The changing of the seasons, be it summer or winter, spring or fall, will always fill Nantucket's artist community with an abundance of inspiration. Spring is an especially invigorating and inspiring time, no matter where you are in the world. But, on Nantucket, we would argue it is even more so because spring marks the beginning of the tourist season after a long, quiet winter. The vibrant pops of yellow dotted around the island's landscape as the daffodils make their way to the surface is a welcome change after months of a grey backdrop thanks to the thousands of bulbs planted each year by Nantucket’s Garden Club.
Nantucket Looms' master weaver, Becky Peraner, loves to draw inspiration from the island's natural landscape in her designs. Here, she explains what it is about spring on Nantucket that inspires her woven creations and the curation of fresh new collections for Nantucket Looms.
"Many people who visit Nantucket remark about the quality of light that is found on island, especially in the larger open spaces across the moors and over the ocean. I'm inspired by this light as the island awakens for spring', says Becky, "I love the shades of light greens and yellows of the daffodils and the shades of purple of the hyacinths.
"You will find that the hues of blues and greens of our throws are similar to those found in our natural landscape, which is why you won’t typically see the bright colors of Florida or the Caribbean in our handwovens. Although we love color, we tend to stick “closer to home” in our color palettes. We bring the outdoors in with the colors found throughout Nantucket that are then incorporated into our textiles”.
The re-awakening of the earth brings vibrant spring greens to the landscape. Our spring green handwovens are inspired by the freshness and clean, crisp quality of this color".
The Blues
"Soft blues are found in the sky and the ocean as the sun shines a beautiful tonal light on the shoreline. We love to incorporate Nantucket's many blues into our handwovens and collections".
The Greens
"The re-awakening of the earth brings vibrant spring greens to the landscape. Our spring green handwovens are inspired by the freshness and a clean, crisp quality of this color".
The Accents
"Accent ribbons add color and texture to our throws. These accents are a way for the weavers to incorporate a little of their own design aesthetic and personality into each textile".
