Booking for my course is available via Highgrove Traditional Crafts’ Eventbrite page here.
Weaving courses for The Prince’s Foundation at Highgrove
Category: Uncategorized
SDC Members Exhibition at Bankside Gallery
Transformations at Bankside Gallery, London
I will be showing a piece of work alongside over one hundred members of the Society of Designer Craftsmen, as we join together to show the collective skill of our community in transforming material to object.
If you would like to attend the opening event on the evening of Tuesday 14th June please get in touch and I will send you a link to the Eventbrite page.
Made for the Rhythm Exhibition
Pound Arts, Corsham, Wiltshire. From 15 April 2022 to 28 May 2022.
“An exhibtion exploring multi-sensory rhythms of making and composing art through diverse media including, light, sound, ceramics, drawing, typography and woven textiles”
Featuring a diverse range of my woven work including a room screen with woven paper panel, also works from five other participant artist/makers.
i will be teaching a 4 hour Weaving workshop on 7th May as part of this event (info under Tuition tab). Also a ”Live Art Event” will be taking place on Friday 20th May, featuring “experimental live art and music collaboration”
Weaving demonstration at Rodmarton Manor
I have been invited by Gloucestershire Guild to bring a loom (or two) to their showcase event at Rodmarton Manor on Wednesday 8th September 2021, to demonstrate the craft skill of hand-weaving. I’m just there for the first day but there is an extensive offering of activities over the 5 days.
Studio reopens to students
From 17 May 2021 I will be pleased to welcome you back to my studio near Cirencester for mentoring, individual tuition or workshops.
The monthly ‘casual’ group weaving sessions are on hold for the present time, however in its place I am offering workshop sessions of 3 hours for individuals or two friends comfortable with each other’s proximity! A morning session can be extended after lunch is you want to stay all day. These sessions can be arranged on any weekday or saturday. For more details see under the COURSES tab.
The Times newspaper online – News in Pictures
Last summer I took part in a photoshoot at my studio, at the request of professional photographer Russell Sach who was working on a project to capture artisan craft workers in their environment.
One of his images is featured in today’s Times Newspaper – News in Pictures for Monday 8th March 2021
This is the image and here is the link to the full feature https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/news-in-pictures-monday-march-8-2021-7zgwnh6tz
My studio is situated in the countryside a few miles from Cirencester, so lots of outside shots were taken too; this image is showing the Yoga Meditation rugs I have been weaving during the past year. During lockdown I had no income from teaching so these were created to generate an income. They were (and still are) available to purchase or to commission a bespoke pattern/colourway.
Teaching for West Dean College
From September 2021 I will be teaching at the prestigious West Dean College near Chichester, West Sussex. Please click here for details of my first short course – Weaving on a body-tensioned loom.
Geometric rug design for Vanessa Arbuthnott included in The Independent’s ’10 best wool rugs’
Coldcroft Farm Ryeland sheep’s wool blankets, scarves and fabric
In the late summer of 2019, I was contacted by the owners of Coldcroft Farm (located just outside Gloucester), who had around 80kg of yarn which had been spun by The Natural Fibre Company from the fleece of their rare-breed Ryeland sheep. They wanted their wool woven into blankets using the two natural colours of the ‘white’ and ‘coloured’ Ryeland fleece but needed my assistance with the weave structure and patterning, and to work with a weaving mill to produce in quantity.
I wove samples by hand in potential structures (basketweave, twill, honeycomb and others) then designed the placement of the stripes and overall aesthetic of the textile including the appropriate thickness and weight. The range was expanded to include generous scarves, throws and yardage of fabric in two colour-ways.
Meditation Rugs in Shetland Wool
Following the lockdown period at home, I returned to my studio and the tools of my trade, my floor looms. The framework for my year comes from the courses I teach, the craft festivals I attend and the exhibitions I develop new designs for; these were all gone. Using trial samples of a new wool yarn and left-over natural dyed yarn, I revisited one of my designs inspired by Fairisle knitting patterns. It was joyful to allow myself to experiment; the shapes and scale of the patterns and the combination of colours.
For my first rug, the design was inspired by the symbol for Earth from the i-Ching; seeking a motif with significance to Meditation, I sought my Yoga teacher’s guidance. For the 2nd rug I just wanted to use some fabulous pinks and a design I love, as the ‘noughts’ on the front become ‘crosses’ on the reverse.
rebecca connolly design 