Textile artists Rachel Thomas from Aberystwyth and Nancy Una Simmons from Milford Haven, were awarded £1,000 bursaries by Wonderwool Wales after graduating from their BA Textiles course.
As part of their award, they were also given exhibition space at Wonderwool Wales, the premier wool and natural fibre festival in Wales, held at the Royal Welsh Showground, Llanelwedd.
Both Rachel and Nancy are now looking forward to showcasing their skills, ideas and creations at New Designers in London in July.
New Designers is an annual exhibition that brings together the best graduate design talent from across the UK. Over two weeks, the event showcases the work of more than 2,500 talented graduates in a range of disciplines, including textiles, graphics, product design and more.
Rachel, who was weaver in residence at Newtown Textile Museum last summer, said she has been busy developing her textile work, working on commissions and experimenting.
In the future, she would like to develop fabrics for costumes to be worn by actors in films and TV productions. “Hopefully, I shall be exhibiting here again in a few years’ time,” she said.
Nancy, who has been developing her wall hangings, throws and cushion designs since graduating, plans to register her own company focused on weaving and running natural dyeing workshops. She grows plants in her garden for natural dyeing.
Both said the bursaries from Wonderwool Wales have provided valuable support to help them develop their future career direction. Rachel has purchased a loom and Nancy plans to use the bursary to subsidise her visit to New Designers.
They both also said how much they had enjoyed exhibiting their work and networking at Wonderwool Wales.
Chrissie Menzies, Wonderwool Wales director, said: “It was lovely to see Rachel and Nancy exhibiting at the show and we are pleased that the bursaries are supporting them to develop their careers as textile artists. We wish them success at the New Designers event in London.”
