and connection.