Visitors are invited to enjoy an exhibition of rug tufting and natural dyeing by four young people from Dumfries and Galloway.
Kady McEwen, Georgia Collins, Alina Brust and Amy Sim took part in this year’s Modern Makers programme, run by Upland CIC, which allows a new generation to learn traditional skills and apply them in a contemporary way.
They were taught rug tufting, using locally sourced wool, by textile artist Laura Derby based in Kirkcudbright and natural dyeing by Lucy Lee from Palnackie.
Each of the Modern Makers came up with their own designs and created a wall hanging, plus a stool cover which they fitted on wooden stools made by Phil Crennel.
This work will be at the heart of the free exhibition at The Grainstore, Whitesands, Dumfries on 15 June. A public opening event will be held the day before.
Visitors will also be able to see the plants used to dye the wool, smell and touch the dyestuffs and experience the resulting rich colours and see example dye pots with wool being dyed.
They can learn more about the UNESCO Galloway and South Ayrshire Biosphere Merrick Blackface Wool project, which was the source of their materials.
Textile design graduate Georgia Collins, 23, from Dumfries, discovered the project after leaving university.
She said: “I got involved in Modern Makers as I had just finished university and was looking for something different but creative. I wanted to try tufting and natural dyeing, so I signed up.
“We naturally dyed and tufted stool tops as well as a rug or wall hanging. We then learnt what natural materials make which colours; some were surprising.
“We also learnt how to tuft and use different finishing techniques and, how to complete the whole design process from undyed yarn to finished stool top.”
Georgia’s designs are inspired by the development work she did during her final year at university which explored sensory fabrics. She has now decided to expand on her ideas and is considering starting a small business.
Laura Derby was delighted to be asked by Upland to facilitate this year’s Modern Makers project and to have the chance to use Scottish Blackface wool, provided by Merrick Scottish Blackface Knitwear.
She sees it as a great example of different people coming together on a forward-looking project which makes use of traditional techniques and materials.
Laura said: “Hopefully this is a culture-changing initiative which moves us towards creative, sustainable, better futures for our planet and humanity – something the arts excel at.
“Working with four totally motivated creative Modern Makers and Lucy has been wonderful. The project contained so many unknowns and we all just got on with, problem solved and succeeded. It was so inspiring.”
Lucy’s role was to show the young people the potential for natural dyeing, and give them experience of using plants to give rich colour to wool.
She said: “This hands-on experience helped them understand the basics of dyeing without chemical dyes, demystifying and giving the young people confidence to develop this craft in the future.
“The use of natural dyes is a growing movement worldwide with more people recognising the need for responsibility in production and waste.”
Lucy and the participants spent several days together, exploring the potential of natural dyes, designing colour palettes, calculating weights of wool and dyestuffs.
She taught them how to make dye baths from plants, and finally, how to dye wool in stages to build up the desired colours.
She said: “All the young people were a delight to work with and picked up this craft with confidence and speed.”
The Modern Makers project has had a big impact on the participants.
Alina Brust said: “I’m really grateful to Lucy for sharing her knowledge and letting us experiment with different dyes and ideas. I’m an avid knitter and I’m already looking forward to maybe trying some natural dyeing for my next project.”
Kady McEwen added: “After seeing a link to this year’s Modern Makers I immediately felt excited and decided to apply. I had never previously thought about the process behind the creation of the rugs, or that it was possible for me to create my own with custom designs.”
Kady enjoyed the whole experience and was very pleased with the results. She said: “Once I finally managed to put the scissors down, my rug was complete. For my first ever attempt at this medium, I am incredibly happy with the finished result.”
Upland, which is dedicated to arts and craft development in Dumfries and Galloway, has been running Modern Makers since 2016.
Amy Marletta, Upland’s Creative Director, said: “This exhibition celebrates the amazing work that Laura, Lucy and the four Modern Makers have been doing.
“Not only are the results impressive, but so is the whole process – using natural materials and traditional techniques to create superb designs and sustainable practices for the modern world.”
