Diane Bates
Internationally acclaimed textile artist, renowned for her intricate, 3-dimensional embroidery and costume creations, Diane Bates, taught at Bradford School of Art from 1970 until 2004.
Diane has a BA (Hons) Fine Art/Textiles from Goldsmiths College, an
MA in Industrial Design from Birmingham and is a Fellow of the Royal
Society of Arts. To all those who have encountered her, she is uniquely
and quite simply, the Mistress of Stitch.
“My creative footprint at Bradford College spanned well over 3 decades.
During that time I was privileged to work with thousands of students
across further and higher education departments, often teaching on 7
courses concurrently. At times I felt I should replace my signature black
hat with a magic one with a rabbit in it! But I thrived on the challenges
as I enjoyed teaching; the more variety the better. It kept me sharp,
on my toes, never bored – much healthier than being elitist, which I
felt would limit my teaching. It was tough, tiring and yet energising.
In many cases I related more to students that probably hadn’t had a
privileged background, socially or educationally, because neither had I.
I had personal experience of nightmare teachers who judged a book
by its cover and I also had some outstanding ones that did take the
time to look further. I am a firm believer that one has to qualify as a
human being first, anything else is a bonus.
I was privileged to work with and alongside many terrific colleagues
that not only knew what they were talking about but were practitioners
in their own right, as I am. That in itself is a juggling act with a
full-teaching timetable, but this was essential to continue growing
creatively. I look back to many happy, rewarding and endearing
memories of so many students that not only achieved in the College
but went on to further themselves in so many areas, nationally and
internationally.”
Since her release from the time constraints of full-time lecturing, Diane
has been overwhelmed by invitations to speak, teach and exhibit,
virtually all over the world. Diane has travelled so intensively lately
that she has been likened to Marco Polo! “During the next 6 months
I have a teaching tour in Australia and New Zealand in the early
autumn. As I come back to Heathrow from Australia on the Monday,
my touring retrospective exhibition opens the same week in London
(No going home for me to put my feet up or wash my smalls!) Then
it is on to Dublin, and another show in the UK.”
Diane also plans
squeezing PhD research and writing her autobiography into her already
packed schedule in the near future. “Another of my aspirations is to
be instrumental in creating an independent space which would offer
opportunities for artists, writers, poets and musicians to have a mental
and physical space to be able to express and develop their creative
footprint without compliance of any sort, as it used to be and as I
believe it still can be.”
Photograph by Trevor Griffiths