A dull afternoon was certainly enriched by Louise Collins's display of textiles. Louise had been a dentist by profession, until fulfilling her heart's desire to study art, gaining a BA in Design and Creativity in 2014. The scope of the projects she had brought along was huge and varied. Keen to recycle, the things she had made from items that would be thrown away was amazing. Old blankets were dyed and distressed and made into jackets, gorgeous bags and clothes. The original pieces of cloth were usually completely unrecognisable in the end result. She made dye from walnut crystals, as seen in the first photo, which looked like an animal print. Old garments had been given a new lease of life, as in the old boxer shorts cut up and dyed and made into a scarf, and the beautiful baby quilt in pastel colours. Old cashmere sweaters from charity shops had been shrunk and made into beautifully soft items. Old curtains were made into a luxurious evening bag. Louise's use of the embellisher machine transformed the items into something special. I loved the knitted wall hanging done from extra thick wool on knitting needles made from cricket stumps! Her sketchbooks were works of art in themselves, a pleasure to thumb through.
The scope of this lady's imagination and skill is breathtaking, there isn't enough room to show all the photos of the diverse things she had made. Louise has a gallery in Kinnaird, by Pitlochry, called Mariposa, which would be well worth a visit. She can be contacted at mariposatextiledesign@gmail.com.
Louise will be holding a day school in April, and this talk has really enthused the ladies who will be attending - what possibilities!
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| Blanket dyed with walnut crystals |
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| Scarf made from boxer shorts |
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| quilt from recycled fabrics |
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| Knitting on cricket stumps! |
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| Jute wall hanging |
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| recycled fabrics |
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| Evening bag from old curtains and items from shrunk cashmere jumpers |
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| digital print |
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| close up of the jute wall hanging |
