Artist Statement
I am a spinner, a dyer, and a knitter…
I use heritage techniques and natural fibers to create new and exciting pieces. Nature is my inspiration and the source for all my materials and in a world of fast fashion, trends and productivity I am a rebel. I make one piece at a time and every piece is unique. My mantra is: “each one is the only one.” Not only do I design each piece individually, I design them to last. Items knit with wool, angora, silk, or a mixture can be mended when necessary and they can last a lifetime. When they are finally exhausted, they will be composted back into the earth having done no harm.
Beth grew up with scissors and tape and needles of all sorts in hand. Her love was to take things apart and put them back together in more “interesting” ways. As a teenager in the 70’s, Beth could macramé wall hangings and embroider her jeans with the best of them. She never used patterns or kits because she didn’t like being told what to do.
Beth and her husband Rich raised their family on their organic veggie farm where most everything was done by hand. In 2017 she thought it would be fun to add angora rabbits to the farm and that’s when Angora Borealis was born. The idea was to sell the fibre to a woollen mill which never did get off the ground. Plan B was to learn to spin the fibre herself and that’s when Angora Borealis Homespun NL came to be.
Today Beth has a studio at the Quidi Vidi Artisan Studios in St. John’s NL where she sells her hand spun and hand dyed wool and where she creates whatever thrills her heart using old world technology, her hands and natural fibres. When asked why she only uses natural fibres she explains, “you get to make those decisions when you make things yourself.”
