Margot emigrated from Scotland in 1968 and lived in Toronto until 1995. After
retiring she moved to London, ON. She learned embroidery, knitting and
sewing beginning in primary school and was part of a Junior Guild where she
learned embroidery and crafts. Painting, drawing, fibre art, textiles,
silver smithing, home economics, dance, folk music, and youth hostelling were her
passions. As a teenager she helped to run several Folk Clubs in Scotland, along
with her daytime job as a Window Dresser before moving to Canada. She
worked as a coordinator in an Interior Design company for many years, and once
again helped establish and run a Folk Club out of which English Country Dance
became a large part of her life. She made all her family’s clothes and
eventually made dance costumes for most of the groups in Toronto, along with
period costumes for herself and others, which she still does to this day.
She joined the Embroiderers' Guild of London in
1995 where, through inspiration from other guild members and from participating,
and then teaching, she found a style of embroidery, which "speaks to her".
She called it Thread Painting, which is a form of illustration using one strand
of embroidery floss and making a "painting" from a photograph.
It is worked on silk in a hoop using long stitches as base blocks of colour and
colour enhancing with crosses to give depth and perspective. This is similar to
oriental embroidery without the eight year apprenticeship. She enjoys the
challenges each piece has within it.To her one of the most joyful times of the year is spring on "The Trail" which she gets to experience through photographs by Bonnie Sitter: buds bursting forth, masses of undisturbed wild flowers and, of course, the Exeter white squirrels.
