Heather Shields

Heather Shields is a textile designer and weaver specialising in vibrant, contemporary fabrics, homeware and accessories. Based in Gourock on the west coast of Scotland, she designs her cloth using both traditional and electronic looms, hand weaving samples with carefully selected yarns in punchy colour palettes. Her striking patterns, strong graphic edge and playful approach to colour reflect a variety of influences including the Bauhaus movement and modernist painters such as Sonia Delaunay. Her affinity with weaving began at Glasgow School of Art whilst studying textile design, where she immediately became fascinated with the physical practice of weaving, exploring the limitations of her craft through fibre, construction and colour. Collaging initial ideas using painted and found papers, her designs evolve during the sampling process, the loom acting not only as a means of manufacture but as an integral design tool.  All fabrics are either hand woven by Heather in her home studio or woven in small batches at a mill in Scotland. Each piece is then handmade in-house before being inspected and packaged up, ready to go to a new home. This ensures all pieces are made to the highest quality and produced in a sustainable manner.