Ellie is a self confessed colour junkie! Having spent a large part of her childhood living abroad she was inspired by the vibrant markets of the Middle and Far East with their colour, texture and patterns which she now expresses through weaving and textiles. She was a creative child who struggled through her academic studies with the help of sympathetic teachers and wanted to study Fine Arts when she left school. Somehow she got side tracked into studying textiles at Winchester Art College and from there went on to Central St Martins College of Art & Design where she gained both a BA in Textile Design and an MA in Design for Textile Futures.
On first graduating Ellie set up a weaving business and had some success following a more conventional path but she got bored! She began developing techniques for weaving with a variety of different materials particularly sustainable materials and she has done a lot of work using hemp which is multipurpose, easy to grow and very versatile. She also experimented using unusual things like dog hair as well as hemp and was eventually asked to go into teaching which she found terrifying to begin with however it turned out to be a wonderful learning tool. Ellie has found that weaving can be very therapeutic and that it draws people together and she believes in making it more accessible using simple methods rather than complicated machinery. An old picture frame, sticks lashed together, even flat stones can be used to produced simple woven items.
As her practice developed Ellie became interested in natural dying, an interest she shares with her mother who has developed considerable expertise in the area so now they work together running dying and weaving workshops both in person and on line. And Ellie’s latest project is a book called Weaving as Art Therapy for Beginners. Ellie’s – website www.elkatextiles.co.uk has more information on courses and kits if you are interested!
