The handwoven textiles of Cath’s scarves and shawls are inspired by the Australian landscapes surrounding her and influenced by the tartans of her Scottish homeland.
Cath lives on a small farm halfway between Busselton and Margaret River. From 2009 she wrote a digital diary with photos documenting the seasons, farm life and the positive changes made on the land. Walking in the bush, she spent hours looking at the colours and patterns in nature, in the leaves, bark, fungi and of course the birds.
Seeking to slow down after finishing her career in Perth, and seeking some serenity, she joined the local spinning and weaving group in 2014. After taking to spinning like a duck to water, she added a couple of Angora goats to her herd of dairy goats to produce some homegrown fibre.
“I started spinning in 2014, loving the transformation from a raw material into a usable item. More importantly I embraced the stillness and focus of learning traditional skills, using tools that had been worked by generations of women over hundreds of years.” Spinning natural fibres from sheep, goats, alpaca and even her own silk grown on her Mulberry tree remained her main passion until 2020. Like for many during the pandemic, restrictions on normal life created the opportunity to explore new ventures. Cath learned how to weave.
“As an engineer, structure and symmetry are important and I naturally fell into making tartans when I started weaving. Creating handspun yarns give you complete control of colour and texture which means you can capture the essence of nature in every piece.”