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Fibre artists thriving at the Alton Mill Arts Centre

May 16, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

Yvonne Iten-Scott and Leslie Knight moved into their studio in the Alton Mill about a year ago. They had met during a Zoom call about the craft of making beautiful things from an assortment of materials – wool.

he Citizen sat down for our own Zoom talk with the ladies about their history and plans.

Ms. Iten-Scott was born and lived in Orangeville but now lives in Erin. Caledon is home to Leslie Knight.

After meeting online, the pair realized they lived 15 minutes apart and they were both taking classes on fibre art. They got together for tea to talk about their passion for fibre art and, in due course, they began to discuss a plan to open a studio together. 

The heritage Alton Mill, with its complete focus on the arts, and its several studios where artists can have spaces to work and meet the many visitors who come to the Mill, seemed the logical place for their own plans.

At first, they worried they would have to wait for space but the Mill’s owners were so intrigued to have fibre artists on site they were invited to move in.

For Ms. Knight, her interest in rug hooking began when her grandmother taught her and it only grew from there.

Ms. Iten-Scott realized when she saw a decorative rug or cushion in a shop window that was too much money that she could make it herself. 

There were workshops to teach her and she had a natural love for the craft. Shortly thereafter she found herself immersed and enthusiastic.

She became “obsessed with wool in any form, raw, fleece – wool fabrics.

They made the point that in this world of waste, to use repurposed textiles, turning them into practical things like rugs, stools, and cushions makes a lot of sense. They source material through fibre festivals and find lots of wool and yarn, locally sourced. They run their own workshops now at their studio, The Mill Fibre Art, teaching felting, rug hooking and wet felting.

Ms. Knight told us, “It’s so satisfying with endless possibilities – your only limit is your imagination. Usually after a wet felting class, people go home with something they made and they’re so happy to have learned that, how simple it is. A few pieces of wet felt and you can have a beautiful picture.”

The history of their art is thrilling to think about, how old the techniques are with these “old time crafts.”

“Felting goes back tens of thousands of years ago,” she said. “We really enjoy sharing our love for this craft.”

“We want to introduce it to younger generations,” Ms. Iten-Scott added.

They went on to talk about the children’s book they have put together for which they are already in discussion with a publisher. They have developed an exhibition of hooked rug squares, all with the image of an insect on them, from 45 artists around the world. Using this exhibition for the content of their upcoming book, each page has an illustration of the rug with an insect, a little poem about it and a note of interest. This is fun for the kids, with “Magnificent Bugs in Rugs.”

As an example, Ms. Knight informed us, “The [African] dung beetle uses the Milky Way to navigate and if the sky is overcast it can’t find its way.”

The Magnificent Bugs in Rugs is the Featured Exhibition in Ohio “for the largest rug hooking conference in the world,” Ms. Iten-Scott noted. “Proceeds from the books will go back in the illustrations of the rugs.”

They are going to the conference in Sauder Village in Archbold, OH, to conduct a three-day retreat, teaching about hooking and using the book as a reference.

Otherwise, as they remarked, they are going to Iceland for the month of November for an immersion retreat there to expand their knowledge.

There’s a loom there, a dye kitchen and plenty of Icelandic sheep producing wool. 

“They take discarded fish skin and make fish leather of it in Iceland, so I’m really looking forward to working with that,” said Ms. Iten-Scott.

Promoting the rug hooking craft, “It’s great to teach young people to do it too. It’s so simple to learn to put a loop through the hook.”

Most people fall in love and [like] to make practical things, like a purse, too. 

“Leslie even made a lamp of wool – you put a light inside and it glows through the wool – it was beautiful,” Yvonne Iten-Scott told us.

You can visit the two fibre artists at the Alton Mill Arts Centre. Check the ladies out at www.themillfibreart.com.

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