SEVEN QUESTIONS...

What did you want to be when you grew up?One of my earliest memories of seeing television was watching a performance of ballet, and I was transfixed. I had never realised the human form could create such beauty and straight away I wanted to be a dancer. Farmer’s sons don’t become dancers, but if my childhood dreams came to nothing, I made sure I didn’t forget how to play.

Which artist do you most admire?
It’s always the seemingly simple questions that are the hardest. As a painter it would have to be Turner, for his adventurous spirit with breaking the rules. And Van Gogh for his determination above all else to paint come what may.

When and why did you choose embroidery as a medium?It was around the time of my 60th birthday. I’d already spent seven years painting in the Outer Hebrides, and being heavily influenced by my immediate surroundings, I painted a lot of sheep and coastal views. My fascination with fabrics stemmed from my Great Aunt Flo who was a court dress maker, and this led me to amass a large collection of Harris Tweedwools. Picking up a needle and thread felt as natural as loading a paintbrush with paint, and although I was now stitching, to me I was simply painting with wool.

What challenges do you face in your artistic practice and how do you overcome them? Ideas come freely to me, but the process of filtering them down can be a challenge. I have found in the past that setting myself the focal point of creating a body of work to be exhibited is, in itself, useful. Embroidery is a slow process and in most people’s minds this would denote tremendous patience. Those who know me well know that patience is not one of my virtues, however persistence is. 

How do you know when a piece is finished? 
Just before it becomes laborious. If this point is passed then the joy goes out of the work.

How do you see your work in relation to contemporary art practice? I’m not sure I know what contemporary art practice is. I live a somewhat sheltered, or as some would say, an ill-informed existence. The finest period of embroidery work will always remain firmly in the middle ages, but looking again at that medium and combining it with today’s “recycling” catch word has allowed me to produce something unique and timeless.

What is a day in the life of Tom Hickman?
It is difficult to measure my days. Being this far north the daylight hours vary tremendously from mid-winter to mid-summer, however, I do have a sort of routine. My last thought at night is what I will be doing tomorrow. A few months ago I moved my bed into my studio for convenience, and so even if I wake from fitful sleep I have my work to hand. I am awake normally around 5.30 but may read for an hour, then it’s a large bowl of porridge and return to the studio.  I am not a nine to five artist and my rhythm of life is dictated by the seasons; what needs to be done in the veg and fruit garden, and importantly during April/May time, what help I can muster to get my peats cut. At seven each evening, winter and summer I go walking with a neighbour Donald and his dog Laddie. Last year Donald informed me that by his calculations we had done the round trip to Land’s End. However, our long walks are a thing of the past, and while we look back on them fondly we also try to content ourselves with the shorter routine of half an hour around the block. I may then stay working in silence until gone ten. I have no radio or TV. If it has been a productive day, and I have not overdone things then sleep comes easily. I am a prolific dreamer, but my work rarely figures in my dreams.

Hickman’s “Piers, Ports & Jetties” is on exhibition at Robert Young Antiques, Battersea.

Click HERE to view the Catalogue.