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Handwoven Floor Art For Lovers of Colour – Angie Parker Textiles

May 18, 2018
Handwoven Floor Art For Lovers of Colour - Angie Parker Textiles

We all need some colour in our lives don’t you think? Especially with the weather we’ve been experiencing lately. One minute full-on glorious sunshine, the next grey, wet and miserable. I say why not make your own sunshine by bringing some colour into your lives. Today I’m going to be doing just that by introducing you to  Angie Parker Textiles and her wonderful rainbow of textural delights in the form of handwoven rugs.

 

Handwoven Floor Art For Lovers of Colour – Angie Parker Textiles

Handwoven Floor Art For Lovers of Colour - Angie Parker Textiles

Colour can make such a difference to our lives and homes. It’s the first thing we notice when entering a room and it can also play a huge part in how we feel.  Colour is also great for boosting our energy levels and enhancing our wellbeing. Today’s designer, Angie Parker Textiles offers you colour in abundance as well as some amazingly environmentally friendly attributes to boot. I’d say we’re definitely on to a win-win with some feel-good factors all around. Ready to find out more about this fabulous artist?….

About

Handwoven Floor Art For Lovers of Colour - Angie Parker Textiles

When you look at Angie’s mastery of her handwoven designs, it’ll come as no surprise that she has won several awards for her weaving masterpieces. In fact, they’re quite literally works of art for your floors or walls (they look great as a wall hanging too). They are simply exquisite! Intricately woven and full of the vibrancy of colour. They all but make your heart flutter with sheer delight. Just take a minute to look, yes really look! Look at the detail, the colours and think of the skill involved to even create such a piece and then soak it all up. Personally, I’m in awe and I hope you feel the same way too.

As the self-proclaimed ‘queen of colour’, Angie doesn’t hold back on the vibrant colour choices and combinations she decides upon for her woven delights.   She also uses long-established traditional Scandinavian rug weaving skills. Patterns such as Krokbragd are combined with Angie’s love and daring approach to colour. Turning time-honoured rug techniques into exciting contemporary designs for you to love and cherish for years to come.

Cultural Influences

Handwoven Floor Art For Lovers of Colour - Angie Parker Textiles

There’s quite a dynamic cultural influence behind Angie’s designs. For one she spent a year living in India soaking up the culture and feasting on the wonderful array of colour that makes India so full of life.  To returning to Bristol and taking reference from the dynamic graffiti of her neighbourhood. Both have influenced the colour palettes instilled into her weaving. There’s no doubt that Angie’s choice of colours are eye-poppingly (if there is such a word) flamboyant and sourcing new shades is key to her designs.

 

Whilst the core of my business is niche, handwoven rugs, they are also so much more than rugs. They’re 20+ years of weaving for the love of it with designs that just fizz out from me! They’re partly a legacy to my late tutor, Susan Foster, who taught me to weave rugs. And most importantly they’re statements that bring uplifting bursts of colour to your living space and give your home the unique and original style you’ve been looking for. (Angie Parker)

 

Handwoven Floor Art For Lovers of Colour - Angie Parker Textiles

Angie meticulously hand-weaves and finishes all the pieces herself on her Glimakra Floor loom at BV Studios in Bristol.

 

The Designs

Newly Launched Recycled PET Bodacious Handwoven Eco-Rug

Who wouldn’t love to see less plastic bottles going to waste? You too? Great, because it goes without saying that we’ve got a huge task ahead tackling the ongoing problem with waste, especially when it comes to plastic. We’re also not going to eradicate this problem overnight, which in turn means we are stuck with an abundance of plastic waste that needs to be addressed now rather than later.

Angie has come up with her own solution and has spent the past 12 months busy working on ways to introduce handwoven rugs using PET (polyethene terephthalate). This innovative yarn is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles and you may be surprised to know that it has the look and feel of wool. They’re perfect for outdoor/indoor use as they’re waterproof, incredibly hardwearing and are ideal for our busy modern lives where versatility can, and is, becoming more mainstream when it comes to choosing designs for our homes.

Completely washable, they are perfect for areas that take heavy traffic but where you still want a statement design with a burst of colour, such as hallways and kitchens. Of course, when the sun comes out, the bright colours look wonderful on patios and balconies; as well as conservatories and garden rooms.

 

As Angie handweaves between 10 and 12 rugs a year, she needed to come up with an alternative plan to achieve her ambition of starting her own war against plastic. Choosing one of her bespoke wool rug designs, the rather fabulously named Bodacious, Angie has turned this eco-friendly project into a reality. Outsourcing this project to overseas skilled weavers in Varanasi in India,  this limited edition design rug is now available via her online shop. It’s a riot of clashing colour and uses the Krokbragd rug weaving technique to create the wonderful detail of pattern.

