The Big Draw: Extreme Weaving! 7th October 2017

EXTREME WEAVING for The BIG DRAW, The National Wool Museum, Drefach Felindre, 7th October 2017

Big Draw Living Lines - EXTREME WEAVING!

7 October 10am – 3pm National Wool Museum, Drefach Felindre, SA44 5UP

The Big Draw promotes the universal language of drawing as a tool for learning, expression and invention. For as long as we’ve been able to draw we’ve been depicting motion: from prehistoric cave paintings of charging bison through magic lanterns and shadow puppets to stop-motion, digital technology and social media GIF’s.

For the Big Draw 2017 Oriel Myrddin and The National Wool Museum will be inviting people to join in creating a collaborative giant woven work of art with myself. Weather permitting , the plan is to weave around the big tenterhook frame that is outside the Museum.  If too wet, we'll be doing large scale in-situ weaving in the Long Gallery inside the Museum instead. Wherever it may be, this wild weaving extravaganza will be filmed and become a time lapse film which will be shown at Oriel Myrddin Gallery.

CALL OUT FOR HELP! Weaver / textile / fashion friends - I'm going to need a LOT of material to make this giant woven textile.  The plan is for this to be mostly made from recycled and re-purposed materials including loom waste.  If you have any warp 'thrums' (the last bit of warp that can't be woven) would you be willing to donate them to the project?  The palette is going to be typically Welsh - grey, black, red and white/ecru/undyed. I'd also be interested in any waste natural fabrics that are in this colour palette that I could cut into strips to weave with.  If you can help - please drop me a line and I can send you my postal address info at laurathomas dot co dot uk HUGE THANK YOU!

'Lattice' blanket joins the National Wool Museum collection

Delighted to report that one of my Lattice blankets has recently joined the permanent collection at the National Wool Museum. Its 100% lambswool and was woven at Melin Tregwynt. I have just a handful of cushions and one throw left in this design now, so you'll have to get in quick if you want one!

warp+weft: cross disciplanary approaches to weave symposium at The National Wool Museum, 11th Sept 2010



Dr Jessica Hemmings. Photo: Kathryn Campbell Dodd.

 To mark the opening of the warp+weft exhibitions at Oriel Myrddin and the National Wool Museum, Dr Jessica Hemmings kindly put together a brilliant symposium exploring the unexpected connections with weave.

The day begin with Jessica's introduction, highlighting some wonderful examples of practice within the art textiles sphere which is woven, or references the process of weaving.  My absolute favourite example was the 'Wind up: Walking the Warp' project by Anne Wilson.  I thought the below image was so powerful - a real visual spectacle which to a non-weaver must seem utterly bizarre.  It's also a profound comment on the passing of time, the nature of craftsmanship, and the power of process.  You can read more about this intriguing project here: http://www.annewilsonartist.com/windup-chicago-walking.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28703188@N02/4250155682/

Anne Wilson, “Wind-Up: Walking the Warp,” 2008
Photo: Surabhi Ghosh

The first invited speaker was Professor Lesley Millar, well known for her high profile curatorial projects such as Cloth and Culture, 21:21 and Through the Surface.  Lesley spoke eloquently about constructed narratives implicit in the weave process, a concept harnessed to great effect by many of the artists she has worked with in her curation projects.  At the end of her presentation she told us of her newly launched web gallery / educational resource for textile art, Transition and Influence.

Professor Lesley Millar. Photo: Kathryn Campbell Dodd.

We then had a presentation from Dr Wayne Forster, Head of the Welsh School of Architecture, which recounted much of the dialogue between Wayne and myself exploring the common ground between the architectural and textile disciplines.  You may remember I blogged last year about the Architextiles series of workshops I ran with Wayne at the School of Architecture.  Wayne presented many of the examples of cross disciplinary works in both textiles and architecture we'd come across in our research and how this fed into the workshops we ran for the first and second year architecture students.



Dr Wayne Forster. Photo: Kathryn Campbell Dodd

 Following a very tasty lunch in the Museum restaurant, we returned to lecture from Andy Ross, the Director of ASF Shetland, part of the Centre for Creative Industries in Shetland.  A trained opera singer, Andy ensured that anybody veering towards a post-lunch lull was re-energised.  He opened by singing a traditional weavers song, and then proceeded to explain his absorbing creative journey between textiles and music exploring where the crossovers are, such as in language and rhythm. He even got the delegates singing - quite appropriate for Wales!


