Second week in residence at Ruthin Craft Centre during October.....

I spent my second week in residence at the Ruthin Craft Centre during the last week of October.... and the time went scarily quickly!

I spent the first day getting one of the small hand looms at the Centre threaded up for a public participation project. Visitors to my studio will be invited to choose a favourite colour from a selection of yarns and then weave a stripe before finally tying on a label with their name, date and a few words explaining why they chose that yarn. Over time we will build a long stripey piece of fabric which will serve as a colourful visual record of visitors to my studio.

I was delighted that idea was immediately well received by those that came into my studio.... my youngest weaver so far was just 4 years old but so competent I offered her an apprenticeship!

So if you find yourself visiting Ruthin please do call in to see me and weave a stripe! I'll next be there from the 28th Nov to the 1st Dec.

The yarns to choose from to weave a stripe:

The loom to try out weaving on, complete with the labels recording the weavers name, date and the reason behind the yarn colour choice:

I then spent some time rationalising the work I had done during September when last in residence. Picking out the preferred pieces, these were 'exhibited' so that my visitors could glean a better idea of the 'story' I'm working towards.



The key area of exploration for this week was repeat pattern using isometric graph paper. I seem to be very preoccupied by angles and oblique lines at the moment! The colour exploration is continuing, but this time on a much smaller scale and in a more controlled fashion. These sorts of patterns could of course be very quickly explored digitally, but I find I use colour in a far more sensitive and less predictable way when I actually mix paints and apply it with a paintbrush rather than a mouse click. Its great to have the luxury of time to do this kind of work.








And I also did a little triaxial weaving on a tapestry frame......


Finally I was also busy making lots of warps ready for a free 'round robin' weaving workshop I am running at the Craft Centre on the 28th November. Again on the theme of stripes, participants will have 3 minutes to weave a stripe on their loom before moving on to their neighbours loom. They will then be asked to reflect on the colour of the first stripe and to choose a complimentary colour for the next stripe which they'll have another 3mins to weave, before moving on to the next loom and so on. The purpose of the workshop is is to explore perceptions of colour as well as giving novice weavers to chance to try out a new craft. It's also a celebration of the spirit of collaborative working and sharing ideas.

The warps ready to be put onto the looms: