Walford Mill Crafts have many talented artists and makers amongst its staff members. In the lead up to the exhibition Walford Mill Crafts will be putting the spotlight on each specially selected ‘Mill Maker’ featuring the work of eight very different disciplines including silk weaving, embroidery, photography, jewellery and printmaking.
On the 28th November 2013 from 5:30-8:00pm, Walford Mill Crafts would be delighted if you could join them for a very special late night opening as all of the ‘Mill Makers’ will be selling and some will be demonstrating, there will be entertainment, PLUS 10% off everything you buy.Meet the Maker: Debby Kirby – Silk Weaver
7th October – 13th October 2013
From her Mezzanine workshop and studio at Walford Mill Crafts in Wimborne, Dorset, Debby Kirby creates a wide range of distinctive, hand-woven pieces. Scarves, cushions, bags and a selection of accessories, along with framed and unframed pictures are created by Debby’s unique process of dyeing the silk yarns herself before weaving, ensuring every design is exclusive.
Debby graduated after studying woven textiles at The West Surrey College of Art & Design (now Surrey University) and moved to her present workshop at Walford Mill Crafts in 1986. Debby began her career by supplying her hand-woven silk scarves to many of London’s retailers, including Liberty & Co. and Fortnum & Mason. Over the years she has also seen her work exhibited at many leading galleries including New Brewery Arts, Platform Gallery, Black Swan Arts and The Devon Guild of Craftsmen. Working alongside a calligrapher, they instigated a national touring exhibition – ‘Woven Words’ – which ran for almost two years and visited 12 venues across the UK.
During her career, Debby has built up such a loyal client base that she now concentrates on her studio at Walford Mill, as her customers enjoy observing her working directly on her Harris countermarch loom.
Debby's inspiration comes from many sources: architecture, sky-lines, colour in nature and in the modern world. Using these ideas as a starting point, Debby sketches out her designs to calculate the amount of silk threads needed, the silk is then wound off to the required length as anything up to 250 feet of silk is used to weave a run of scarves. The threads are dyed using colour and light fast acid dyes, each colour powder is weighed, mixed with fixing mordant and then dissolved in hot water. The silk is immersed into the dye and simmered, until Debby is satisfied with the intensity of the colour. The threads are plaited and tied, to build up layers and this way of dyeing (almost painterly in effect) ensures that no two lengths of silk will ever be the same.
This very individual way of working has led to Debby combining her skills with a variety of makers from other disciplines. These include artists, photographers, wood-workers and jewellers, for which Debby has specifically adapted her working process to incorporate each media. 2013 has been an exceptionally busy year, with ideas for collaborations and new designs keeping her creative process innovative.
FREE entry as usual.
Open: Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm, Sunday 11am - 4pm
01202 841400 info@walfordmillcrafts.co.uk
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