Art Batt for Spinning and F...
The Silk Spinner's Studio£15.50
“Welcome to the Silk Spinner's Studio. In the shop you will find handcrafted silk items either spun, dyed or made by me.”
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I learnt to spin when my children were young, almost 40 years ago, when wanting a craft hobby that didn't involve sharp pins or needles and joined my local branch of Weavers, Spinners & Dyers Guild. When spinning, I feel an affinity to my Celtic roots and privileged to be continuing a traditional craft that has been integral to our lives for hundreds of years. I have concentrated my skill set to work with silk fibre primarily, which I enjoy spinning the most, although I have recently begun working with ethical friendly plant fibres. I spin, dye, occasionally weave and work with silk in a variety of ways, as you will see from my shop items. I hold a City & Guilds qualification in Silk Painting.
Working from home means my days are quite flexible and varied but even when on holiday my Louet wheel usually accompanies me, as you can see from my silhouette on my shop logo (yes, that is me with my wheel, in front of one of my silk paintings, as the background). Also never far from my side is my Quality Control Assistant aka my beautiful Deerhound, who reminds me during the day to take breaks and take her for a walk. We are lucky to live on the edge of the East Anglian Fenlands in a Cambridgeshire village and within a few minutes walk from my house we have open countryside to enjoy.
My dyeing and silk painting draws inspiration from natural colours and the work of the Impressionist artist, Claude Monet. My homage to him is my 'Monet's Garden' A collection of hand dyed embroidery skeins. I supply a bespoke range of hand painted scarves under the title 'The Cathedral Collection' which are exclusively available through the Stained Glass Museum, which is situated in the magnificent Ely Cathedral. I give demonstrations, talks or workshops for smaller groups about being a Silk Spinner and I regularly take part in the annual Cambridge Open Studios event held during the weekends, each July in Artist's studios. I will accept the occasional commission, so if you have a particular colour for a scarf or want a 'Silkie Shawl' in white or cream for a bridal shawl, please message me to discuss the project you have in mind.
Reviewed by Lou Fiddler
I'm a kumihimo artist and have been wanting to move into working with silk for a while, I just hadn't found a seller who ticked all the boxes - until I found Bernie!
Firstly, the silk collected Monet's Garden is indescribably beautiful. The colours are vibrant, the silk is beautifully soft but with a really amazing sheen and I can't wait to start working with it.
But, moreover, Bernie was approachable, friendly, extremely knowledgeable - both about her own process and materials as well as understand how I'll be working with her thread as a braider. By the time I placed my order, she felt like an old friend.
And then, today, this lovely packet arrives in the post, in impressively quick time, and every part of unwrapping it was lovely. Wrapped in lovely tissue paper, sealed with bespoke stickers, little gifts of special tea and chocolate and scented lovely things all added to the feeling that I was handling something special.
I am super-eager to both start working with this amazing silk that Bernie span herself and to order from her lovely shop again.
This order was pure joy at every turn, from start to finish - thank you so much, Bernie x
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