TO celebrate the Year of Young People, every week in 2018 The National is giving a platform to a different young Scot. This week, weaver Amy Bond
I HAVE always been interested in arts and crafts, colour, drawing and patterns, therefore it seemed like a natural progression to head to art school straight from secondary school. During my four years at Glasgow School of Art I learned about different aspects of textiles, from knitting to embroidery, but ultimately fell in love with the structured and mathematical process of weaving.
After graduating in 2015, I had the chance to exhibit my work at New Designers in London and it was during my time exhibiting that I was selected as one of the Texprint Top 50 Designers 2015. With an increase in admiration for my craft I returned to Glasgow and dedicated my time to gaining more industry experience through work placements before deciding to take the plunge and set up my own business of handwoven textiles, alongside teaching weaving workshops and classes to adults and children.
Some products sold by Bond
All my fabric is handwoven by me on an antique floor loom, where I combine traditional weaving techniques with unusual and contemporary colour combinations. At the very early stages of my business I was weaving on my table loom and longing for a larger floor loom to allow me to weave more lengths and sizes. I was then contacted by a wonderful family in Crieff, who wanted to gift their late mother’s antique loom to me, a new generation weaver, to help set up my business. I am still so grateful for their input in helping me and it’s so lovely for me to know I am continuing her legacy through weaving.
I am mainly influenced by colour and pattern which is visible throughout my textiles and products. I love combining colours that aren’t usually paired together and making them work through experimenting and sampling on my loom with busy, geometric patterns. The weaving process is very labour-intensive, and sometimes it can take me a whole day to set the loom up before I even get the chance to weave anything, but this makes me appreciate the fabric more and I really do enjoy every step of the process. It’s very therapeutic (although sometimes can be very frustrating when you make a mistake, which everyone does!).
Goemetric patterns in Bond's weaving work
I love working with lambswool and cotton. All my handwoven fabrics are woven with either lambswool, cotton or a combination of both and all yarns are sourced from the UK – with a select bundle from yarn suppliers in Scotland. My products range from handwoven scarves and my signature neck cosies to smaller items such as make-up bags and pouches. I love using my excess fabric to reduce waste and so I always use my off-cuts to make little bits and bobs, knowing that nothing will be going to waste after all the hours of weaving.
It makes a difference when you love what you do. I can honestly say I love my job even though it doesn’t feel like a job! I am proud that I took the step to set up my business. When someone wants to purchase my products or even if someone enjoys one of my weaving classes it really makes all the stressful busy periods worthwhile.
Amy Bond's textiles are available to buy on Etsy.
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