Amid fast trends and factory-made sameness, Andrea Brinkley is quietly and powerfully doing something different. Her fiber art doesn’t shout. It draws you in with a whisper. Time softens. You’re invited to pause, to notice the quiet magic in a bloom stitched by hand, the echo of memory held in a piece of worn fabric, the gentle strength in every thread.

Andrea never meant to become an artist. She simply wanted to make things that felt true. Her story began in childhood, quietly stitching clothes for her Barbies by hand, then dreaming up her own wardrobe on a well-loved Singer machine. Growing up on a South African sheep farm, surrounded by soft wool and mohair, she discovered early on that every material holds a story—that tradition and new ideas can gently weave together.

It wasn’t until 2016, after years of sewing, selling, and teaching, that she finally claimed the word artist. “I wanted to make something that was fully mine,” she says. That “something” became embroidered floral landscapes stitched onto crochet and mounted in old wooden hoops. Unscripted. Textured. Botanical. Her signature emerged not from a formal art school education, but from lived experience and a fearless willingness to experiment.

Today, Andrea splits her time between a dreamy, light-filled home studio and her shared workspace at the Nine Eighteen Nine Studio Gallery inside Charlotte’s VAPA Center. Whether she’s stitching in silence or listening to a podcast with fresh-cut garden flowers on her desk, her process is deeply intuitive. “I rarely start with a rigid plan,” she says. “A new fiber or texture often leads the way.”

That freedom to explore has led her to stitch on more than fabric. Woven chairs, chicken wire, snowshoes—nothing is off limits. Her materials range from thick wools and shimmering metallic threads to unexpected substrates that challenge what embroidery can be. Every piece holds a story, even if it’s one still being discovered.

Botanicals weave through almost all her creations—flowers, vines, berries, and leaves that carry the gentle echoes of her childhood. “I used to imagine hibiscus flowers as ladies in flowing ballgowns,” she smiles softly. “Those early dreams live within me, blossoming in my work even today.” It’s not just nostalgia—it’s roots. A quiet, tender language of place, care, and playful wonder.

Andrea’s current project, a woven chair now blooming with oversized, freehand-stitched blossoms, is a perfect example of how she lets the art lead. What began as a plan for monstera leaves pivoted completely when her thread stash and her inspiration photos collided. “I didn’t have the right greens,” she says. “But I had the most beautiful pinks and corals. So I pivoted. And it’s becoming something entirely different and, honestly, more exciting.”

That kind of creative agility defines her practice. Her work feels alive because it is alive, emerging slowly through intuition, material response, and time. There’s no rush to finish. In fact, Andrea often steps away from a piece for days before deciding what it truly needs. “Sometimes it’s more texture, sometimes it’s the smallest bead,” she says. “I’ve learned to trust that moment when it feels whole.”

Now, she’s channeling that same energy into curation. Alongside fellow artist Pam Imhof, Andrea is co-curating Innovations in Fibers: Pushing Boundaries and Sparking Conversations, a new exhibition opening August 9 at Nine Eighteen Nine. With 20 artists contributing, it’s a celebration of the many directions fiber art can take and a sign that this medium is far from static.

To artists just beginning their journey, Andrea offers this: “You don’t need to have it all figured out. Let your materials guide you. Let your voice grow.” Her advice to her younger self? “You are enough. Ditch perfection.”

Andrea Brinkley isn’t chasing trends or gallery fame. Her success is found in the quiet joy of creating something real, something born of memory, fiber, and instinct. Her work doesn’t beg for attention. It enchants it, one stitch at a time.

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Follow Andrea Brinkley:
Website: www.oandystudio.com
Instagram: @oandystudio
Facebook: O&Y Studio
Exhibit Location: Nine Eighteen Nine Studio Gallery at the VAPA Center, 700 N. Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC
Exhibit Dates: August 9–September 27, 2025
Gallery Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 11 AM–3 PM