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Julia Rhyno at her spinning wheel.
Note the the scarf and woolen throw on the loom behind her. |
The fibre arts course enables participants to get a base in areas such as machine knitting and dye methods. “I really enjoyed fibre,” says Rhyno, “and I knew that was what I wanted to do by the end of the first year. Now I spin, dye, weave, felt… to create one-of-a-kind fashion accessories (like brooches and bracelets), home decor and functional products such as hand-woven scarves, blankets, tea towels and rugs.”
Rhyno is July’s artisan of the Month at Creek Village Gallery in downtown Woodstock NB and a reception will be held on Tuesday, July 14 from 7 pm to 9 pm which will also honour the Artist of the Month. Everyone is welcome and new work will be on display. Rhyno's portfolio can be seen on Facebook and a variety of smaller pieces are also available at the historical settlement, King’s Landing near Fredericton.
Julia, you certainly seem enthusiastic about the NBCCDcraft college that you attended...The students were a close group. It’s a structured program but loose enough not to inhibit your ideas. In all, the method keeps you on track and focused. We were also pushed to keep exceeding, to be more creative.
So after three years of study, I understand that you all get a grad show at the Beaverbrook Gallery. What did you do for that?
A felt sculpture: a hat transformed into a garden. (See photo at left.) I experimented with new styles and shapes incorporating a lot of intricate detail. The work took weeks.
I’ve also seen some very fine wall hangings…
That’s a fun thing to do and I usually get my inspiration from photographs or just memories. I use Merino wool as a primary fibre along with others like alpaca, angora and flax. Sometimes silk to make a piece shimmer. (See image at the top of this page.)
Does inspiration come easily and guide the work?
I always have a good idea in my mind about the finished piece. I will have sketched it, tried different colourways and sometimes I’ll make a small sample ─ all important parts of the design process. Once all the fibre is assembled, to finish the piece I turn it into fabric using a wet felting technique.
It’s a very fine, detailed process and you’re pulling together many little bits before
you’re done.
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Among Rhyno’s fibre products currently available at the
King’s Landing gift shop are bracelets and yarn.
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Frankly, I never gave much thought to the process. But I’m interested.
Well, after putting layers of fibre on a flat surface, you wet them out completely with hot water, lay bubble wrap on top and use your hands to agitate the fibres and cause them to felt together. Wool is amazing and will felt quite quickly. Then it’s normally hung or stretched over a frame.
What would be your target demographic for this type of work?
People who appreciate traditional methods along with natural fibres and dyes. More precisely, people who want classic methods used to create pieces that have contemporary style. There’s a link to our history here that I really like.
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