Helen Bower Jones
Growing up in Yorkshire, England, the history of textile manufacture was the backbone of much of the natural and man-made landscape, just as it is in North Carolina. I’ve been interested in costume and textiles since school - both my mother and grandmother had a love for nice fabrics; this was cemented by many years of studying the history of textiles and pattern design while working in museums as a textiles curator. After moving to North Carolina, I experimented with several different fiber art forms - crochet, surface pattern design, fabric painting - but the gift of a small table-top loom from my husband opened the gateway to practicing with my own hands what I had studied for so many years.
Now I mostly work on an eight harness floor loom to create both art and functional pieces, exploring the possibilities of traditional patterns used in contemporary ways. I’m fascinated by the shape-shifting nature of textiles: they can be dense or open, smooth or textured, rigid or fluid, two dimensional or with some form. Pattern and color can be just on the surface or a structural part of the cloth.
I love the tactile quality of fine threads and mostly use natural fibers such as linen, silk and wool. Recently I have begun to explore ways of adding color to my work using earth and mineral pigments, such as ochers; they give beautiful warm, saturated tones and are free from plastics, which is important to me.
My functional items are household linens and scarves. These are intended for regular use and so can be washed. For further information please visit my website.
