Shelby George is the next Maker in Focus at the Mission Gallery, Swansea, 28 October-16 November 2014. A Surface Pattern graduate from Swansea Metropolitan, UWTSD, Shelby creates bespoke interior fabrics inspired by the natural beauty of stone surfaces.
A childhood spent along the Jurassic coast, and exploring her grandfather’s Cotswold stone quarry, became the starting point for her graduate collection: “I was intrigued by the beauty of stone surfaces, and the fact that nature and time have taken millions of years to create a myriad of patterns, fossils and colour.” The collection features luxurious velvet, silk and wool blends. Committed to working with textiles, Shelby wanted to reproduce the qualities of nature in a tactile material. A layering of silkscreen processes communicates the texture of limestone, Cotswold stone and Indian slate. Using the traditional techniques of devoré, flock, foiling, shibori and hand dyeing creates a unique blend of embellishment and manipulation. The chosen pallet is a combination of muted and rich colour, also drawn from Indian slate.
