about Ann
about Ann
Ann Toplis - furniture designer/maker
Ann graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in furniture design, also studying weaving and cabinet making.
After graduating Ann set up as an independent artist and craftsperson at the Manchester Craft and Design Centre. Since moving to the Netherlands in 1997, she has continued to experiment and produce finely designed and crafted wooden pieces. Using solid european hardwoods, the designs often follow the pattern or grain of the wood, or use the outer part of the wood (sap layer or burrs) as the main design feature.
Ann has spent recent years investigating the interactions between woven art and furniture and has developed a range of products with woven yarns which are inspired by Harris Tweed.
furniture
With a love of european hardwoods, Ann's designs have developed over the years to use the colours of the woods and their beautiful grains.
An early signature range of interior products (e.g boxes and candlesticks) were developed from experiments using fluidly feminine shapes by cutting waves into the grain.
For larger furniture designs she follows simple lines with the use of joints, such as dovetails, as the main design feature.
textiles
"During two weeks on the Island of Harris and Lewis (off the west coast of Scotland) in August 2013, my already strong interest in Harris Tweed became an obsession." Ann started by deconstructing pieces of tweed to understand the patterns and colour blends, and then reconstructing them on a larger scale. These yarns are used in a range of products such as phone covers and brooches. By using the yarns in pieces of art with new techniques such as machine embroidery, her style is constantly evolving.
combining furniture and textiles
After working separately with wood and textiles for many years, she took part in a 2012 exhibition with the subject of "Silence". This was a stepping stone to bringing these two disciplines together. For this exhibition she used woven strips of Harris Tweed as upholstery on one piece of furniture. And on the other stool, she used woven french knitting. This has developed over the past few years into a unique style for upholstered furniture.