Laura Thomas Woven Textiles: warp+weft: from handloom to production, The National Wool Musuem, Drefach Felindre, Carmarthenshire

Monday, September 20, 2010

warp+weft: from handloom to production, The National Wool Musuem, Drefach Felindre, Carmarthenshire

Being a little bit of a glutton for punishment..... no..... full of enthusiasm for celebrating what's happening in the world of weaving, I decided that I wanted to have a second concurrent exhibition running alongside warp+weft at Oriel Myrddin. I approached the National Wool Museum with the idea of putting together a show celebrating the achievements of eight weave designers who've developed their practice by working with mills to put their designs into batch production, and I was delighted that the Museum loved the idea.

This is the first time that the Museum has given over a space in the building to a contemporary, temporary exhibition, so there was lots that needed to be considered for the first time. I was also very keen that the show should have a publication to accompany it and was thrilled that The Worshipful Company of Weavers were able to support this element of the project.

The concept behind this exhibition was to show the initial hand woven samples that the designers produce when developing their ideas, colour palettes, and structural choices, alongside the finished mill woven products. I wanted to give an insight into the development and refinement element of the design process that many designers go through. For some the changes made are significant, for others barely noticeable to the untrained eye. I also wanted to shine a light on this niche area of manufacturing that the British mills are so good at serving.

The designers in this exhibition are:

Donna Wilson for SCP
Eleanor Pritchard
Wallace + Sewell
Fran White, The Linen Shop
Dashing Tweeds
Margo Selby
Tim Parry Williams
Cefyn Burgess

Please do go and see the exhibition, which is on until 8th January 2011.