This collection was created during a collaboration with InStudio for their exhibition ‘Spring Rewound’ in May 2021. The inspiration for the event was spring colours, swallows and tulips and my textiles were to sit alongside mixed media work by Carol Duff, glass from Mary Frith and Jewellery by Victoria Murray and others from Collective Jewellery
After a difficult year for all, full of uncertainty and isolation it was lovely to be able to work with a group of fellow creatives and embrace the calm, joy, hope that spring always brings with it. The exhibition is set in a garden studio and the first blooms of spring was the initial source of inspiration.
We decided to use the fresh greens of new shoots with purple highlights and imagery of tulips and swallows- both very welcome signs of spring.
I had previously designed a cloth with naturally dyed merino wool in a leaf motif for an interior autumn collection. I thought it would be lovely to revisit this work but with a palette of fresh colours denoting spring leaves on lights spring days. This Spring Leaves fabric was woven in merino lambswool in a double weave cloth.
Spotting the first swallows of the year in spring as they return from their winter retreat in southern Africa is a welcome sign that summer is coming. Did you know the collective terms for swallows is a flight or a gulp!
The swallow has an instantly recognisable silhouette due to its distinctive forked long tail. I wished to capture this in the cloth design as well as incorporating elements of its bright white belly, glossy blue feathers and the flash of red-orange it has on its throat and chin.
This very limited edition cloth design was lovingly handwoven in my East Lothian studio in merino lambswool using a double cloth structure to create the swallow motif.
These cloth designs were expertly sewn by Kalopsia Collective (an ethical Edinburgh-based social enterprise micro-manufacturer) into a range of bags. These elegant accessories have a complementary boiled wool back to really set off the handwoven designs.
A further source of inspiration for the Spring Rewound event was tulips. I love to work in block weaves and experimenting with colour in double weave blocks. Taking my inspiration from the tulip fields of The Netherlands, I decided to create a limited set of three woven art pieces. Woven in fine cotton with an array of bright hues, these were a joy to weave, all using the same warp but each individual in their block placements and weft colour combinations. The final pieces also remind me of a sea of deck chairs on the beach and so I named them High Days and Holidays.
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