Richard Moriarty - The Bare Weaver

It is OK, Richard does keep his clothes on – he lives in BARE, Morecambe.

Richard has retired so if you are wanting cloth made up please try elsewhere.

For generations the Moriartys of Richard’s family lived and worked as farmers in the low hills around Glenbeigh and had their own little community living on rented land in West Droum where they could grow a few crops and keep their sheep and a few cattle. This wasn’t lush pasture or great growing land but they scraped a living from the hillside until the family dispersed in the first few years of the twentieth century. Richard’s grandfather set up home in Clydebank, Glasgow, whilst others of the family crossed the Atlantic to the USA. The Celtic blood runs deep in the family.

In olden times every community would work together, not in a wonderful easy life but doing what was needed so that all could live as comfortably as possible and so it was that each family would spin their own wool, share the yarn and have their own cloth woven for clothes and blankets – rural craft skills and traditions that were dying out even at the turn of the twentieth century as by then industrialised cloth manufacture was well established and had taken away the small incomes the families could make from spinning and weaving their own produce.

Richard is a hand weaver – he doesn’t use powered looms or even looms with mechanical devices to remember and create the patterns that are woven. Richard’s weaving comes from the heart and the patterns are created by manual selection of warp and weft on small portable rigid heddle or four shaft table looms or by changing shafts on the loom by pressing treadles by foot on his larger floor looms. These are heritage skills that you can’t replicate in a factory.

Richard is passionate about making a stand to protect the planet as well as creating beautiful, ethically produced, pure wool, hand woven tartans, textiles, garments and art work.

Richard’s love of weaving and of nature shows in the things that he makes and the beautiful pastel colours of the pure Shetland wool he uses in his products.

Richard’s art has developed through time spent in nature and by work in conservation. Throughout his life he has had a great love of animals and the wonderful wild places of the world.

He did a B.Ed. in art and graphic design and taught art and design at a variety of schools and has featured in Art exhibitions and at country shows and events as well as producing art and interpretation for a variety of wildlife conservation organisations.

Richard grew up with a dog by his side and an eclectic range of other pets from mice, gerbils and rabbits as a youngster  to owls and hawks as an adult, all of which came from rescue centres and as part of his wildlife rehabilitation work and then only after learning how to care for them properly. He learned that every animal has its own distinctive personality or perhaps animality, as it is wrong to think of animals as having human traits – they are much more in touch with living in harmony and showing their feelings than humans can ever be.

As an artist Richard’s work is a continually evolving and changing use of creative techniques. He creates all sorts of things from wood carvings and glass engravings to tapestries and watercolours.

A new piece of art will find Richard making a connection with the subject. “I need to understand the animal, its environment, behaviour and natural habits. I need to know its life story and what it might be feeling” he says.

Most of Richard’s art is based and inspired by his own research observations made in the wild connecting with the animal in its own environment and taking a series of digital photographs from which to base his work. He doesn’t print the photographs as artwork as he feels that nature is its own artist and that pressing a button isn’t part of his creative skill as he likes to use his hands to produce whatever he is making.

 

Think about this when you consider what you are buying

You are…

• Purchasing a unique product which reflects your appreciation of fine craftsmanship.
• Buying Quality and you will end up owning a product with artistic value as well as the functionality of a beautiful garment.
• Paying for the many hours of care and skill used to produce a genuine handmade item.
• Supporting a real cottage industry.
• Supporting the Arts in your community.