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2018 Graduate Weavers: University of Huddersfield

Laura Trowsdale
Laura graduated from the University of Huddersfield with a First Class BSc (Hons) degree in woven textiles. During her final year of study Laura was awarded winner of the Northern England heat and runner-up in the UK final of the Society of Dyers & Colourists International Design Competition.

In addition to showcasing her final collection at New Designers she previously completed work placements at M&S Head Office, woven design studio Rare Thread and trend forecasting agencies Scarlet Opus, Colour Hive and Unique Style Platform after successfully being awarded a bursary by The Clothworkers Company.

Her final collection combined innovative colour blending and traditional, technical leno hand weaving skills. Presented in a palette that ranged from fresh bright to deep dark tones, the set of sophisticated fabrics were directed towards the high end apparel market.

Early sample developments adopted a multidisciplinary approach; combining woven textiles and digital print. Continue reading →

Exhibition: Seeking Form | Hannah Robson


Hannah Robson is a textile artist, interested in the spatial qualities of textiles.

She constructs sculptural pieces using combinations of weaving and lace-making, exploring how threads can escape the traditional vertical and horizontal pathways imposed by the loom.

She creates opportunities for threads to break away from woven surfaces, taking alternative routes and joining together in three-dimensional forms.

She exploits the tensions between rigorously controlled constructions and free-flowing loose threads, balancing structure and chaos.

A range of two and three-dimensional works will be displayed at The North Wall, including Ersilia, an installation commissioned by the Crafts Council, recently exhibited at Collect

Open 2018.At The North Wall Arts Centre
Date: 4th-21st Septemeber 2018
The North Wall,
South Parade
Summertown
Oxford
OX2 7JN

Open 10am-4pm Monday – Friday: 12-4pm Saturdays.

Further information available at thenorthwall.com or hannah-robson.com

Première Vision Designs: The Aviary Studio

Launched in the Spring of 2016, and now in their third year of business, The Aviary Studio make their debut in the Première Visions DESIGNS hall 5, stand no: 5SW46 this September 2018.

The Aviary Studio is a UK based hand weaving studio and design consultancy founded by British designer and established weaver Sarah Podlesny, a Central Saint Martins alumni who has a clear vision to inspire, and to fill the constant demand for newness in an age where ‘copying’ has become standard practice.

Fabric design is often overlooked in favour of the cut and style of a garment, wovens often overlooked in favour of print, and with this in mind, it is The Aviary Studio’s aim to put the spotlight back on wovens, celebrate their cultural importance, their versatility and the invaluable talent and craftsmanship of their makers.

Each season, extensive trend, colour and materials research is gathered, interpreted and applied through the medium of hand weaving, in order to offer a collection of directional fabric ideas that are integral to the design process within mainstream and high end retail. Continue reading →

TexSelect 2018: Featured Designers

©Rosa Pearks

TexSelect 
TexSelect’s aim is to select, mentor and promote the UK’s most talented newly graduated textile designers, providing an opportunity for realistic development, and a vital bridge between higher education and the real, commercial world.

Those selected for this unique mentorship programme are introduced to buyers, press and sponsors at the TexSelect London Preview and at Europe’s leading fabric fair, Première Vision Paris, gaining exceptional first hand experience of the industry.

There are also opportunities to intern with some of Italy’s finest mills and manufacturers, to be trained on specialist CAD software, and to have work selected for a curated interiors collection.

TexSelect’s Hero Mentor scheme carries the support forward, linking designers with industry professionals who provide ongoing career mentorship.

Many TexSelect alumni now enjoy high-profile creative roles within the international textile, fashion and interior design industries.

The TexSelect charity is entirely funded by the generous sponsorship of industry, by British charitable foundations, and by individuals.  All believe wholeheartedly in supporting textile design talent and in encouraging design innovation and excellence.

The Designers will  be showing at Première Vision Designs, 19th- 21st Sept and on 20th September 2018 at 15.30 there will be the presentation of the TexSelect Prizes for Colour, Fashion, Pattern and Interiors. Also the presentation of The Woolmark Company TexSelect Award ; the Marks & Spencer TexSelect Fashion Fabric Award; and NEW for 2018: The Worshipful Company of Woolmen TexSelect Design Innovation Award for Wool in Interiors.

Venue: Première Vision Designs, Hall 5, Première Vision Paris, Parc d’Expositions de Paris-Nord, Villepinte.

Continue reading →

Exhibition: Weaving New Worlds

Weaving New Worlds
Dates: 16 June to 23 September 2018 at William Morris Gallery
Open: Wednesday to Sunday, 10am – 5pm; free
Address: Lloyd Park, Forest Road
Walthamstow, London, E17 4PP

Tapestries have always told stories. In this exhibition 16 women artists from the UK, USA, Norway, Canada, New Zealand and Japan weave the stories of our time: the possibilities, the hopes and lost chances. Using the traditional hand woven tapestry techniques that connect us to the past, they have taken contemporary images and events, personal dreams and feelings.

The tapestries range in subject matter, from reflections of rural mythologies, to floods and urban decay. Always at the heart of the work is the human condition, the artists offering us both a utopian and dystopian view – the choice is ours.

