Meet the Maker - Alice Liptrot

 

Alice Liptrot is a textile artist working with punch needle and locally sourced yarn from the Kent marshes. 

With a background in Knitwear Design, Alice spent a decade co-founding a knitwear brand which led to successful collaborations in the luxury fashion industry. 

Within her work she has set out to sustain and preserve handmade craft by embracing fresh designs and aesthetics to engage and push textiles as legitimate art making material and media. 

We asked Alice about how she goes about her work, as let's face it, we all love to know what's on a maker's desk and what they listen to while they're working...

 

How do you begin your day? 

I get up write my morning pages (shout out to Julia Cameron!) and start mum duties. Breakfast, school run then take the dog for a walk along the canal or guide a yoga class, depending on the day! 

What does your studio look like? 

My studio is currently in the top room of our house. You can’t hear anything when you’re up there, it’s my little haven. With windows looking out onto the back fields, there are sheep and out the front are the horse fields. I have my large frames set out with a desk to work at and lots of storage for my materials.

What's on your bench at the moment?

I have a few exciting commissions in progress so lots of designs, yarn in a range of colours (!), snips, pens and notebooks. It’s never tidy for long.

What do you wear when you are making?

I tend to wear old jeans and a T-shirt because fibres get everywhere or dungarees with lots of pockets to hold things because I always put my little tools down where I can’t find them.

Favourite listens to help you concentrate… 

The nice thing about what I do is that there is a lot of repetitive motion so a perfect time for listening. I love Flo Dill on NTS, she’s my go to at the moment with a smattering of podcasts such as Woman’s Hour, This Creative Life and audio books. If I have to concentrate it’s something calm and ambient. 

Your creative process:

Love? I love the whole design process from research, initial design ideas and getting stuck into punching out the piece.

Hate? I’m so slow and writing so anything with words takes up so much more of my day than it should!

What is the most best/challenging part of being a maker?  

• The best part about being a maker is seeing a project or collaboration come to fruition. You are there at every step from design, sourcing, making, finishing and marketing and seeing positive results and sales also helps!

• The most challenging part I find about being a maker is marketing, having to put yourself out there often and in various ways. Oh, and time management.Hindsight is a wonderful thing - what's been your hardest lesson to learn. 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing - what's been your hardest lesson to learn. 

That things take time and that patience, and resilience are good skills to keep practicing!

Where would you most like to see your work?

I love collaborations, hearing people’s ideas and stories and turning their vision into a piece of textiles. I also like working big with lots of texture. So, a big, punched piece for a special project hung in a beautiful place would be fun. 

 

If you'd like to know more about Alice's work please head over to her website and give her a follow over on Instagram.  Her first solo exhibition 'Vessels' is on at the Cyma Gallery in Folkestone for the next few weeks and she'll be hosting workshops here at the shop this coming Autumn.