Amy Ashdown

Name: Amy Ashdown

Studio location: Upstate NY

Website / social links: @winslow_and_co_

Loom type or tool preference: Schacht Baby Wolf

Years weaving: 5

Fiber inclination: Cottolin, wool, linen, cotton

Current favorite weaving book: A Handweaver’s Patern Book by Marguerite P. Davidson

Contact information for commissions and collaborations: DM via Instagram

 

 

1. How did you discover weaving and was what your greatest resource as a beginner?

After being introduced to weaving as a young student, my weaving journey had been dormant for a number of years. I think it’s safe to say that I officially rediscovered weaving about 5 yrs. ago. I took a beginner floor loom weaving class that my friend was teaching at our local arts center. During the quarantine of 2020, I purchased my first floor loom and the rest is history.

2. How do you define your practice – do you consider yourself an artist / craftsperson / weaver / designer / general creative or a combination of those? Is this definition important to you?

I think I can safely put myself in the category of a weaver after these past few years. However, spending 10 years working with mosaic, 20 years of making quilts and also experimenting with printmaking and other crafts, I would also consider myself a craftsperson.

3. Describe your first experience with weaving.

My first experience with weaving was extremely special and I appreciate it more now than I did at the moment (like most things when you’re 16 years old). About 30 years ago, my mom enrolled me into a local art college summer program. I wanted to take ceramics so much but the classes were full. So I found myself in a fiber arts class learning how to make my own stamps for fabric printing, how to silkscreen fabric, batik and tie-dye cloth, and ultimately learning to weave on a floor loom for our final project. We warped up the looms with fiber we painted ourselves to make beautiful and unique wall hangings. It was a priceless experience that laid a solid foundation for my love for the fiber arts.   

4. What is your creative process, from the initial idea to the finished piece? Are there specific weave structures, looms, or fibers that are important to your process?

My creative process is very much experimental. When inspiration strikes, I tend to go with it (whether or not I was looking for it). Pretty simple. Even if the finished piece turns out differently than I anticipated, it’s all a valuable learning experience. I very much enjoy the process of problem solving. 

Regarding weave structures, I think all are beautiful and want to try so many of them. So far, my favorites are deflected double weave, Swedish/Scandinavian structures and, now more recently, traditional overshot. I always prefer and enjoy using natural fibers.

 5. Does your work have a conceptual purpose or greater meaning? If so, do you center your making around these concepts?

Being surrounded by hand made objects and artwork my whole life (mom is an artist and dad is a woodworker), I’ve grown to appreciate not just the “what” but the “how” and “why.” How something is constructed and why, how things are assembled and why, how craftsmen and women create their craft and why. Also, being a mom of seven, I value creating in my home and around my family. It’s who I am and where I am, and I want my children to be exposed to the “how” and “why” of the crafts I put my hand to. I want them to learn to appreciate every step of the creative process and value it. I want to cultivate an appreciation for generations of craftspeople who found ways to create beautiful and practical handmade objects with only the resources that were available to them. This is all very important to me.

 

6. What is your favorite part of the weaving process and why? What’s your least favorite?

I have truly grown to appreciate every step in the weaving process. However, my favorite part is when all the planning and warping is done and I begin weaving. I always get excited to see the pattern emerge that had been admired in a pattern book or drawn out on graph paper. My least favorite part is when I’m almost done threading, and I realize I don’t have enough heddles on my shafts!

7. Do you sell your work or make a living from weaving? If so, what does that look like and how has that affected your studio practice?

I do sell some of my work. As stated above, I love to experiment, so I end up with a house-full of weaving experiments that I give as gifts to friends and family. I also love the idea of suppling handmade goods and textiles for others to use and admire in their daily lives. 

8. Where do you find inspiration?

I find inspiration from so many things and creative/artistic people. Nature inspires me. Patterns and designs in various forms from various cultures inspire me. Three-dimensional forms like ceramics and woodworking inspire me. Music inspires me (my husband and children are musicians).

9. What other creatives do you admire – weavers, artists, entrepreneurs – and why?

I admire many creatives. Off the top of my head, specific to weaving, are Arianna Funk and her Swedish designs and Rachel Snack, who played a big part in my love for overshot. Of course, some of the classics; Anni (and Josef) Albers, Gunta Stolzl, and the patterns Bertha Gray Hayes and Marguerite Davison, to name just a few.

10. If you could no longer weave, what would you do instead?

The thought of no longer weaving is sad to me; but I know I would find something to fill my creative time. I love hand-quilting and would probably do more of that. Printmaking is also something I would explore more.