Curated by Lesley Millar, Professor of Textile Culture and Director of the International Textile Research Centre at the University for the Creative Arts in collaboration with National Centre for Craft & Design and William Morris Gallery.

Text: William Morris Gallery. Image -  Ripples & Ribes by Jennie Moncur, 2015 ©The Artist

Exhibition: Le Kilt & Norn

Luxury womenswear brand Le Kilt and experimental design consultancy NORN host an exhibition and workshop at The Michael Hoppen Gallery to explore the reappropriation of traditional materials through craftsmanship and its relationship to punk subculture. The opening night event includes discussions with industry stalwarts as well as a Le Kilt pop-up retail space.

The exhibition features a series of installations that look at the relationship between punk and tradition in the context of craftsmanship. Le Kilt works with small-scale manufacturers to create their version of the modern woman’s uniform, whilst also adding new and unexpected design details such as hand-woven patches made from yarn spun in-house. Similarly, NORN places making and the haptic at the heart of its process; exploring the scope of making beyond conventional expectation of hand skills. Continue reading →

Exhibition: Sue Hiley Harris

Sue Hiley Harris
‘Woven and Drawn’
Tuesday 29 May – Saturday 9 June
11 am – 5 pm
Venue: Lansdown Gallery Stroud GL5 1BB

Sue Hiley Harris is best known for the abstract handwoven sculpture she has been making since the late 1990s. This may be understood in relation to constructed abstract art generally, whether two or three dimensional. Material, structure and form are inter-dependent.

The forms are often derived from pure geometric shapes. These may be repeated or become multiple parts of a complete work. Sometimes they allude to natural forms or to life’s continuous natural cycle. The bare upland landscape of the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons has, for many years, been important in Sue’s life and has made an impact on her weaving.

In 2013 Sue was awarded a Creative Wales Award by the Arts Council of Wales to ‘explore the possibility of making woven body sculpture’. As part of this exploration Sue returned to drawing the figure from life after a break of almost forty years. This has stimulated an inter-est in drawing in the landscape. The drawings in this exhibition are a direct emotional re-sponse to regular visits to a particular part of Priory Groves, a wooded area near to her home in Brecon.
Continue reading →

Exhibition: Hannah Waldron

‘Primary Traveller’
New works by textile artist Hannah Waldron

‘Primary Traveller’ opens at the Select Festival on 21 April 2018

Hannah Waldron’s new work Primary Traveller is a nomadic modular structure that will house a new body of weavings specially created for this exhibition. Commissioned by and for the Select Festival.

‘Primary Traveller’ is an ambitious new work; a textile installation which will serve as a meeting place for discussion around the role of textiles and tapestry today.

Alongside are retrospective pieces that have previously toured internationally but have never been shown in England.

The space will be a meeting place for discussion on the work, its themes and the larger role of contemporary textile practises within both art and craft production and exhibition ecologies.
Continue reading →

Research: Norwich Fabric | Project Zeeuwsmuseum

Remi Veldhoven, is a textile designer and textile researcher from the Netherlands. She is researching a fabric from around 1750-1800 which was used in traditional clothes in the Netherlands, and produced in the Norfolk area (mostly Norwich), England.

She is working with the Zeeuwsmuseum (Middelburg, the Netherlands)  who will be having some garments made out of this Norwich fabric and they are planning to make an exhibition about this fabric in May 2019.

For this exhibition Remi Veldhoven has been asked to research the production process of the Norwich fabric and to design a new fabric inspired by the old one, using industrial production methods.

From the old fabric, she knows the different steps of the process (a document outlining this can be sent), and for the new fabric she would like to design a similar fabric and compare the industrial production steps, time, costs and people involved with the obtained data and characteristics of the process from the old fabric. Continue reading →

Competition: The Wool Innovation Prize

Wool Innovation Prize

The Wool Innovation Prize is to be offered annually to any individual who shows the most innovative use of wool in any commercially viable application. A prize of up to £10,000 will be awarded together with a merit certificate to the winner, which will be presented at a City livery dinner.

The prize will be promoted through a number of magazines, agricultural shows, Textile Societies and research organisations. Applicants should apply on line through the Campaign for Wool. The winner will be announced at the end of September every year.

The prize is being awarded by the Worshipful Company of Woolmen and the Company of the Merchants of the Staple of England Charitable Trust.

Background
The Worshipful Company of Woolmen, one of the oldest livery companies in the City, and The Company of the Merchants of the Staple of England, a national livery company based in York believe that they should do more for the industry from whence they came, namely the Wool Industry. Both have very long pedigrees going back to 1180 for the Woolmen and 1283 for the Staple.

The Industry has suffered long term decline in the UK over many years. There are now some signs that the industry is beginning to show an upturn and both Companies wish to recognise this and make a contribution to supporting innovation in the use and application of wool.

The Prize
The prize will be awarded annually to any individual who shows the most innovative use of wool in any application that is considered commercially viable and subject to the project being of sufficient originality and quality. Open to individuals using wool in apparel, non-apparel, agricultural, horticultural, medical, and industrial applications.
The winner will need to be able to show that the innovation will be developed from the United Kingdom, although the nationality of the individual is irrelevant. Continue reading →