Creative Weaving- a gateway to Healing and Transformation.
There is a close link between creativity and a happy and well-functioning mind and body.
I trained at Glasgow School of Art in photography where I was awarded a degree in fine art photography. This is what brought me to Scotland in 1993. I come from a family who were farmers and art was not something that was encouraged or supported. I was into my twenties before I discovered that I was a creative soul. When I discovered black and white photography a whole new world opened for me. I saw things in an all-new way. I enjoyed working with an idea in my mind and would go out for walks with my SLR camera and take photos. Then I would develop the film and print up some of the pictures. I would go into a dark room for hours and emerge with some prints. It gave me space to be. I knew I had found something that I had to pursue, and I kept working for some years until I had a portfolio and applied to Glasgow School of Art. After Glasgow School of Art, I went on to do a postgraduate degree in Art therapy. I started in art therapy to work with groups in various settings, such as hospitals, schools, and community groups. In art therapy the therapist creates a safe space for people to be. A space where one can relax, it gives people a great space to be themselves. One can explore with art making and words ‘an inner voice’, a voice that has been suppressed and not listened to. When I later moved into a rural situation in Argyll, I came across basket weaving. I met a lovely women Pip Weaser who showed me wonderful and interesting ways of working with willow and hedgerow materials. For a while I had a business making garden willow structures, I made willow hurdles and living willow structures, arbours, and hedges on commission. The work I do now is mostly smaller things. I make baskets by coiling with grasses, mosses, and other materials. In this technique first you make a coiled piece of rope. Then you can stich the rope together into a baskets or other functional objects. When I am weaving, I go into a quiet space on my own. I have time and space to process thoughts and feelings. It is a creative space for making something with my hands, which is extremely rewarding. The creative process is fascinating in itself; from having an idea to making it. The space I create for thoughts and feelings to be processed; is an opportunity to go below the surface of things. It is easy to live on the surface of life, being taken with the flow of life, without really thinking deeper about things. Having a creative outlet is an opportunity to stop and have a closer look. You can get in touch with something in yourself that is truer to who you are. It can be a lovely and rewarding space in many ways. Creative work is one of great healing and transformation. As you are making something with your hands, you are giving yourself time and space to be. I work with community groups, teaching them weaving skills and various possibilities of things to make. It can be a lively dynamic when a group of people come together. There is a lot of positive sharing and support happening between people. |
I would go into a dark room for hours and emerge with some prints. It gave me space to be. 
One can explore with art making and words ‘an inner voice’, a voice that has been suppressed and not listened to. 
The creative process is fascinating in itself; from having an idea to making it. 
Creative work is one of great healing and transformation. |