Behind The Seams: Meet Brooke

Brooke is a twenty- seven year old cheese plate enthusiast, wildlife aficionado and needlepoint designer. Due to her nomadic upbringing and deep love for history, for the last decade, Brooke’s artistic practice has been dedicated to exploring art’s interaction and reflection through various cultures in society. This interest is often depicted in her work through mixed styles and imagery, old and new. She has also been known to use her art to educate her audience about the fragility of our ecosystem.

In order to feed her curiosity and explore her interests further, she has actively pushed her creative potential through a series of programs and travels through St. Lawrence University (Canton, NY), Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, RI), the University of Georgia (The Lamar Dodd School in Cortona, Italy), The October Gallery (London, UK), The Institute of Ecotechnics (London, UK)

Brooke first learned how to needlepoint a few summers ago while living in an art gallery in London. Needlepoint not only allowed her to create on the go, but to visually meditate whenever and wherever she wanted to. From long tube rides to unwinding at the end of an eventful day, she loved how stitching allowed her to create something that would eternalize that summer forever.

In the final weeks of 2017, Brooke and Jenny Kleinschmidt of Jenny Henry Designs found each other after both women had their needlepoint designs featured in Better Homes & Gardens’ December issue. Together, they found a need for a sense of community within the designing aspect of the needlepoint industry. In order to fill that gap, they created Our Common Thread, a collective that showcases work from five countries in order to build bridges between markets and support one another through a bi-annual series of virtual exhibitions.

Thorn Alexander by nature has been a product of a village of support. Brooke owes every ounce of gratitude and success to her people and her family. Orders are now being shipped by her brother in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Spending time outside, sketching in museums, reading in a hammock and attending live shows with friends are her favorite ways to unwind. Traveling is the best way for her to get out of a creative rut and is ultimately the reason she started this business. After all, she was sitting in an airport when I decided to take the big leap and start Thorn Alexander.

She currently lives in Victoria, British Columbia with her fiancé, affectionately known on social media as Mr. Oceans.