Harris Tweed ‘painting’
18th March
Here’s something you don’t see every day!
This artwork by Catriona MacEachen is created from 100% Harris Tweed® and really caught our eye. You can see the progress in these images but we wanted to find out more so got in touch with Catriona, who had this to say:
“My family hails from the Outer Hebrides and I visit the Isle of Harris regularly. I feel passionately about the island and I wanted to create something truly unique that was my personal homage to this land that I love.
“I have always been fascinated by the unique process involved in creating Harris Tweed, its history and the way its colours so perfectly reflect the colours of the beautiful Hebridean landscape. I am in awe of the immense talent and dedication required to produce this uniquely special fabric and I felt very inspired by this.
“I am a professional artist and have painted many Hebridean scenes (particularly of the Isle of Harris), but always in my usual mediums of oils or acrylic.
“I decided, this time, to challenge myself to create something altogether different – a “painting” using only Harris Tweed with no brushes or paint at all.
“I wanted the painting to be of a place that was instantly recognisable to anyone who lives on or has ever visited Harris, so I decided that it just had to be the beautiful view from Seilebost to Luskentyre.
“I firstly sketched out lightly a rough image of the view I wanted to create onto the canvas. The initial concept I had in my mind, was something quite different to the final “painting”.
“I imagined using larger pieces and fewer colours, but as the painting progressed, my painter’s mind felt compelled to blend the colours of the individual pieces to achieve the detail I desired… And so I had to source more and more colours of Tweed (ensuring it was absolutely genuine and authentic Harris Tweed) and the cut pieces became smaller and smaller (particularly in the sky where the clouds merge into one another). In places I found the effect turned out to be somewhat similar to the effect created in the painting technique of Pointillism (where dots of colour are used to create an image).
“From the beginning I was sure that I wanted the “painting” to be a work on canvas to maintain the idea of it being a “painting” rather than something leaning more towards a tapestry. The issue however, was how was I going to attach the individual pieces of Harris Tweed to the canvas. After much deliberation, I decided that the only possible way would be to source a fabric adhesive that would be strong enough to perfectly adhere each individual piece to the canvas, but would in no way compromise the appearance or structure and therefore authenticity of the Tweed. It had to be highly durable and acid free therefore, totally clear and would not yellow over time.
“I discovered quickly too, that working with this beautiful fabric isn’t always easy and doesn’t come without its issues! I had to wear a face mask for most of the time as cutting the Tweed into so many pieces filled the air with tiny fibres… And those fibres get everywhere!
“If I were to start again, I would make sure too that I started from the top and worked my way down – it can be very frustrating when you have to redo certain areas where colours of the sky have slipped down into the sea – A learning curve for sure!
“It has been many months of work, and very frustrating and tiring at times… But it’s amazing what you can do with a canvas, a little pair of scissors, hundreds of thousands of pieces of Harris Tweed… And, of course, dogged determination and a passion for the Isle of Harris and Harris Tweed!”
Amazing and unique work. Catriona has titled it “Seilebost to Luskentyre – A Celebration of Harris Tweed” (3ft x 4ft – 100% Harris Tweed on Canvas), and you can see more of her amazing art at her website.