I have recently spent a fantastic week as artist in residence at Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills. When I first visited the museum with the IFA in April 2017 I did not think that I would enjoy the luxury of a week in the museum , dyeing and felting. How lucky I have been.

Armley Mills , was once the world’s biggest woolen mill.  It is therefore a very appropriate venue for an artist in residence with a  love of wool and a passion for felting with naturally dyed materials.

I am fascinated by most machines, but especially those which process wool.  My felt pictures using commercially dyed wool inspired by the machines are in the current exhibition at Armley Mills.

As artist in residence, I wanted to take this work further. But also limit myself to using naturally dyed wool fibres.

A challenge

So I arrived with my pots and pans, felting materials , some dye materials , and lots of previously dyed wool and silk yarn. Excited but a little apprehensive.

I was made really welcome , with a little corner of the learning centre , set up with tables for felting and a two ring cooker for dyeing.

My first step was to get some dyeing under way. I choose to dye with weld from my garden.  Historically weld was the best material to use for yellow in the UK. Unfortunately in my excitement I forgot to photo the dye pot , but here is the finished dyed fibre.

Then to think what felt to make? As I browsed the machines in the textile galleries with my camera I thought maybe if I zoomed in to small details I could develop some designs.  I was thinking of cogs, gears, and screws.  Here is a gear wheel from the Hattersley Loom.

Here is a detail of the Jacquard loom.

I love the H’s – for Hardaker – the manufacturer.

Felted , but still needing the finishing touches of some stitching.

My favourite felt that I made as artist in residence was inspired by the carding machine rollers and was executed in weld dyed fibres.

As artist in residence I was able to harvest some madder, collect some woad seeds and take the heads of some golden rod from the Mill Colour garden . I will use these materials for dyeing at home.

Using some comfrey and some madder, I dyed two more batches of wool and silk. The comfrey on the wool is disappointingly beige but it’s lovely on the silk thread. The madder shows promise but needs more time , so it’s dyeing process will continue at home.

I met with the garden group at Armley Mills who are nurturing the colour garden for the mill. They had some success with extracting blue dye from the woad they were growing , which was great to see.

So reflecting on my week as artist in residence, if has been fantastic to have the time and space for felting and dyeing in such awe inspiring surroundings. Trying to bring everything I needed defeated me and so I had to make some compromises in my techniques. My felt pieces are not finished , but I am pleased with them. In addition the space has allowed me to come up with a new bag design , which I hope to make soon, with a pattern based on some of the designs I have completed this week.

So all in all, I have really enjoyed being artist in residence , and would recommend the experience if you are lucky enough to get the opportunity.

I hope I do again !