The Studio
Set in North County Wicklow, the garden studio is a quiet space, surrounded by nature, with many lovely walks on the doorstep, to the nearby beaches, through fields and along coastal pathways.
Inside the studio, there are three looms, a small sampling loom and two Toika floor looms. Muriel spent a year studying at a textile college in Finland and bought her first loom on her return, followed by a second loom shortly after. She generally weaves floor rugs on one loom and has the other set up for linen wall hangings. Her yarn stock is predominantly rug wools and linen of various weights from heavy linen for rug warps to fine threads.
Design process
At the initial design stage ideas come in all forms, taking in many different influences. The starting point could be colours and textures observed while out walking, paintings seen at an exhibition, or some aspect from the study of textiles or interior design, to scenes from a film or a print.
Observation of colour is really important to me, I tend to see landscape in terms of horizontal layers, noticing light and shade, patterns and reflections.
The challenge is to find a way of expressing these ideas through the medium of yarn and the techniques of weaving.
The formation and development of the idea start with sketching, drawing and measuring, beginning the process of translating the idea into a number of threads, sequences of threading and tie-up, careful, thoughtful slow preparation of the loom, the even winding of every thread onto the back beam before a shuttle and a row of weft is even thought about. I enjoy all the preparation. It is vital to the success of the finished piece.
I have a plan laid out on graph paper with all the sections of the design measured, I have trial colours wrapped on small pieces of card to see how they work together and in which order I will work through them on the loom.
As the work progresses it disappears out of sight around the front beam and the completed piece will not be revealed in its entirety until it is unwound and cut from the loom in the final exciting moment of a long process.
Once the work progresses a rhythm sets in, the design is continually assessed, may be amended and small decisions are made throughout. Even with preparation, how colours and yarns react to each other when interwoven on the loom keeps the whole process interesting.
