The Museum of Farnham is showcasing young artists’ textiles for Farnham Craft Month.
The project named Roots of Colour created by the 11 Plus Craft Project was showcased on Saturday, October 5 and received a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It allowed the Farnham Crafts Quarter CIC to give 12-week textile courses to secondary school pupils.
A total of 22 Participants aged 11 to 16 years-old from Heath End, Weydon and All Hallows took part in printing, dyeing and weaving using colour derived from plants.
The children were able to handle woven samples by Ethel Mairet, which were introduced by Greta Bertram of the Crafts Study Centre in the first session.
In the second class, they were treated to examples of print blocks by Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher. Barron and Larcher were two of the leading hand-block printers of textiles working in the UK during the 1920s and '30s. The Crafts Study Centre has the largest stock of their work in a public collection.
Textile specialists Sam Jones and Ginny Farquhar taught participants how to get colour from plants such as rhubarb, weld and indigo. During the May half-term, they helped plant a dye garden on the museum grounds which will give the gift of natural colour to the town for years to come.
