The Essential Power of Creating
Digital Illustrator and Textile Artist, Annie O’Rourke uses her art as a form of meditation and a tool to simply figure out day to day life, by finding beauty in the mundane. Combining her talents in both illustration and embroidery mediums, Annie hopes to bring joy and comfort to the viewer. This is an intimate look into the artist’s work and the stories behind them.
Images courtesy of the artist
Words by Annie O’Rourke
An idyllic childhood in the beautiful countryside of County Louth, Ireland, played a huge role in getting me to where I am today. My earliest memory of creating is colouring with my great-aunt, who has the patience of a saint. She would sit with me for hours on end, drawing pictures and colouring them in. I remember being fascinated by the way she manipulated the pencils and crayons, how her colours would come out so smooth and even, perfectly within the lines.
My parents have always been incredibly supportive, and from a young age, they recognised my interest in all things creative. I received gifts of watercolours and sketchbooks for all occasions. I know the encouragement and support of my family have helped me get to this point in my journey.
Art was the only school subject I was remotely interested in, despite the curriculum allowing minimal creativity. When the time came for college applications, I shed so many tears over the fact that, as an anxiety-filled 17-year-old, I had to make a decision that felt like it had complete sway over my future and what direction I wanted to take.
Eventually, I found myself in the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Textiles, Art, and Artefact. Nigel Cheney, by whom I had the honour to be taught in my first two years there, influenced me hugely. Nigel’s skills mainly lie in the traditional technique of embroidery. I became infatuated by the incredible detail he puts into his work, and began to learn the skills for myself.
Three years later I was out in the real world, armed with an art degree… great! Six unpaid internships, and some freelance later, all while holding up a full-time job in a field I held no passion for, my parents swooped to the rescue once more. Moving home was tough, but it granted me the freedom to begin producing art just for me, and, soon after, my small business, ThinkThreads, was born.
As a young person in the 21st century, I am hyper-aware of climate change. From the moment I learned about the devastating effects fast fashion is wreaking on the earth, I knew whatever I created had to speak out on the subject. Having collected bits of broken jewellery and scraps of fabric, I put my embroidery and embellishment skills to the test, making intricate artefacts from recycled materials. It sparked interest amongst Instagram followers and I began creating wearable pieces of art in the form of earrings. I set up an Etsy page and started to sell my work. ThinkThreads got off to a wonderful start, making sales not just locally, but worldwide. Every once in a while I had the pleasure of taking on personal commissions, making much larger embroidery artworks to upstyle beloved pieces from clients’ wardrobes.
As Covid took its hold on the world and small businesses took hit after hit, ThinkThreads wasn’t exempt. I was offered a job in graphic design, which I gratefully took, and ran ThinkThreads on a smaller scale. After a year my heart grew heavy, and as the pandemic worsened, so too did my anxiety. It’s a strange feeling, one any artist may recognise: I’ve come to recognise that my mental well-being is distinctly linked with my art. Embroidery is my meditation, and creating art feels essential to my being.
“I’ve come to recognise that my mental well-being is distinctly linked with my art. Embroidery is my meditation, and creating art feels essential to my being.”
Getting to the point where my art is able to finance my life is my ultimate goal. All too often you hear of the struggle to find purpose in life. I’ve found mine. If I can’t create, I feel I lose my identity, my purpose. I put everything I have into my work, but art careers are so frequently deemed a risky decision, as “unessential”. I beg to differ. People turned to art in the midst of the scary unknowns of this pandemic. For meditation, for education, to curb feelings of loneliness and sadness, for an escape. We turned to music, to movies, to books, to games and knitting and baking, painting (with or without prosecco) - we turned to art. Art is intrinsic to the well-being of our societies. I think a lack of education surrounding art can be at least partially blamed for opportunities in areas of creative sectors being dismissed.
Four months ago, my incredible partner, Owen, and I packed up our lives and moved to Switzerland. This ordered a huge shift in ThinkThreads’ production, but, with the help of my sister, we adjusted. As I put together the pieces of our new home (quite literally, thanks to flat pack furniture) I developed a newfound love of interiors. This, along with my art tools being in a different country, and the irrevocable urge to create, led to me drawing again. Whatever I was thinking, whatever I was feeling, I once more used the art form as meditation. But this time, for the first time in my art career, I was putting my feelings onto the page.
My style began to reveal itself, the pieces appearing were soft, romantic, gentle. I found myself so fully content, so happy, falling so completely in love with my everyday life, and it was shining through in my work.
The creation of my latest collection, Bloom, was the most therapeutic thing I could have done for myself, and I have plans for the near future for it to benefit others too. Releasing it for sale was as nerve-wracking as it was exciting: I was putting my innermost thoughts and feelings out there for all to see.
The biggest challenge for ThinkThreads to date has been getting my work out into the world, whether it be through recognition in media, or getting stocked in shops. Rejection is an everyday occurrence, and of course, it gets to me. Tying your self-worth to your work is a dangerous road to take, but as an artist, there isn’t always another option. Perseverance, hard work, and luck - that’s what it takes.
That perseverance feels like one of my biggest accomplishments. I know that this is the right path for me to take, and I promised myself that I would always put everything I have in to keep it going. I celebrate every sale, every article, every message I receive about ThinkThreads. Knowing that someone appreciates my work enough to tell me, enough to buy it, to wear it or to have it in their homes, is always worth celebrating.
The best advice I’ve gotten is to never compare yourself to others, although I’ll admit that can be so much easier said than done. Happiness can feel like it’s hard to achieve, but for me, learning to appreciate the small things, the magic that’s present in every moment of being, that’s where happiness is. If I feel myself getting panicky or sad, I’ll sometimes challenge myself to look at the space that I’m in and find the beauty. Sometimes we overlook so much as mundane, as boring. There is beauty everywhere. You just have to make the choice to see it.
Annie’s new collection, "Bloom", is a series of digital illustrations representing the simple act of love. Annie uses her art as a meditative output to help cope with the difficulties of the past year, and draws inspiration for her work from the beauty of everyday life in Switzerland. The prints are available on her Etsy, ThinkThreads, with the hope that they will bring comfort and joy into the homes of others.
To find out more about Annie and her work, visit her Instagram, @think.threads, and shop, ThinkThreads.