Tabitha Hope
Born from lockdown boredom, Tabitha Hope began her journey with fibre art from her New York city apartment.
Words: Georgie Ward | Photography: Hande Renshaw
‘As a kid all my study notes throughout my schooling were full of doodles. I drew all over my notes, it’s what helped me remember them,’ says Tabitha Hope. Photo: Hande Renshaw
‘Sourcing the right wool colours can be a little tiresome sometimes, one day I would love to try hand dyeing my own,’ says Tabitha Hope. Photo: Hande Renshaw
‘I really wanted to move away from staring a screen all day to making something with my hands,’ says Tabitha Hope. Photo: Hande Renshaw
Working with the colour wheel, Sydney-based graphic designer, illustrator, painter, fibre artist and live scribe, Tabitha Hope paints the rainbow in all corners of her creative pursuits. In her private Paddington studio, she creates all sorts of colourful vases, wall-art, rugs, mirrors and more.
Her passion was born out of the 2020 covid lockdown, where she discovered her love for working with wool when introduced to an artist in Brooklyn who was designing and creating their own custom rugs.
In 2021, she made her journey home to Sydney where she took the leap from graphic design to experimenting with her new collection of colourful yarns.
This is when she fell in love with the tactility of fibre art, ‘I love the physicality of it. I’m quite an active person and always found sitting and staring at a screen all day very hard. Taking something I drew digitally to a physical object that I can touch has to be the most rewarding part, a tangible thing I can pop my feet on’ says Tabitha.
Living in New York, Tabitha found that strolling the streets and walking the avenues of a city was what she found to inspire her the most. Observing the small details of a big city sparked ideas for her work, ‘Watching a beautiful city go by is quite inspiring – an outfit might inspire a colourway, a rock formation might inspire a pattern.’
‘The way I approach fibre art is similar to my digital work. I am a planner – I love to sketch, plot and plan,’ says Tabitha Hope.. Photo: Hande Renshaw
‘I have been working on commissions lately and loving that process. Maybe that’s the graphic designer in me - taking a brief and bringing it to life,’ says Tabitha Hope.. Photo: Hande Renshaw
“I’m really excited to keep creating and adding texture here, there and everywhere”
Being a graphic designer, illustrator, fibre artists and occasional painter, her days don’t follow a set rhythm, they vary from day to day. Her favourite day in the studio consists of her and her tufting guns.
Tabitha begins by planning designs with digital software, playing around with colour and pattern until she lands on something she likes. ‘I then move to sketching the design up on a frame, spool my wool, oil my gun, pop my headphones on and start firing away.’
She utilises a bright, vivid colour palette paired with playful patterns of flowers, checkers and abstract swirls, ‘I have always been very colourful for as long as I can remember - from how I dress, to how I decorate and how I design. I am constantly ordering life into the colour wheel.’
Tabitha plans to adds to her online store very soon with new rugs, vases, mirrors and wall art. Watch this space!
