Molly McLaughlin
Care of our planet and the natural world is a guiding theme in Molly McLaughlin’s life.
Molly weaves her art with the intention of creating connections to the beauty of the natural world around us. Her fiber practice is focused on keeping eco-friendly textile traditions alive by dyeing her fibers with foraged and home grown plants, using non-computerized weaving techniques, and re-using fibers salvaged from abandoned textiles.
Her medium and small size handwoven silk pieces are woven with 240/2 and 260/2 silk fibers, which are some of the finest weight silks that are possible for handweavers to acquire in this country. Utilizing such fine silk means that every 10" of width in one of her woven pieces holds between 1800 and 2000 threads.
The imagery in her pieces is created by inlaying row after row of different colored threads on top of the regular fabric threads as she weaves. It is a slow process and Molly has found that, in the process of slowing down, she has more time to fully explore the images that she is weaving.
Her award winning work has been included in many top shows across the United States and she regularly collaborates with other fiber artists around the world.
The Garden to Gallery Process
Many of the beautiful colors in Molly’s work come from her own natural dyes. She has been growing her own dye plants for a decade. Each fall, she harvests seeds from that year’s crop to replant in the spring.
Harvesting her seeds allows Molly to keep working with the same plant lines, which over time have become old friends. In her garden beds you will find indigo, woad, weld and madder. She also harvests Black-Eyed Susans from among the wildflowers around her property and responsibly forages walnuts and acorns from local trees.
Molly’s weaving schedule is based on when her plants are ready to harvest. This means that her exhibited work is the result of a year-long cycle that incorporates her design, dyeing, and weaving processes.