An independent designer with flair for colour and texture

Peter Willis is a multi-disciplinary artist who graduated from Belfast Art College with an Honours degree in textile and fashion design, specialising in weaving.  After graduating he worked for the National Trust as a textile conservator for two years. He then received a scholarship to go to business college in Canada to learn how to run a business in textiles.    From there he went to Guatemala and worked with an artisan association in conjunction with Oxfam Trading. Guatemala inspired him to work with textiles and pottery.   When he returned to Ireland, he worked as an interior designer for twenty years and has always believed in connecting people with their places. He enjoys working with ceramics.  He also has a love of fabrics and colour and uses many different types of materials in his work. His masks are inspired from his time working with indigenous cultures. He says he has now come full circle and works as a muti disciplinary artist mainly in textiles and fashion.  Peter works from home when not at fashion shoots and exhibitions.

For more information, contact Peter @peterw_illis

Navaho Shawl

This piece was inspired by the Navajo First Nations people – and the shawl was made in the shape of a dream catcher and made with alternative bands of textural yarn. One of them is a very soft chunky, fluffy yarn, and the other, a bright fluorescent pink, is more a flat yarn so each band when knitted up with different size knitting needles creates different textures.

Alien Monkey Fantasy Head Mask

A mask with a verdigris lustrous glaze which is quite a technical procedure. Layers of other glazes were applied, and a wax resist was finally applied. Patches of the eyes and cheeks are applied in several different layers. Then masked over which gives the textured effect. 

                                   

Using the leftovers – Multi coloured hand knit scarves

Give peas a chance

A pun on “give peace a chance.”  This is a shoulder piece; part of a costume made for a green party event. There was also a bag made from a pack of frozen peas which completed the ensemble. The green balls were made from pom poms.

The Head Piece

Head piece modelled in a fahion shoot for Culture Night  in Gallery X, Hume Street

Neck and shoulder piece together

Moon in the Man

The mask represents nature within us.  We are nature.  The moon is in us.

Industrial Death Mask – Big mouth, no eyes

 Big mouth is a reference to big loud politicians.  An acknowledgement to indigenous cultures and how they lived a primitive life, but they were wiser in how they treated the planet. They lived in communities in relative peace without destroying the planet. Celebrating indigenous culture from all part of the world

A hand knit gilet

A colourful and practical garment worn over tunic with slightly heavier knit sleeves as worn by designer in first photo