Gallery

Gallery of Weavings for Exhibition & Sale

Three small pieces woven with natural dyed yarns, silk and found objects from the beach

Round the circle from left:

From a Lobster Pot

On the Road to King’s Cave

Galway Hooker

£175 each

Galway Shawl

2m x 1m

£1000

Galway Shawl is a memory of soft stones, sunshine & rugged sea.

Woven with natural dyed wool and sparkling lurex t is a symbol of the enveloping warmth & comfort that women take from the work of their hands and pass on to those they love.

The inspiration for Galway Shawl began on my first visit to the city on St. Patrick’s Day 1999.

I was en route to the island of Inisbofin with a group of European women for a conference on New Opportunities for Women programme to promote work for island women through tourism & traditional skills.

On that first trip to Galway I didn’t realise that I would be returning on a regular basis over the next six years to work on other European exchange projects. In the meantime my daughter and family moved there from the US, so Galway has become an important focus in my life.

At the end of the NOW project in 2000 I travelled to Inis Oirr on the Aran Islands for the final conference.

The hundreds of stone walls which give Inis Oirr its character reminded me of the stane dykes on Arran which people built to mark land boundaries and clear the land for cultivation. I felt at home.The time we spent there was bathed in sunshine. The mellow colours which I’ve reproduced with natural dyes provided inspiration for the design of the shawl.

The corks are from an old net which was used by Lochranza fishermen.

Sea Changes 2003

Handspun & Natural Dyed Shetland Wool, Silk

Moments in the movement of the sea on a day of shimmering sunlight and occasional wind. Blues & greens reflect the clarity of the sea on such a day with the white froth of a silken wave responding to the breeze.

£600

Sand and Foam 2002

Handspun Shetland Fleece and White Silk, woven on Driftwood

The driftwood is the loom in this weaving. The silk & wool were woven directly on to the wood to create one form. Weaving & sculpture meet in this work, enhancing both the driftwood & the fibres.

SOLD

Celtic Wedding

White & Tussah Silk, Cochineal Dyed Wool & Driftwood

White & Tussah Silk contrast each other in this weaving in the way that male & female are contrasted in a relationship - luxuriously different in character but part of the same. The red lines are the bloodlines that marriage brings together. Celtic monks wore white in their “leine croiche” or tunics as do brides as a symbol of hope and joy. [break]1m / 1m

£650

Stane Dye 1 & 2

1m/1m

£650

£650

Handspun Shetland Wool in Natural Colours with Flax & Handspun Linen

Tradition comes together in these two weavings where natural materials pay tribute to the natural elements which shape our island and record our history.

Fields were cleared for cultivation by removing the stones and building them into boundary fences or dykes. These man-made structures define the landscape as much as the natural forms of rocks & mountains.

The yarns in the weavings are from the natural colours of the sheep which graze in the fields on Arran. They are also from flax. The process which turns the flax plant into linen has been practiced since antiquity. On Arran until recently it was an essential island industry providing much needed income to the parish economy.
Approx. 1m x 1m

£650