About the artist
Jill Rouke has been weaving for over 30 years and specializes in one of a kind handwoven art and accessories for men and women. She works in a variety of exotic natural fibers, including: tencel, silk, bamboo, soy silk and the new Sea Silk (70% silk/30% Sea Cell©).
For many of her art and wearable art pieces Jill handpaints the warp fibers before she weaves. For some pieces she spins space-dyed silk fiber to use as a weft. Some are embellished with beads. Each piece is unique, completely handcrafted and hand-finished.
Jill’s passion for weaving began after seeing several “dressed” looms at the Gaelic College in Nova Scotia. Her “personal” history of weaving has been diverse: friendship coverlet squares of hand-spun, indigo-dyed wool; wall-hangings; natural-dyed household accessories; bead woven pieces and collaborative art pieces. Much of her current work is inspired by trips to Japan, Peru, Turkey, Bali and Scotland. The color and fine texture of the many Indonesian weavings she has seen have been particularly inspirational.
While largely self-taught, Jill has attended numerous weaving conferences and classes taught by some of the most talented weavers in the United States. Her work has been displayed at the Mid-Atlantic Fiber Conference and the Eastern Great Lakes Fiber Conference. She is a member of the Chatauqua County Weavers Guild, the North West Pennsylvania Spinners and Weavers Guild and the Handweavers Guild of America.
My work includes other magical elements–maybe a hidden Fibonacci sequence or words ‘coded’ into the pattern allowing the energy of those words to be incorporated into the weaving. As my relationship with weaving evolves it becomes more of a spiritual practice and this is translated into my work.”