JANET HUGHES

MEET THE ARTIST

Since 2014 Janet Hughes has run Balgovie Weaving from her garden studio in Fife, and has established a reputation for quality crafted, well designed, utilitarian products using Scottish materials and long learned textile skills. For Janet weaving is her mindful activity the threads keep her in order.

I have a deep need to create to appreciate, to practice my skills. I wind warp threads and dress looms, I wind pirns and finish fabric. My fabric is woven in one piece from selvedge to selvedge using traditional skills. The loom beats out a rhythm. 

Janet learned to weave at a time when computer aided design was in its infancy and her manual dobby loom is still controlled by wooden lags and mental pins. She feels confined by the possibilities of her traditional loom and longs to find new patterns and form new cloth. She seeks a mentor who understands the textile world today and has knowledge of computer aided weave design to show her a way forward. Through a mentorship she aims to upgrade both her knowledge and equipment, allowing her to pre-programme her designs and cut down on the time currently spent manually adjusting the loom to achieve her mesmerising, ever changing, morphing patterns.  

Janet believes good design should be accessible to many, and by cutting down on the time taken to make each piece she could produce quality, long lasting, sustainable weave at a fair price as an alternative to “fast fashion”.