And in case you were concerned about the weavers’ welfare, you’ll be pleased to know that Angie also ensures that the workshops were these rugs are handcrafted comply with the stringent working standards of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). The workers are free from exploitation and discrimination and enjoy conditions of freedom, security and equality.

 

Recycling Facts:

  • It takes 22 plastic bottles to make 1KG of PET Yarn
  • 10 plastic bottles = 1 pound of PET fibre.
  • 1 ton (2000) lbs of plastic bottles recycled saves 3.8 barrels of oil
  • 1 million plastic bottles recycled saves 250 barrels of oil
  • 1 million plastic bottles recycled eliminates 180 metric tons of CO2 emissions from being released into the atmosphere
  • Recycling plastic bottles takes 8 times less energy than it takes to produce an equivalent amount of new ones
  • Supplying the plastic bottles that Americans consume each year requires 47 million barrels of oil and releases 1.0 billion pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere

 

Handwoven Floor Art For Lovers of Colour - Angie Parker Textiles

Bodacious Handwoven Eco Rug. Limited Edition (Runner) -It’s proportions also mean it can brighten up hallways and landings and as it’s waterproof and mould resistant, you could even give your balcony an all year round spring feeling.

Angie’s new limited edition collection doesn’t hold back on eye-popping hues.  Woven in gorgeous oranges, pinks, yellows and turquoise, the Bodacious Eco range is a brilliant way to get the Angie Parker signature vibrant colour combinations and Scandinavian-influenced design in an innovative new product.

It takes on average between 70-100 plastic bottles to make Angie’s ‘Bodacious’ design, which is a satisfying thought as you trample across it every day.

This limited edition rug is available in various sizes ranging from 150x90cm to 240×170. There’s also a runner that’s perfect for a hallway or narrow space (240cmX70cm).

Originals – Handwoven Masterpieces

Handwoven Floor Art For Lovers of Colour - Angie Parker Textiles

Original Handwoven Fryklos Rug (Cream) – It can also be a wall hanging and a made to measure hanging baton is available on request.

Next, we’re taking a look at Fryktlos which basically means Fearless in Norweigan. It’s been handwoven by Angie in her Bristol Studio and is part of her Originals collection. Again using Scandinavian Krokbragd techniques. What I love about her designs is that as they are works of art in themselves. They’re so beautiful you may want to use them as a decorative colourful wall hanging. Made to measure hanging batons are available on request. (Dimensions: 154cm x 84cm)

 

Did you know that a sure sign of a good quality handwoven rug is the straightness and neatness of the selvage?  I didn’t either. It’s definitely something to check if you are looking to buy handwoven rugs as it’ll define how well-crafted the design is in question. It’s certainly an attribute that Angie should be applauded for when you look at her work. I mean just look at those edges!!

 

Another handwoven Original is Angie’s Indiranagar which is named after the Bangalore neighbourhood from her travels and time spent living in India. Indiranagar is itself named after the colourful first female Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. The bold colours and pops of glitter are a representation of the layering of colours in the Sari shops that Angie loved to visit. As well as being inspired by the beautiful fabrics, Angie was in awe of the women she met whilst living there. In part, her Indiranagar design is her way of celebrating the life of one of India’s most important women.

“The bespoke handwoven rugs created in my Bristol studio for exhibitions and to commission will remain at the heart of my practice.” (Angie Parker Textiles)

 

Another Original Indiranagar by Angie but in turquoise this time. Both designs are Handwoven using quality Axminster Rug Wool, glitter yarns and linen. Another truly mesmerising rug art that I could quite literally spend hours admiring. Just look at all that detail and oh my the colours!

 

Commissions

Handwoven Floor Art For Lovers of Colour - Angie Parker Textiles

Angie also has a service where you can commission a rug to reflect your passion for a particular colour or style. There’s an extensive selection of colours to choose from or have the rug wool custom dyed for an exact match. You can pick from one of the designs you see on the website or work with her to produce a design unique to you.

And whilst her statement pieces are bursting with colour, she is happy to re-work a design in black & white! You can use Angie’s contact form to submit your enquiry and she’ll get back to you with options, procedures, samples, prices and current lead times.

Why We Should All Consider Something Handmade

With the art of skilled perfection applied to handmade designs, there is a definitive bond between the designer and their creations. When you think of the process, let alone the time and care applied to create a handmade form of any kind, it simply makes the mind boggle. From well thought out colour palettes to the intricacies of pattern and detail. On top of that, you then have to remember the skillset that has had to be learnt (sometimes years in the making) in order to create such wonderful uniqueness. But above all, each artist will be giving you a little piece of themselves away with each creation. Their love and skilled hand combine to coerce and nurture each design into life so that it can be cherished not just for the here and now, but for many years to come. Now, that’s something a massed produced item can never achieve.

I hope you’ll agree that supporting designers such as Angie will ensure that we continue to not only support skilled craftsmanship but also allow ourselves to appreciate the value of what we buy for our home rather than buying for the sake of buying that inevitably ends up in the landfill site. I see handmade as not only an investment in our homes and our wellbeing but as a safeguard for our environment too.

