Loch Inver/West Coast of Scotland

At the start of August I went up to Scotland with my parents to visit my sister Rosa, who is living in Edinburgh. We then travelled onwards through the highlands over to the west coast to stay in a small town called Loch Inver for a week. Best known for it's fishing port and pies.

We walked through some ancient woodlands and the trees were covered in these beautiful lichens. The textures are just incredible. 

Rosa taking a photo of the white sandy beach we visited. 

Some very inedible but amazing looking mushrooms I came across in one of the forests.

Mossy.

The view over to the Highlands.

Whilst we were in Edinburgh my sister introduced me to a new local yarn shop called Be Inspired Fibres in the Marchmont area of the city. They sold a lovely collection of yarns for knitting and weaving as well as a few unusual cones of yarn combining stainless steel with linen and other ones using cotton and linen with paper. Next time I am there I will definitely be paying another visit! 

Here is a link to their website: http://beinspiredfibres.wordpress.com/

thistle and kite

 

As well as working on my weaving I also have a small business set up by myself and my sister Rosa. We sell hand made ties and bow ties using vintage and up-cycled fabric. Please have a peruse at our online shop: http://folksy.com/shops/thistleandkite

I am hoping to incorporate my own woven cloth into our products sometime in the future. 

Thanks!

Winding

I am spending a little time experimenting at the moment. Today I began the slow winding process using my home made warp board (this is when I really miss the lovely warping mills I used at uni!) and I wound on a simple un-dyed woolen warp. 

(Side note: I really love it when lots of threads together make that graphical striped effect. And black and white photographs always make things look so much cooler.)

I am going to make a concerted effort to keep this blog up to date with all my weave endeavours! Stay tuned. 

Recent Weaving

I have been back on my table loom the last couple of weeks weaving a scarf as a commission for a client. For the warp I used a wool I bought from a small shop on the Isle of Skye called Shilasdair. This yarn was naturally dyed on the island in their dye house and is a beautiful greeny blue colour. The colour was achieved by over dyeing an initial colour with another which produces a final shade that has loads of variation within it. I also added some accents of colour into the warp with some lines of brighter blue woolen yarn. For the weft I used a black linen for the bulk of the cloth and introduced threads of thicker wool for the tufts. The structure provides a reversible quality and gives added texture. I washed it for quite a long time to bring out the wool's softness and to loosen the linen's crispness. It is a good lightweight cloth which drapes very nicely, and the client was very happy! 

New Designers 2013

From the 25th-29th June was the New Designers show at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London. It was a great opportunity to meet people from the industry as well as the public to talk about my work, and to gain valuable feedback and networking. This photo was taken on the first day, I am bottom left kneeling on the floor (it felt natural at the time).

Beyond the Drift

I have been featured in Beyond the Drift's blog post about the top weave graduates at New Designers, which is super cool of them! They have written some lovely words about my work which was on display at the show last week. It also features a lovely photo of the stool I collaboratively worked on with furniture designer Karen Hansen. Please check out the post and the rest of their blog here: http://beyondthedrift.com/2013/06/29/new-designers-2013_top_weave_graduates/ Thanks!

Arts Thread

I have updated my Arts Thread page and uploaded some online portfolios of my work. Please take a look: 

http://www.artsthread.com/p/anniesharp/

Degree Show UCA Farnham 2013

The Degree show at UCA Farnham is in full swing now and this is what my stand looks like. The shows are running until 1st June so if you are able to visit it is definitely worth the trip! 

New Designers 2013

Some information about the New Designers show I am exhibiting at this year.

Degree Show UCA Farnham- 24th May-1st June 2013

My stand for my final degree show is now all set up ready for the private preview tomorrow night. Here is a little peek at how I am displaying my collection of final samples. I am most excited about seeing everyone else's work!

Karen Hansen collaboration

The finished stool! 

Karen Hansen, a local designer living in Dorset makes contemporary furniture and sculptural pieces using sustainable materials with an emphasis on natural form. I was very excited to join forces with another designer with much more experience in the creative industry and who works in a completely different medium to me. I am drawn to her work because of her simple yet beautiful pieces that retain the woods’ original form and raw shape. In our design process it was important to ensure we created a piece that equally complimented both my fabric and her crafted furniture.

I am really excited to see how it looks with my cloth!

Here is a link to Karen's website for more details about her work: http://www.karenhansen.co.uk/