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Karen Torrisi |
| Accredited Tutor | Three Dimensional Embroidery (Hand Beading) |
Photo Gallery (click on images to enlarge)
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Background
Karen Torrisi has been embroidering professionally since 1994. Formally trained in Fashion in Sydney Australia, she pursued the specialised study of Beading, Tambour Beading and Embroidery in Australia with the late beading author Maisie Jarratt, in London and she received a Queens Trust Grant for Young Achievers to study Haute Couture Beading &Embroidery at the Ecole D’ Broderie d’art Lesage in Paris 1999.
Her bead embroideries are internationally known and include:
Fashion Commissions
Olivia Newton John wore at the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, Singer Delta Goodram’s dress at the 2004 Aria awards & 2005 World Music Awards, countless high profile Australian society weddings & evening dresses.
Film Costume Commissions
Moulin Rouge, Dark City, Peter Pan, Star Wars II Attack of the Clones, Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith & Superman 2006.
Stage Show Commissions
Sunset Boulevard, Chicago, Show Boat, My Fair Lady, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia, The Lion King and The Producers, Spamelot, Wicked, Mary Poppins & Love Never Dies.
Karen is the 2011 First Prize Winner in the Open Category of the prestigious UK Hand & Lock Embroidery Prize. This prize has many international entrants and is a platform for contemporary and creative embroidery.
Karen currently teaches other enthusiasts the skills of hand beading and tambour beading privately and at various institutes. Her bead embroidery projects have featured in such magazines as Inspirations, Australian Country Craft, and Embroidery & Cross Stitch & Beads Etc. She is also the author of the book The Art of Making Hand Beaded Bags.
Karen now beads exclusively for selected designers & costumiers. Her upcoming projects include the finalist Australian Stencil Art Prize Exhibition of her painted works at Outpost project Cockatoo Island Sydney, Fashion sample prototyping & teaching at the University of Southern Queensland McGregor 2012 summer school.
Inspirations include music, travel, graphic design, contemporary, street & aboriginal art, photography. Like a painter filling a canvas, Karen loves seeing her ideas become a reality beneath her needle. She enthuses “I love to use colours in my work and the fact that with beaded embroidery you begin with a clear palette and you finish with something that is sparkly, textured and alive, and visually delicious.
For more information phone the Guild on 02 9743 2501 or email:tutor@embroiderersguildnsw.org.au