Ruth Black - About Ruth Black

About Ruth Black

I have been working with textiles for most of my life, having learnt to sew before going to school. I played about with all sorts of textile crafts throughout my childhood and teenage years and when I was 15 my father brought home a table-top loom. I learned to use this without any input from others and for my first project wove sufficient fabric to make myself a matching skirt and waistcoat.

Despite this interest in textiles, when I left school I went to Aberdeen University where I studied Biology and Biochemistry. When I married my husband (Len) we lived in Dundee where I worked as a research technician at the University, but had a side-line making patchwork skirts for a local shop. After the birth of our first child we moved to Aberdeen and I had the opportunity to go back to school and take my Higher Art. By the time our third child was born we had moved to Inverness and I spent the next 23 years working as a school science technician. Throughout that period I continued to sew and expand my skills in other textile areas.

I was able to reduce my working hours at the school over my last few years there and during that time assisted my mother with the business she had started in the 1980s making Harris Tweed hats. By the time she decided to retire I was working as a full time professional textile artist and I took over the business name - Anna Macneil. Shortly after that my daughter joined the family business where we worked together for a number of years. She has now spread her wings and works as a designer/maker for Prickly Thistle.

My time is divided between embroidery, weaving, feltmaking and teaching ............ and in my spare time !!!....... I try to learn other skills that I can use to enhance my work.

My scientific background and training has had a major influence in my approach to textile crafts. I like combining hand and machine techniques. I often experiment both with techniques and materials and my scientific approach pays dividends in terms of successful experimentation.

				Tree of Life - hand-made felt with Harris Tweed, velvet and silk appliqués 35 x 110cm		Intertwined birds - Harris Tweed with tweed and metallic appliqué 40 x 120cm
		About Ruth Black I have been working with textiles for most of my life, having learnt to sew before going to school. I played about with all sorts of textile crafts throughout my childhood and teenage years and when I was 15 my father brought home a table-top loom. I learned to use this without any input from others and for my first project wove sufficient fabric to make myself a matching skirt and waistcoat. Despite this interest in textiles, when I left school I went to Aberdeen University where I studied Biology and Biochemistry. When I married my husband (Len) we lived in Dundee where I worked as a research technician at the University, but had a side-line making patchwork skirts for a local shop. After the birth of our first child we moved to Aberdeen and I had the opportunity to go back to school and take my Higher Art. By the time our third child was born we had moved to Inverness and I spent the next 23 years working as a school science technician. Throughout that period I continued to sew and expand my skills in other textile areas. I was able to reduce my working hours at the school over my last few years there and during that time assisted my mother with the business she had started in the 1980s making Harris Tweed hats. By the time she decided to retire I was working as a full time professional textile artist and I took over the business name - Anna Macneil. Shortly after that my daughter joined the family business where we worked together for a number of years. She has now spread her wings and works as a designer/maker for Prickly Thistle. My time is divided between embroidery, weaving, feltmaking and teaching ............ and in my spare time !!!....... I try to learn other skills that I can use to enhance my work. My scientific background and training has had a major influence in my approach to textile crafts. I like combining hand and machine techniques. I often experiment both with techniques and materials and my scientific approach pays dividends in terms of successful experimentation.