British textile artist Angie Parker is a weaver who hand weaves art panels and rugs in vibrant colours.  Describing her work as “intricate, indulgent bursts of handwoven colour,”  her contemporary designs are created using traditional techniques including Krokbragd.

Where did you grow up and where do you live now?

I grew up in the Greater Manchester, in Timperley, a suburban village, and after many years traveling with my first career in theatre and TV I’m now settled in Bristol in the South West of the UK.

What is your background in textile art?

A natural flair for textiles was picked up by my art teacher in secondary school, possibly due to my mother’s influence in my early years. (She’s a talented knitter and also made our clothes when we were younger as was the fashion in the 1970s).
After an art foundation course, I went on to specialize in rug weaving at Cumbria College of Art & Design in the early 1990s. It was a specific Craft Design course and I had the privilege of learning my craft under Master Weaver Susan Foster and technician Jan Beadle. After graduating I went on to win the Floorcovering design award at New Designers in London and intended to establish my practice right away. However, the figures didn’t add up for me at that stage in my life and the part time job I’d taken in costume grew into a full-time career for many years.

During this time I continued to weave with the intention of one day setting up in business. With the benefit of hindsight, I’m now thankful for this winding road as I loved my previous career and also had the freedom to develop my style and find my voice gradually, without the pressures of needing to sell my work. The samples I created on the table loom that I carted around the country in the boot of my car inform the work I create today.

It was the arrival of our third child that finally gave me the opportunity to set up the business, and I’ve not looked back.

Why does weaving appeal to you?

It amuses me now that I didn’t intend to study weaving. I surreptitiously found myself in the weaving studio and clearly remember the first time I passed a shuttle and beat down the weft. I knew instantly that this was the discipline for me. The buzz of creating intricate woven cloth from heaps of yarn has never left me, and I feel a great sense of satisfaction from the simple and repetitive actions of weaving.

How do you describe your art?

Intricate, indulgent bursts of handwoven colour. Two stages elevate my functional craft to an art form. The energy of the piece comes when I’m being led by the materials and patterns within the boundaries of a particular weave structure.

The second is the response from the viewer. The moment a piece dances around in front of another person’s eyes, is when it’s complete. It’s about creating those moments.

How long does a larger rug take to create?

I generally spend between 20-25 hours creating a Krokbrgad rug, though the logistics of my business mean that this could be spread over two weeks. The block weave rugs are slightly quicker to weave and very satisfying as the selvages are less problematic.

I weave the smaller art panels in separate pockets of time in my week, and although all the pieces I weave can be regarded as art, I generally market the rugs to a different audience than my panels. It’s quite a juggling act.

Can you talk me through how you create a piece?

I have a few different approaches depending on the type of job. For instance, a commission would generally start with a conversation where we look at things I’ve already made to work out what the client is drawn to. Often I’m sent images to colour match and design from and generally, I’m able to sketch out the main colour blocks with pattern options before getting started. Most clients are happy to give me some wiggle room to follow my instincts as this attracts people to my designs. I also offer to send WIP images so that commissionaires can feel part of the process.

For new collections, I often begin at the sampling loom but not always, especially for my Krokbragd rug designs. My inspiration comes from wherever I find colour. Art galleries, graffiti, and currently the mountain of wool which is dominating my studio.

I prefer to design in the medium of the finished piece rather than the traditional sketchbook, so it makes sense for me to work through the design process at the loom.

I’ve discovered that having had the luxury of working with the same techniques for almost 30 years that it is second nature to me now. The charm of finely tuned muscle memory is that it’s taken for granted. The patterns and colours direct me and I’m basically a conduit.

I also work on different scales and in contrasting materials. Sometimes an upholstery panel design might inspire the next rug or vice versa, One thing I’m sure of is that I’m unlikely to exhaust the ideas I have in my head during this lifetime.

What type of wool do you use?

It funny you should bring up wool, as I’m currently the proud owner of approximately 2 tonnes (possibly more) of rug wool from the workshop of a retired rug weaving legend. For rugs, I unsurprisingly, use rug wool. This is an 80/20 blend with nylon for durability. For finer work I’m game for any fibre, favouring mercerized cotton, silk, and whatever I can source in the shade I’m after. I’m generally led by colour rather than the fiber which makes me untypical for a weaver. However, I’m not the first weaver to regard their yarn stash as their paint box.

What are you most proud of so far?

I’d like to offer up a particular piece of work here, but I’m actually most proud that I am in fact weaving for a living. It was a pipe dream for so long and it took a few years and quite a bit of trial and error to get the practice to work.

For me, it isn’t always about what I weave, but more ‘that’ I weave. That said, my original Fryktlos Krokbragd rug is one piece that I refuse to part with because the selvegdes just smash it. Technical skills are important to me. I’ve made a few versions of it since for clients, but I decided to override my business brain and not sell the original.

Do you have any advice for aspiring textile artists?

Gosh, that’s always a tricky one to answer as we all begin from different places. Play! Push out of your comfort zone regularly, and don’t give up. Accept that it might be a side hustle for a long time. There were times when I didn’t think I would ever be weaving full-time, but I never gave up that ambition. The challenges along the way become part of the narrative.

Angie’s handwoven designs will be part of A Visible Thread. An ongoing project from Seam – a textile collective.

http://www.angieparkertextiles.com/

https://www.instagram.com/angieparkertextiles/

 Sign up to Angie’s newsletter at http://www.angieparkertextiles.com/newsletter/