Penelope Williams, Contemporary Embroidery Artist
Penelope Williams is a British contemporary embroidery artist based in Devon, creating highly detailed hand-embroidered botanical and natural-history artworks through Pendragan Art Studio. Her work explores the character, beauty and stories of plants, fungi and marine life through fabric, appliqué and stitch.
Penelope Williams began her career as an embroidery artist in 2024, shortly before her sixtieth birthday, following many years as a creative director, writer, translator and educator. That earlier work continues to shape her practice through its close attention to language, observation and the stories carried by natural forms.
Her first embroidery, Ruby Root, attracted more than a million online views before she had exhibited publicly. Later that year, Embroidery Magazine described her work as an “assured debut”, and her first collection of four large embroideries was acquired in its entirety by a private collector.
She has since received commissions from Lady Alice Boyd and Professor Sarah Gurr, the latter marking Professor Gurr’s inauguration as President of the British Mycological Society. Her Sea Garden series was exhibited in 2025, followed by Saving Graces and the Allotment Series II in 2026.
Penelope creates highly detailed botanical and natural-history embroideries for exhibition, private collections and individual commission.
Pendragan Art Studio 