Magical Women are excited to introduce to you the artist Louise Amelia Phelps whose precious and sacred skills spin threads of joy from fauna & flora to become works of art, that unravel warmth and nurture for all.
Spinning Colours of Flora
“There is so much beauty and magic
in the processes of spinning fibre to yarn.
These symbols and metaphors run deep
in the psyche of our human hood.”
The Craft Life of Louise Amelia Phelps
Louise with her creations, photograph by Guy Latham.
I have never had a studio,
I have always created wherever I am with whatever I have to hand.
I spent most of 10 years living transiently spending months at a time
in Sinai
living simply
in the desert
and in Cairo and in the USA
exhibiting my artwork and poetry.
Louise’s threads in a basket
I wonder if this has made me work
to
a very small scale,
work that can be packed, tucked and completed
sketchbook size.
I make tiny palm size woven bowls
with handspun and plant dyed yarns,
each one has a story to tell of the trees, flowers and leaves that create it.
Tiny palm size woven bowls with handspun and plant dyed yarns created by Phelps.
I
do
intricate
lace-like bead work
around the tops in shining patterns
that I saw glinting
on the Bedouin women’s night black veils.
Everything is small scale
and made
with dedication,
each one is about 20 hours in the making.
My home is a living space and studio combined:
a yarn gallery hangs along the wall
and my spinning wheels rest in front of the fire
like family pets.
A yarn gallery hangs along the wall and Phelps’ spinning wheels rest in front of the fire.
I need to live among my materials.
In the back garden
there are pans of soaking plant material and petals
steeping in jars of ruby liquid
in the front.
A pan situated on the ground in the garden of soaking plant material. Photograph by Guy Latham.
The hanging skeins of drying yarn
are a beautiful sight
and
this love of life, process and materials infuse my work.
Things get busy in the spring and summer so many plants and leaves to dye with, you have to be ready.
For me
using plants to colour yarn is instantly precise
to the time of season.
Dying threads in fruit and natural treasures. Threads are vibrant jewelled violets and purples, pinks and mauves.
Natural treasures are everywhere.
This is a much longer discussion, but in short,
conscious reciprocity with ‘nature’
within craft processes
is
a definite old/new path.
We must remember that we are not working with ‘materials’ but threads of life that do not end.
“We must remember
that
we are not working
with ‘materials’
but
threads of life that do not
end.”
Louise’s hands hold out out the threads as if to dry them. Ivy leaves are spread out on the ground beneath the rolls of yarn.
Everything makes a difference to the final colour,
spring or summer leaves,
fresh or dried,
time soaking,
hot or cool dyebath,
fibre,
water quality.
I work intuitively with these factors.
As long as the fibre is prepared very well and scoured (washed) and mordanted properly then there is room to experiment confidently.
Yarn nestles itself amongst ivy on stone ground.
I am a Sacred Land Walker (which is another story to tell).
After a long training
I am beginning to teach
and this informs
how I gather plants and natural materials.
I rarely pick anything,
there are so many windfalls
to look out for
and other opportunities,
my eyes are always open.
The mid of Phelps’ torso as she stands clutching ivy leaves that dangle from her hands.
There is so much
beauty and magic
in the process of fibre to yarn
and
these symbols and metaphors
run deep
in the psyche
of our human hood.
Phelps in the background using her spinning wheel.
There are so many colours contained within what surrounds us.
It is the alchemical journey of light
into matter and out again
into liquid colour
that I love,
infusing
a
spectrum of memory,
growth and season into the material fibres of life.
Words and Images by Louise Amelia Phelps for Magical Women
Curated by Elinor Rowlands for Magical Women
Photography by Guy Latham
In case you missed it - you’re able to journey with the artist through audio. For those who require access needs please see text above.
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