Weaving a Magical World Cartoonist and illustrator Shelley Knoll Miller weaves together her first love of illustration into her new love for creating beauty from sea debris and milled wool offcuts.
Words by Shelley Knoll-Miller Photography Supplied
< 30
hold a group exhibition that encouraged artists to create art with plastics, old nets or beach rope that had washed ashore. I decided to try weaving with a huge broken net, using an old iron cray pot rim as the frame. The first task was to chop the net into small workable lengths. The net was thick, weathered nylon and really difficult to cut. I found that reflecting on the damage the net could have done to marine life made my hacking efforts very satisfying! Vengeful crafting, ha!
Shelley combines the fishing nets and debris that are collected on volunteer “beach patrols” with alpaca wool offcuts, weaving a magical world where her illustrations can come to life. Junkies delved a little deeper into the world of creative detritus.
Tell us a little bit about your work as an illustrator and cartoonist.
That satisfying, rewarding feeling remained so I’ve just kept weaving. I’ve since gone on to create many weavings, using rope and nets collected by my local Beach Patrol group.
I’ve worked as an illustrator and cartoonist for over 20 years, including editorial cartoonist positions with the Melbourne Age newspaper and the Darwin Sun, and freelance illustration work for publishers and magazines such as The Big Issue and Eureka Street.
Tell us more about Beach Patrol. Beach Patrol is a chain of volunteer community groups that comb the beaches picking up anything that will harm local marine life. There are 45 groups in Melbourne, covering over 150 km of beaches. Beach Patrol 3280 actually records what they find to a database, which scientists use for tracking and research purposes. It’s a lot of work done by committed volunteers. I don’t do much of this work; I mostly just use what they collect.
In 2016, I started to become interested in children’s picture book illustration, and that’s now my main focus. My first illustrated picture book was Shoo Grumpers Shoo, written by comedian Josh Lawson and published by Scholastic in 2018. I’ve spent the last year writing children’s picture books and incorporating weaving into my illustration work. What led you to become interested in weaving?
Apart from the nets and rope you find washed up on the beaches, what other materials do you use in your work?
I’ve crocheted for years, experimenting with different materials like wire and recycled plastic bags, and doing big-scale projects like large rugs and floor cushions. My foray into weaving began when a local group of artists in Warrnambool, frustrated at the amount of pollution washing up on our beaches, decided to
I also use barnacles and seaweed, as it is often tangled up in the rope when it washes up. I was delighted when I discovered the Great Ocean Road Woollen Mill. They run a small herd of alpacas, operate a small woollen mill, and sell their own
create
