Woven textile designer Margo Selby is quite the leader in the textile industry with contemporary designs that you’ll never forget – remember her bespoke rugs? Her training at Chelsea College of Art and Design and The Royal College of Art led her to work with weaving mills, as demand picked up for her fabrics after graduation. Today, Selby’s signature three dimensional textures, repetitive patterns, and rich color palettes find themselves on not only rugs, but fabric, furniture, throws, cushions, and even clothing. For this week’s Friday Five, let’s take a look at what this innovative designer loves and finds inspirational.
1. My daughter
My amazing daughter who is at the centre of my life. She’s 3 and I recently asked her if she would like to learn to weave…. ‘no mummy, when I grow up I’m going to have my own work’. I am really enjoying watching her strong little character grow.
Photos via Galerie Besson
2. Peter Collingwood
As a student at the RCA I was lucky enough to visit the home and studio of Peter Collingwood. Peter was legendary for his dynamic innovation in weaving. He engineered and manipulated traditional looms to create diagonal and three dimensional lines in weaving. His textile artworks are inspirational and mind-blowing.
3. Whitstable
My new life in Whitsable has given me new happiness and creative focus. Throughout the summer I try to swim in the sea most days and recently I have been encouraging the team at the studio to have business meetings with me to discuss and brainstorm ideas whilst swimming along the shoreline. The Sportsman in Seasalter along the coast is a magnificent restaurant. The lunchtime tasting menu is my favorite experience of the restaurant and is designed to be a showcase for the local environment and the ingredients sourced from it.
4. Ceramics
I have recently been learning to throw ceramics which I am finding wonderfully therapeutic. My weekly ceramic lessons are one of the highlights of my life. I have always been a collector of ceramics and one of my favourite plates is from the stoneware collection by Kaori Tatebyashi.
Anni Albers, Wall hanging. 1926, Silk (three-ply weave). 70-3/8 x 46-3/8″, Harvard Art Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum. Association Fund, Photo: Katya Kallsen © President and Fellows of Harvard College, © 2009 The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
5. The Bauhaus Weaving Workshop
The Bauhaus Weaving Workshop is an ongoing source of inspiration for their creative approach to both traditional and industrial woven textiles. The weavers produced handwoven artworks as well as fabric meterage and like I try to do with my work, combined craft with design for both art and production fabrics.