Andy Ross. Photo: Kathryn Campbell Dodd

 During a coffee break there was then a screening of two short films by Matt Hulse Light Work: many hands and Anne Wilson’s Walking the Warp.

To conclude Ruth Greany, a textile trend researcher for WGSN talked about her former career as a woven fashion textile designer for Woven Studio and her work now at WGSN, exploring how trends are researched, identified, synthesised and presented to clients.

Ruth Greany. Photo: Kathryn Campbell Dodd

The symposium generated a huge amount of energy and enthusiasm on the day - a real feeling that the weave fraternity is starting to find its voice.  It was referred to time and time again by speakers and delegates that weaving has not been seen as a sexy discipline and as a result just hasn't been in the limelight such as knitting has in recent years.Craft skills are under threat, there aren't many job opportunities for weave students to aspire towards, and there isn't a strong collectors market for art and craft textiles.  But little is to be achieved by just repeating these laments.  Weavers need to be working harder to bring what they are doing to the fore.  The exhibitions I've curated had this very aim - to celebrate the achievements of the creative and entrepreneurial weave artists and designers working in this field, to both inform the public and to act as inspiration to other weavers.  We need to create our own opportunities and keep striving to create the most extraordinary woven textiles thus claiming our rightful place as an important and stimulating applied art / craft / design area.

As a result of spending two days at the symposium and the various exhibition openings talking to a veritable 'who's who' in the world of weaving, I've been mulling over how to continue the momentum of interest and energy thats seems to have started.  Ideas are already forming, and I'll tell you about them once they start to become reality.  One thing I have decided to start now is a new blog which will record all the interesting weave related items I find happening in art  design, craft, science, industry and academia.  I spend a little too much time researching online and it would be wonderful to be able to share the suprising, curious, intrguing, beautiful weave related images and links I find with you.  It will also review exhibitions I go to, books I read, and any other curious snippets of relevant info.  I hope it will in time become a valuable resource for students, researchers and curators who are exploring weave in all its guises, but also the general art/design/craft enthusiast.  There's not much posted yet (only just started!) but please subscribe and tell your friends and colleagues about it too: http://www.thewarpandweftblog.blogspot.com/ 

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. 

Donna Wilson designed Nos Da fabric on the Eadie chair for SCP

Donna Wilson for SCP

Tim Parry Williams fabrics

Tim Parry Williams fabrics made into garments by other fashion designers

Wallace + Sewell

Wallace + Sewell

Wallace + Sewell handwoven samples

Light reflective jackets by Dashing Tweeds

Margo Selby

Fran White, The Linen Shop

Fran White's sketchbook and hand woven samples

Eleanor Pritchard

Cefyn Burgess

Show your support for the British wool industry

Received an email this morning from the Natural Fibre Company drawing my attention to a newly launched  campaign to 'get wool to the olympics'.  The NFU want to make sure that where possible any woolen products commissioned / bought for events surrounding the 2012 Olympics are made from British wool, from carpets to corporate gifts.  You can show your support by signing their online petition

There is much afoot at the moment promoting a return to supporting British wool, which has been no doubt been invigorated by the Campaign for Wool supported by Prince Charles.  The campaign was recently launched by HRH at the National Wool Museum here in Wales.  To find out more, follow these links: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10432169 and http://www.woolipedia.com/the-campaign-for-wool.html

Warp + Weft exhibitions and symposium...

The following is a press release for a series of exhibitions I am curating or coordinating.....

Ismini Samanidou (Photo: Toril Brancher 2010)

Makeba Lewis (Photo: Toril Brancher 2010)

Hiroko Takeda

Laura Thomas (Photo: Toril Brancher 2010)

Ann Sutton (Photo: Toril Brancher, 2010)

The Oriel Myrddin Gallery in Carmarthen is delighted to be presenting a long overdue exhibition of unexpected woven textiles by contemporary artists and designers who show a respect for tradition, yet are embracing new technology, aesthetics and making methods.

With generous support from The Laura Ashley Foundation, Warp + Weft will tell the story of contemporary weave in this oft overlooked field with a series of stunning works by the following artists and designers:

Ainsley Hillard
Ann Richards
Ann Sutton
Hiroko Takeda
Ismini Samanidou + Gary Allson
Kathy Schicker
Laura Thomas
Lucy McMullen
Makeba Lewis
Peter Collingwood
Priti Veja
Ptolemy Mann
Reiko Sudo (Nuno)
Sue Hiley Harris

Warp + Weft opens to the public on the 11th Sept and closes on the 30th October. The gallery is open Monday –Saturday 10am-5pm and admission is free. For further information please visit the Oriel Myrddin website.

