Lizard Dance

I have written two books. The first is called African Inspirations in Embroidery and was published in 2004 by Batsford as a hardback (ISBN 0-7134-8921-9). It is available as a paperback edition (ISBN 978-1-906388-32-4) from Amazon. My second book Exploring African Themes in fabric and stitch was published in 2009 as a paperback (ISBN 978-1-904499-32-9).

You can buy the second book direct from me using Buy my Books in the menu on the left.

My first book: African Inspirations in Embroidery

African Inspirations in Embroidery The paperback edition has a new cover. There are more than 90 colour images of the African people and landscape encountered in my travels and research in southern Africa. These images together with textiles, beadwork and artefacts collected during many years of travel and study in southern Africa provide the inspiration to explore the journey from source material through the design process to completed textiles. The book includes information about traditional craft and culture, ways of recording and developing design ideas, textile techniques and samples and a wide range of textile art. I hope that some of the joy, mystery and magic of Africa, its people and culture will rub off on readers.


Some images from the book

Baskets, pots and gourd
Page from my sketchbook
Kirdi beaded apron
Hand-made beads
Kapapa's bags: a series of bags inspired by the Xhosa

Photographs by Michael Wicks. Reproduced with kind permission from Batsford. © Batsford 2004





My second book: Exploring African Themes in fabric and stitch

Exploring African Themes in fabric & stitch (ISBN 978-1-904499-32-9) shows how to use African sources as inspiration for design. Following on from my first book, it explores new themes based on materials, construction, recycling, decoration, embroidery and embellishment. The focus is on using innovative and imaginative ways to develop individual ideas. As well as providing inspiration, the book contains clear instructions for a range of processes and is lavishly illustrated with over 150 original photographs by Roger Sleigh. Exploring African Themes will be a delight not only for those who enjoy African culture, but also for those who want to develop their own creative skills.

The book is in an A4 format with 125 pages.

Some images from the second book


Indigo dyed fabrics
Two beaded containers using recycled items
N’wana child figure - from the University of Witwatersrand Collection
Part of a ceremonial raphia cloth
Dyeing with woad
Pouch made with stiffened silk
Decorative seams
Porcupine Book
Safety pin brooches using patinated metal
Machine stitched eyelets inspired by Hausa embroidery

Photographs were taken by Roger Sleigh and © Roger Sleigh 2009

As well as these two books I have written several articles for Stitch and Embroidery.

Buy my Books

African Inspirations in Embroidery can be bought from Amazon. If you want to buy Exploring African Themes in fabric and stitch use the Add to Cart button below which will take you to a secure PayPal payment page. No PayPal account is required to make a payment, and this service will accept most major credit and debit cards.

If you wish to buy multiple copies, please use the Contact Me menu item on the left to request a quote for postage. Only use the Paypal route below for single copies.

To buy a single copy of Exploring African Themes in fabric and stitch for the price of £15 incl. P&P in the UK click on the button below.
Please select this item if delivery is required outside the UK. This will add £5 to your cart.
If you want to view the contents of your cart please select the button 'View Cart' below.