CLARE MATTHEWS
FIBER ARTIST
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Clare Matthews is an artisan
residing in Birmingham, Alabama. She received her formal
training in Art and Design in Cambridge and Birmingham in her
native United Kingdom. For the past two decades she taught art
in Northwest England’s Lake District, where the mountains,
lakes, and wild seashores provided an inspiration for her
textile creations.
In 2004, Clare completed a Fulbright Teaching Exchange at Hoover
High School in Alabama. The year gave her an insight into
American education and American life, with which she fell in
love, and in 2008 she returned to Birmingham as a permanent
resident. |
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Her woven work is mostly
comprised of flat woven weft faced rugs, to adorn either floors
or walls. Her designs are based on well known and traditional
weaving patterns, which are arranged in different combinations
to create original compositions. |
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Her interest in tassel
making is a relatively new venture. After a brief introduction
to the art of passementerie she became fascinated with the
contrast between fluid fibers and shiny glass beads and the
color that shimmered from both. |
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| Much of her work relies on color
and the use of it in conjunction with weaving patterns to create
different designs. She uses a cotton warp and wool rug yarn for
the weft, preferring to work with natural fibers for their
quality in color and texture and for their durability. |
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Clare makes the fiber tassel from rayon
threads. She uses glass seed beads which are added to the tassel
by sewing individual beads to each other to create a decorative
covering. Clare enjoys collecting a range of different beads to
adorn the finished tassel, making each one a unique creation. |
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Clare has traveled widely,
exploring the native textile traditions of diverse cultures in
India, Turkey, Mexico and the American Southwest. These
experiences and landscapes are an ever expanding resource to
draw from and become incorporated into her own creations.
Clare has a passion for the fiber arts and is constantly working
on new ideas and designs which queue up to be produced. She also
works to commission, visiting clients’ homes, matching colors
for the proposed work to their furnishings and surroundings. Click
here to contact Clare by e-mail. |
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