Insight into textiles part 1 - Stacey Harvey Brown

Article Added: 13/11/2009 11:52:27
Over the coming weeks HotHive Textiles will be publishing a series of interviews with different people from the world of fashion and textiles to give students an idea of what their roles are really like. We begin with Stacey Harvey Brown, a weaver based in Staffordshire who has taught weaving in the UK, the US and Europe, and has worked as far afield as Oman.

HHT: How would you define your role?
SHB: I’m a portfolio weaver – by that I mean that I do many things to generate my income.  I teach residential courses for beginners through to jacquard weavers at my home in the Staffordshire Moorlands, and provide my students with accommodation and food B&B + lunch.  I write articles, and am currently researching for a book on weaving.  I exhibit and sell my work at occasional fairs and also travel abroad to take part in exhibitions, and to lecture and teach at conferences - so far in Europe, the Middle East and the US.  I give talks and workshops to Embroiderers Guilds, Guilds of Weavers, Spinners & Dyers, WIs, and in association with other organisations, such as the Macclesfield Silk Museum.  Occasionally I give school visits and I also mentor new designer-makers and provide an internship for a college in Finland. 

HHT: How would you describe your work?
SHB: I like to call myself an artist weaver as I produce artwork incorporating watercolour and mixed media as well as weaving.  I also like to stretch the boundaries of my craft.   I weave on both dobby looms and hand-jacquard looms from the 1880s.  I also participate in collaborative projects with other artists and organisations.  As well as the physical weaving part of my life, I love archive collections and am on a self-propelled crusade to bring knowledge and appreciation of archive collections in museums around the country to the general public, and especially to those textile people I meet in other countries, so that when they visit the UK, they travel the country to see the wealth of archives we have in textiles. I am a prolific networker and do voluntary work in textiles as well.  For example, I am currently Chair of the Midlands Textile Forum which is promoting textiles and textile practitioners in the whole of the Midlands region, and forging links with other Textile Fora around the country, and in other countries.

HHT: After university what would you say is the best way to get into the weaving industry?  Would you recommend work experience, an apprenticeship or is it fairly easy to find a job?
SHB: I’m probably not the best person to ask this question to, as I’m largely self-taught.  I don’t have a textiles degree I have one in music instead as this is my second career.  I would always recommend work experience as you make personal contacts and your contacts have contacts, and that’s the way the world works.  If you are a personable person, you will get on.  Apprenticeships are few and far between, and I think you would have to know exactly what you were signing up for to take one on.  These days I don’t think it is that easy to find a job in textiles, certainly not a job closely related to the degree you have.  You have to be prepared to be versatile, and do boring things in order to get on, unless you are very lucky. Most college courses don’t turn out technical weavers in the amount of weaving knowledge that you have.  Most are biased towards concept and design rather than the nitty-gritty of technical weaving.  So the company who employs you has to train you from scratch to do things their way. You have to be prepared to do the most basic things and to learn their way. 

HHT: How important is your portfolio to your chances of getting a job?
SHB: Again, I don’t really have insider knowledge here, but I know that if a student wants to come for work experience or an internship, I like to see their portfolio and have a chat to find out their extent of knowledge.  That way I can judge what work they are likely to get most out of and also to utilise their knowledge so they can help me. If I was seeking an employee, I would want to see good samples of skill, design flair and good presentation, but I would also want to chat to delve deeper into their understanding of weaving.

HHT: Would you recommend doing further courses or is it best to get into the ‘weaving world’ as soon as possible?
SHB: I guess this depends on the individual.  I don’t see the point of doing an MA just for the sake of it, but if there are no jobs available, and you don’t want to leave the textiles field to get work, then that is something that is seriously considered.  If you want to go into university teaching, then you need the MA to be taken seriously.  Also you can sometimes find that students who have just completed their MA are taken on as part-time staff at the same university. 

If you have holes in your knowledge, then doing short courses with an experienced tutor is a good way to learn.  The problem is the funding – there aren’t that many funding streams available to assist in outside learning. 