Alongside this exhibition there will be a satellite exhibition at the National Wool Museum in Drefach Felindre, Carmarthenshire. Warp + Weft: from handloom to production will showcase weavers who have developed their practice into the commercial arena through collaboration with mills to produce contemporary woven textiles products for both fashion and interiors that retain a distinctive craft aesthetic. An exciting array of covetable textile goods will be presented from the following companies and designers:

Cefyn Burgess
Dashing Tweeds
Donna Wilson / SCP / Melin Tregwynt
Eleanor Pritchard
Margo Selby
The Linen Shop
Tim Parry Williams
Wallace and Sewell

The exhibition opens on 4th September and will close on 8th January 2011. The National Wool Museum opening times: April–September: open daily from 10am–5pm. October–March: Tues–Sat
10am to 5pm. Admission is free. For further information please visit the National Wool Museum website: http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/wool/

To celebrate the opening of the two exhibitions, we are delighted that noted textile academic Dr Jessica Hemmings is directing a one day symposium entitled ‘Cross disciplinary approaches to weave’ at the National Wool Museum on Saturday 11th September. Speakers confirmed so far include:

• Professor Lesley Millar, curator of a number of key textile exhibitions in the last decade, including “Textual Space” and “Cloth & Culture Now”.
• Andrew Ross, Creative Director of ASF Shetland and GlobalYell Music will be speaking about the relationship between weaving and music www.creativeindustriesshetland.org.uk
• Ruth Greany, Textile Trend Researcher for Materials at WGSN will be speaking about trends in woven materials.
• Screenings of short experimental films will explore the rhythms of weaving at the Dovecot Tapestry Studio by filmmaker Matt Hulse and Anne Wilson’s recent “Walking the Warp” project.
• Dr Wayne Forster, Deputy Head of the Welsh School of Architecture will talk about the parallels between textiles and architecture.

There are limited tickets available for this event so early booking is highly recommended. Further details and a booking form can be found here: http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/whatson/?event_id=4380

Alongside these events there are two further textile exhibitions for you to visit at The National Botanic Garden of Wales in Carmarthenshire. Fibre Art Wales will be holding its first ever ‘textiles in the open’ exhibition across the dramatic landscape of the Gardens. Fibre Art Wales patron Mary Lloyd Jones will be exhibiting alongside the following members of the group:

Alison Moger
Bethan Ash
Claire Cawte
Laura Thomas
Lisa Porch
Louise Bird
Michelle Griffiths
Ruth Harries
Ruth McLees

In The National Botanic Garden Of Wales gallery, there will be an exciting exhibition showcasing the diverse work of selected graduates, students and staff, from the BA Contemporary Textiles course in the West Wales School of the Arts, Coleg Sir Gâr. Exhibitors include:

Anita Bowyer
Danie Carter
Debbie Smyth
Elspeth Morris
Kelly Jenkins
Lisa Connelly
Liz Miller
Paula Philips Davies
Shellie Holden
Zoe Gealy

Both exhibitions at The National Botanic Garden of Wales open on the 10th Sept and close on the 30th November 2010. The gardens are open daily from 10am-6pm until the 28th October. Between the 29th Oct-28th March the opening hours are 10am-4.30pm.

The National Botanic Garden of Wales admission prices:
Adults £8.00
OAPS £6.50
Children (5-16) £4.00
Under 5’s are free
Family (2 Adults & up to 4 children) £19.50

Further details can be found here: http://www.gardenofwales.org.uk/

For further information about the exhibitions please contact:

• Curator, Laura Thomas, info@laurathomas.co.uk
• Warp +Weft, Kathryn Campbell Dodd, Oriel Myrddin Marketing Officer, KCampbell@carmarthenshire.gov.uk
• Warp + Weft: from hand loom to production: National Galleries and Museums of Wales, Curator, Laura Thomas, info@laurathomas.co.uk
• BA Contemporary Textiles Course Director, West Wales School of the Art, Paula Philips Davies, Paula.Phillips@colegsirgar.ac.uk
• Fibre Art Wales exhibition coordinator, Laura Thomas, info@laurathomas.co.uk