Marianne Crosslé: Becoming a textile artist at 70

Marianne Crosslé grew up in rural Northern Ireland and always thought she would have a career in art. As a teenager, she applied to the School of Art in Belfast but was rejected. It was a blow to her confidence. So much so, that she didn’t make ‘art’ again for a very long time.

Having a successful career as a stage and production manager in theatre, on her 70th birthday Marianne decided it was time to re-engage with her artistic instincts and signed up for a two-year City and Guilds (C&G) Certificate in Fine Arts Textiles. She poured all of her passion and commitment into the course and graduated with Distinction in all four units.

‘By this point, I was a big fan of TextileArtist.org, so when the Exploring Texture & Pattern with Sue Stone online course started to be mentioned, I practically stood at my computer, waiting to hit the registration button as soon as it went live.’

‘I loved every moment of the course. It’s not an understatement to say I’m a completely different person because of what I learned in terms of confidence and inventiveness.’