HHT: Do you know of any scholarships or funding that are available to help student’s get started in their career?
SHB: The Arts Council www.artscouncil.org.uk, the Crafts Council www.craftscouncil.org.uk and the Worshipful Company of Weavers www.weavers.org.uk are the first places I would look.  There may be schemes in your local region, so it’s worth getting in touch with your local council, and county or city council. One great way forward is to find subsidised studio space, and many of the larger cities have organisations geared to just that. You have to get out there and look for information, contacts and networks. The Artists Newsletter www.theartistsweb.co.uk is a good way of finding the opportunities out there, and any possible funding. 

Personally, I think this is where your character comes through.  If you are prepared to go out and look for things, taking a proactive role in kick-starting your career, and if you are prepared to try something that is not your ideal, but a step on the way, then you will probably find yourself in work. Whether that is paid to begin with can be a problem, but I have found that most of the voluntary things I’ve done have helped me either to learn skills I need, make contacts which led to paid work, put my work in the marketplace so that people can see it and buy it, or just raised my profile.  Basically, whatever you put in, you get out, and quite often you get more out than you put in.  But it’s down to you as an individual. 

HHT: What would you say are the five essential pieces of equipment needed as a weaver?
SHB: Well, physical stuff includes a loom and accessories so you can create work, a printer, a phone, a computer and access to the web to promote your work.  But essential qualities are also needed – patience, dedication, determination, persistence, self-belief.  Without these, you won’t get very far. 

HHT: What hours do you work?
SHB: This varies depending on family commitments, what’s on, how I feel, etc.  That’s the beauty of being self-employed – you set your own goals. Sometimes I can work in excess of 70 hours a week – usually when deadlines are looming – but I try to organise my time so that deadlines are known well in advance and I schedule time to work on those projects. My teaching day is quite strict, as that then gives me time before and after teaching to work on my own projects, and spend a bit of time with my family. I work quite a few weekends, and through most of the summer, and holidays are quite rare, but I do quite a lot of travelling on my own with the weaving, and that feels like a holiday even if I’m working.  

HHT: What is the biggest challenge you have faced in your career and how did you overcome it?
SHB: That’s a hard one, because there are different sorts of challenges that you face. The tightest deadline involved a bride who changed her mind about the fabric she wanted just two weeks before the day and I had to weave 7m of a silk warp repp that had to be hand-dyed first. The fabric was more suited to upholstery than a bridal gown, but that was what she had commissioned me to do, and the weaving was a nightmare! The fabric had to be at the dressmakers a week before the day, and I had to do all the dyeing and the weaving. I worked through 2 nights and 2 ½ days, with my husband bringing me flasks of strong coffee, bars of chocolate and glucose tablets at very regular intervals!  Never again!  But it did get delivered on time and to specification! 

Another challenge was setting up a weaving workshop for 60 weavers in Oman. The differences in culture and business etiquette were extreme and I found I couldn’t accept the way they do business.  But it was a great learning curve, and an experience!

Another challenge was again while I was doing bridal fabrics at the start of my career, and a company didn’t pay up so I had to take them to the Small Claims Court. I didn’t enjoy that one bit, but it taught me another lesson – everyone pays up front now!

HHT: What is your advice for someone with a degree in weave but doesn’t know what to do with it?
SHB: You have to follow your heart. If you have a weave degree but you don’t want to weave, then do something that interests you more. If you love to weave, then look hard to find what you want to do.  Be prepared to strike out on your own and do other jobs to support yourself until you find the right path for you.  Most people who trust their instincts find themselves doing something they really enjoy. 

HHT: What is the best bit about your job?
SHB: The variety. I never know what is going to come up next. I recently attended a conference in Austria that I thought might be interesting, and I went really to promote Macclesfield Silk Museum. I came away having made some wonderful textile friends from across the world, and some great ideas and future networks. My main piece of advice is to keep your mind open – open to ideas, to opportunities, to contacts, to experience, to job possibilities. What may seem unpromising can turn out to be an important stepping stone. Share your knowledge and your contacts as if you share with others they will share with you, and the effects can be massive. 

You can find out more about Stacey and her work at www.theloomroom.co.uk

Our next interview will be published on Friday 20th November and is with Jenny Lister, curator of textiles at the V&A museum. Make sure you login to the website then to find out more about what it’s like to work at one of the UK’s best known museums.