Category: Textiles

  • The Web and its Chief Spider

    Recently two sets of booklets, all neatly filed in their own green leatherette-covered folder, have been donated to the studio library. The Web was a “Magazine registered art Post Office Headquarters, Wellington, in the 1980s and was issued once a quarter by the New Zealand Spinning, Weaving and Wool-crafts Society Inc. Founded by Eric Powdrell,…

  • Holi 2025

    This week was the annual Hindu celebration of colour in India: Holi. The festival rejoices in the return of Spring to the north and brings people together to celebrate the triumph of good over evil, life over death, and happiness over sadness. You can read more about Holi here and, if you happen to have…

  • Modern Daily Knitting

    Thanks to a reader who sent in this link about a podcast on the Haptic and Hue channel, if you enjoy knitting this is the website for you!

  • This week’s Spotify playlist

    As usual, this week there is a soundtrack to go with the blog and readers can listen to it by clicking the player above or by searching for the playlist on Spotify. The tracks are related in some way to the entries on the blog, although it might not be obvious what the relationship is.…

  • Visitors to the studio

    As the season turns the flow of visitors to the studio seems to increase. Māwhera Greymouth is at the end of the rail trip from Christchurch Ōtautahi over Arthur’s Pass in the mountains to the West Coast. The train follows the same route as cars and trucks but, instead of going over the mountain it…

  • Open Studio weekend

    The first Open Studio event is happening at the end of this month in Grey District. Over the weekend of March 29th and 30th, studios across the area will be open from 10am until 4pm. Maps of the artist studio locations will be available from the Left Bank Art Gallery, Greymouth I-Sight, Nimmo Gallery and…

  • Democracy the Oromo way

    The Oromo people of Ethiopia and Northern Kenya have a unique democracy, Gadaa, that has existed for centuries. Every eight years new leaders are chosen by consensus from the men of the district who are all of a similar age. These men all belong to one of five parties, each party coming to power every…

  • Maoriland

    In the early years of the twentieth century New Zealand was marketed as a tourist destination as “Maoriland”. Maoriland… the term suggested travel and the romance of distance. It was used on postcards, and posters, and books. All proffered a view of the country as a place where the people and their traditions and culture…

  • Remembering conflict

    An ongoing exhibition in Ulster, Northern Ireland, is about the textiles that memorialise conflict. Threads of Empowerment: Conflict Textiles’ International Journey brings together 29 pieces from across the globe, some of which are in the Museum’s collection. The textiles represent moments of of violence and conflict, violation and poverty, oppression and environmental issues as seen…

  • Making yarn – a start

    The wool industry of Aotearoa New Zealand has been declining, at least where what is termed “strong wool” is concerned. Strong wool is the wool that is not “fine”. In Aotearoa (pronounced “Ow-teeAh-raw-Ah”) fine wool almost automatically means merino type and strong refers to all other types. The definitions rely on micron count – the…