A pioneer of machine embroidery, Joy Clucas, born in 1931, was a teacher of the National Diploma in Design. She became well known following the publication of her books 'Your Machine for Embroidery' and 'The New Machine Embroidery'. She was a founder member of the '62 Group of Textile Artists', set up in 1962 to promote embroidery and support practitioners. After studying arts and crafts at Southampton, Bromley and Brighton Colleges of Art she taught at a secondary modern school in London. Clucas took up a temporary post at the Crafts Centre of Great Britain and free-lanced until 1956. She won 1st prize in the Embroiderers' Guild open competition in 1961 and throughout her career has had work shown at the Stuttgart International Handicraft Exhibition of 1963 and a later British Crafts Export Group Exhibition in Switzerland.