There is a particular quality of light on Vancouver Island in winter — low and soft, the kind that turns the water silver and makes the shoreline feel quietly suspended. It was a walk at Goose Spit that inspired this piece of macrame wall art — Vancouver Island’s coastline distilled into fibre, knot, and driftwood.
Shoreline at Rest began there.
This piece is among the largest works I have created in the studio — a scale I return to rarely outside of custom commissions. At 58 inches wide and 42 inches tall, it commands a wall the way a coastal landscape commands your attention. Not loudly. Just completely.
A Technique That Is Uniquely Its Own
What makes Shoreline at Rest different from most handmade wall art isn’t just its scale — it’s how it was made. It’s a mixed media textile work combining two distinct fibre art techniques — macraweave and macramé knotting.
Macraweave is a hybrid of macramé and weaving, combining knotting techniques with woven fibre to create soft, textured results. In my work, the macraweave sections form the landscape itself — woven in thicker yarns, ropes, and wools that build colour, depth, and a sense of movement across the piece. Unlike traditional tapestry weaving, which tends toward dense, tightly packed structure, my macraweave is more open and expressive. That looseness is intentional — it’s part of what gives the work its organic, coastal feeling.
The macramé knotting works alongside it, adding dimension and texture through hand-tied knot patterns and shapes worked into the composition.
Most tapestry artists work from the bottom up on a loom. I work differently. Each piece begins with driftwood, which I set into a custom rig — a rack with hooks that holds the wood while I measure, cut, and knot the warp strings from the top down. I work from the front, building the piece downward, leaving the bottom loose so knotted patterns and shapes can develop freely as the work grows.
I work with a signature technique I call macraweave, which blends tapestry weaving with traditional macramé knotting. These two disciplines don’t often appear together. Tapestry weaving builds colour and texture through interlaced fibres. Macramé knotting adds dimension, movement, and depth through hand-tied knots. Combined, they create something that feels both structured and organic — like the shoreline itself, where water and land negotiate their edges constantly.
Shoreline at Rest took approximately three weeks to complete. Three weeks of slow, considered work — measuring, knotting, weaving, stepping back, returning.
That is what slow-made means in practice.
The Driftwood
The piece is mounted on a length of bleached driftwood, sourced locally on Vancouver Island. No two pieces of driftwood are identical, which means no two finished works can ever be exactly alike. The natural variation in the wood becomes part of the composition — another shoreline detail worked into the whole.
Macrame Wall Art for Your Vancouver Island Home
Shoreline at Rest is a large scale macrame wall art piece, handcrafted on Vancouver Island, designed for a home that values the handmade. Its coastal palette of natural, bleached, and soft neutral tones sits beautifully in a calm modern interior — above a sofa, anchoring a dining room wall, or as the quiet focal point of an entryway.
It doesn’t ask for much around it. Just space, and good light.
Available now for local pickup in the Comox Valley or shipping across Canada.
[View Shoreline at Rest in the Shop]
At Bramble Blossom Studio, each piece is handcrafted on Vancouver Island using natural fibres, found materials, and a deeply unhurried approach to making. To see the full collection, visit the shop.
Leave a Reply