Category: Uncategorized
-
Weaving complexity
Weaving is a complex task, although it looks deceptively simple. The routine passing of a shuttle between sets of threads, packing it into place and then changing the sets to make patterns belies the amount of work, time and thought that goes into the process of a woven cloth. So it is no surprise that…
-
Last week’s blog
Last week the blog passed a significant milestone. Regular readers may have noticed that the blog did not come out as usual on Sunday. Every week I write blog articles that are all date-stamped automatically. When Mailchimp, the service that I use to email the blog, puts the articles together to send those articles are…
-
This week’s blog
The blog this week is shorter than usual because of the studio opening. Normal service will resume as soon as possible!
-
The blog is returning
We have returned from our holiday to Africa where we had a fantastic time with family and friends. There is lots to tell about our trip. Five weeks in the African sun, two in South Africa and three in Zimbabwe, has been life-affirming and wonderful. Next week’s blog will include stories about the trip and…
-
Shelly Zegart
Quilts can these days be considered art, rather than simply utilitarian textiles, thanks in part to Shelly Zegart. The “Queen of Quilts” as she was once called, Shelly Zegart was not a quilter, nor even a stitcher. She became interested in quilts after tea in the 1970s with Bruce Mann, a collector from Louisville, Kentucky,…
-
The Spotify playlist
Most weeks the blog features a playlist of audio curated on Spotify, the streaming platform. The playlist tracks are linked in some way to the blog entries and paying subscribers will hear all the tracks uninterrupted. Those with a free subscription will hear the tracks with advertising breaks and anyone else will hear short extracts.
-
A short blog this week
Thank you to everyone who sent emails and comments about the blog last week. This weekend I am away to Rotoiti to give a talk at the Creative Fibres retreat. As we are leaving on Friday, the normal day for writing, time is short so the blog will be too! Normal service will be resumed…
-
Conversation and Cloth
On Friday this week there was the latest in the series of Conversation and Cloth, the talks about textiles in the collection. Taking place in the Regent Theatre, the talk was well-attended with twenty people coming along, and a couple more on Zoom, to listen to news about the most recent acquisitions and about plans…
-

The West Coast Cloth Company
The street frontage of the textile studio in the heart of Māwhera/ Greymouth is complete. Over the past few months two local artists have been working with me to create the new logo for the West Coast Cloth Company. The logos have now been printed and installed on the windows of the studio and above…
-
All about the blog
This is a week of change, for the blog and for the studio, and I am looking for your help. For the past twenty years I have written blog entries on all sorts of subjects. There have been articles on nature, weaving, crafts, painting, writing, landscape, travelling… the list goes on. Over the years the…
