This original, handwoven circular textile artwork combines one-of-a-kind hand-dyed and hand-spun ‘waste’ yarns from my studio. Different colours and textures of merino wool and cotton are then handwoven around the ring, each using a unique blend of colours to connect visual references for water swirling and rippling and salmon rushing through the water during the salmon migration in West Coast Canada.

With a diameter of 25cm and featuring a mix vibrant blues, turquoises and oranges, this contemporary artwork will look beautiful when styled on the wall above a desk or hung as a group in a living space to add colour and texture.

During the initial lockdown I was able to take stock of my weaving practice and evaluate my core values. It became apparent that with restrictions on access to my studio and limited yarns and fibres at my disposal, I wanted to find a way to link the growing ‘waste’ yarns that I had accumulated over the years with my ambition to create more sustainable products.
Factor in my limited time to devote to my design work and it quickly became apparent that I should broaden my skill set during this precious time and move my practice forward in a direction that would strengthen me as a designer in the longer term. So I pulled out 6 enormous bags and boxes of yarns that had been stored and sorted them into categories of ‘waste’ fibres, fibres for hand-dyeing and fibres for hand-spinning.
After many hours of working around school hours and on weekends, I began to create a wonderful supply of hand-dyed and hand-spun yarns that would contrast dramatically with my commercial yarns and fibres. These new fibres and yarns now add texture and colour to many of my new artworks and I have added a valuable skillset to my fibre arts knowledge.