Tales from t'mill

Dewsbury 2022

Designed to reflect the towns textile heritage, inspired by interviews with local mill owners and workers, past and present. Including a sound piece. Drawing inspiration through indepth research and interviews with local mill owners and workers to produce Tales from t’Mill. Auctioning the bails of rags in this painting is Alan Summers. Alan's sons Paul and Howard had ambition to move into the shoddy industry from their father's rag business. They were so successful in doing so they bought a lot of the existing shoddy companies in the area. It's was lovely to talk with Howard one afternoon and hear about it all. The green line drawing behind is of a rag machine. This specific one was used at Edward Clays, a business that still runs today using rags/pre loved fabric. Pickers were mainly women and their skills were second to none, and heartbreakingly si these skills are slowly dying knowledge. Pickers would be able to touch fabric and know exactly what they were made out of. I chose this blue for the background of the images as its the heritage colour of Dewsbury. The line drawings are brighter, pops of colour taken from a sample piece of shoddy I have been looking at. The Scissors were Walter Pitts a man who spent his life in the textile industry, and sadly passed away due to the harmful toxic chemicals of the time. The Stanley knife belongs the Tammey Foster, Walters granddaughter, she told me about veing issues with your scissors and your knife and then they were yours! She is so proud to be a part of a long family line of textile workers, all with different stories to tell. The shuttles and bobbins are part of my own family textile history. The painted photograph is from my first to Edward Clays Mill, where I learnt so much from John Clay, and reflects the diversity of people that have always been part of the mill floor. Painted for Dewsbury Creative Town