Tapestries that capture nature's rhythms
- Julie uses linen, cotton, wool, and silk to craft her pieces
- She owns a large workshop to house her tapestry looms
- She enjoys working collaboratively with artists in other disciplines
Julie Taylor is a tapestry maker who expresses her love for nature through colour and structure in her woven pieces. Her passion for textiles began during her fine art degree and was further ignited by the kilim carpets and natural dyes she encountered while travelling in the Middle East. This fascination led her to explore weft-faced weaves and develop her own patterns, embracing the creative freedom they offered. Drawing inspiration from the natural world, Julie finds beauty in the details, colours, and structures of plants and animals. Now based by the sea and a tidal river estuary, she incorporates the ever-changing light, reflections, and weather into her work. Her design process typically starts with a small sketch, followed by selecting or dyeing to form a colour palette, and crafting woven samples. "I maintain a sketchbook, where ideas often resurface years later, guiding my creative process," she explains.
Interview
- Do you use recycled and local materials?
- I use natural dyes whenever possible, often growing the plants myself. I find this process deeply satisfying, particularly as I explore the rich spectrum of colours achievable with madder, weld, woad and indigo. Currently, I am experimenting with tidal river water in my dyeing, feeling as though I am incorporating the essence of the River Mersey into my work as I weave river-inspired tapestries.
- What do you enjoy the most when working?
- I enjoy all aspects of tapestry production from the initial sketch to the finished piece. When I weave, I am completely absorbed, both mentally and physically. Tapestry weaving fulfills my mind, heart and senses. The outcome of a finished piece will always surprise you, as you can never predict it. Each tapestry is a learning process and that is what keeps me engaged.
- Are collaborations important in your work?
- As a teacher I really enjoy collaborating with students on larger pieces. I have directed community projects creating large-scale tapestries for public display since 2015. Working with groups, galleries and artists from other disciplines is always energising and inspiring.
- What are your future goals for your craft?
- My goals are to create a new body of work relating to the new area of the UK I am living in. I aim to be more sustainable with dye materials and I am setting up a large dye garden and workspace to achieve this. The colour palette created this way will be an interesting exploration for me. I have facilitated large community tapestry projects previously and I would like to develop this work further as well as teaching and running workshops.
Julie Taylor is a master artisan: she began her career in 1994 and she started teaching in 2000
Where
Julie Taylor
