The textile studio in Māwhera Greymouth is gearing up for the arrival of the equipment from Shetland, and for the official opening which will be held in autumn.
Summer has been busy, with tourists and locals alike coming in to see the studio and its progress. It is gratifying to have so many people saying that they enjoy walking past and stopping to see the window display – at the moment, the textile collection of bush shirts is on show (below) – and to have visitors who are intrigued by what is going on.
As part of the summer season I decided to weave in the window of the studio as a nod to Shetland Tweed’s history. In the early years of the last century a Shetlander was set-up with a loom in the windows of West End shop in London, and he wove, to the delight of passersby, lengths of tweed. One of those onlookers was a New Zealander, a women who begged for the loom because she was so fascinated by the craft and wanted to bring Shetland loom weaving to her homeland. Now, with the impending arrival of looms there is a tangible link between Shetland and the West Coast of Aotearoa New Zealand. This type of advertising really works. People stop in to see what is happening and stay to chat, just as visitors used to do when the studio was in Yell in the Shetland Isles.
The weaving at the moment is inspired by a painting I have done of a day when the clouds and driven sea spray flowed over the forested hills that descend to the ocean on the West Coast. Using yarns purchased from McLean & Co., in Oamaru, I am weaving samples based on the colours in the painting, trying to capture the mood and essence of the dramatic scenery and weather. It feels good to be using the skills I learned in Shetland to make cloth again…
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