Filling your homes with only what you love and makes you happy can only be a good thing. The handmade certainly fills me with joy and I hope it does you too……

 

Until next time, thanks as always for stopping by!

Maria x

 

 

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23 Comments

  • Reply Becky at PinksCharming May 18, 2018 at 10:40 am

    Oh those rugs are so beautiful, and the work that goes into them is amazing. I absolutely love the recycled ones, what a great way to reuse the tonnes of plastic waste, genius. x

    • Reply Maria May 19, 2018 at 11:17 pm

      Aren’t they just Becky! They are literally works of art from the heart! The Bodacious rugs are a brilliant way to help reduce our plastic pollution :D

  • Reply Juan Sandiego May 18, 2018 at 8:07 pm

    I love the concept of the limited edition recycled rug. Perfect timing too as I’m looking for one to use in the garden.

    • Reply Maria May 19, 2018 at 11:14 pm

      I agree Juan. They’re a great way to help reduce the world’s plastic pollution and so beautiful to look at too! I love their versatility and the freedom to be able to use them indoors and outside.

  • Reply Jumi Awomosu May 19, 2018 at 2:47 pm

    This is right up my street! I love a bit of woven art … this takes me right back to uni-days I studied machine knitted textiles but the woven textiles department always had me feeling a little envious! The work that goes into these pieces…. just fabulous! Thanks for sharing!

  • Reply Natalie Holden May 19, 2018 at 3:42 pm

    Such beautiful rugs! It is so important to consider the choices we make when buying products and it’s great these rugs are helping the environment x

  • Reply Nicola Capper May 19, 2018 at 10:22 pm

    What gorgeous products, and something that would compliment any interior style.

  • Reply CK May 19, 2018 at 11:00 pm

    Those are impeccably woven! She is super talented. Handmade means heart went into it, which makes it so much more special.

  • Reply Fiona Mostyn May 20, 2018 at 9:29 am

    A great way to recycle plastic and a lovely way to add colour into your home.

    • Reply Maria May 23, 2018 at 11:50 am

      I agree Fiona, they are simply beautiful colourful eco-friendly designs!

  • Reply Hollie Brooks | Audenza May 20, 2018 at 9:46 am

    Stunning designs! I love that they’re made from recycled plastic, what a great way to give plastic bottles a new life.

    • Reply Maria May 23, 2018 at 11:52 am

      Aren’t they just Hollie! I’m in awe of the skill involved to create such works of art for our floors.

  • Reply JENNY KAKOUDAKIS May 20, 2018 at 10:49 am

    I interviewed Angie some time ago as well and happened to meet her in person too, she’s as lovely as the products she crafts!

    • Reply Maria May 23, 2018 at 11:55 am

      How fab that you got to meet Angie :D She is indeed a lovely person and I’m in awe of her skills and designs!

  • Reply Tamsin Allen May 20, 2018 at 12:37 pm

    These are lovely! And so great that they are eco-friendly too!

    • Reply Maria May 23, 2018 at 11:55 am

      So pleased you love these designs too Tamsin :D

  • Reply Evija May 20, 2018 at 5:36 pm

    They are definitely pieces of art!! Each and single one of them so unique and the idea of a recycled rug makes my heart sing!! Thank you for sharing, I am definitely going to check them out!!

    • Reply Maria May 23, 2018 at 11:57 am

      Yes, definitely a form of art for our homes. I’m thrilled that they’re having the same effect on you as they have me! And yes definitely go check them out Evija… :D

  • Reply Anne Marie May 20, 2018 at 6:43 pm

    What a great and interesting post. I love reading about people with passion and if their passion involves caring for our planet, thats even better. Love the colours she uses and definitely wouldn’t mind having such a colourful rug in my living room 😉

    • Reply Maria May 23, 2018 at 11:59 am

      Thanks Anne Marie! I’m so pleased you loved this post especially as I know how much of a lover of colour you are :D

  • Reply Mary | hellopeagreen May 21, 2018 at 11:00 am

    Oh wow! Beautiful, practical and eco….. it’s the trinity that never happens. I wonder how’d they fair as a stair carpet runner? That picture of the spools of yarn had me drooling. Thanks for introducing me to a cool brand.

  • Reply Donna Ford May 21, 2018 at 2:21 pm

    What a great imaginative idea and product! Love craft story of this maker x

  • Reply Stacey Sheppard May 23, 2018 at 10:26 am

    Wow, I absolutely love these rugs and I really admire Angie for her efforts to tackle plastic pollution. I’ve never been a massive colour lover, in fact colour has always scared me a bit. But I’m really coming round to the idea of going much bolder with colour at home. I might have to redecorate my hallway now and one of these PET rugs would be perfect!

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