Meet a Maker: Edition 15

Meet Penny Maltby

1. What is your craft and how did you get into it?

Straw Working, Hat Plaiting and Corn Dolly Making.

I have always been interested in natural materials and traditional crafts. Textiles and basketry are a large part of my art practice and straw work sits somewhere in the middle. I started working with straw in 2015 when I was doing a farm based project about milk and then during lockdown I spent a great deal of time improving my skills.

2. What is one interesting fact about you?

I spent 20 years in the hotel and catering industry applying my creativity to restaurants and food before pursuing craft making full time.

3. How long have you been making?

I have always thought of myself as a maker, originally mostly working with textiles, hand and machine embroidery, quilt making and 3D constructed textiles. At school needlework was my favourite subject and I enjoyed making my own clothes, but at the time I wasn’t encouraged to pursue it as a career. My career in catering often required me to call on my creative side with events to organise, new restaurants to launch and menus to design.

4. Who are your favourite makers in your craft?

I enjoy seeing a variety of makers work, both here in the UK and overseas. Straw offers so many possibilities as there are so many different techniques. Recently there has been a resurgence of interest in the craft, which is great news.

Although not strictly a maker there is one artist who really inspired me and drew me to straw: Ana Lupas and her piece of work called “The Solemn Process’. Beginning in 1964 she oversaw the creation of large straw structures and wreaths in villages in Transylvania with the help of local villagers and with the intention of adding to it every year at harvest. Sadly by the mid 1970’s economic and social changes made it difficult for participants to continue. These difficulties are reflective of so many heritage and traditional crafts including straw work.

In terms of makers working with straw, I greatly admire Veronica Main who has incredible knowledge and experience in the field.

5. What is the most challenging skill/technique you learned in your craft?

I have recently challenged myself to combine two endangered crafts – passementerie and straw work. I have made some tassels and some woven pieces all in straw; it has certainly stretched both my skills and my patience.

6. What is your favourite part of your craft?

There is so much about working with straw that I enjoy – apart from the tidying up bit! Teaching others and passing on straw skills and techniques to others is very rewarding so I am delighted that I have had lots of interest for this, as well as talks and demonstrations. I am passionate about showing the versatility of straw, the value of these skills and ensuring they are relevant for future makers. Innovation is an integral part of my practice so I am always looking ‘both ways’, using traditions of the past to create new ideas. Most recently I have taken my passion for straw work and digitised it for use in textiles

7. What project are you most proud of and why?

Being asked to write a piece about my passion for straw for Alice Fox’s book ‘Wild Textiles”. It is wonderful to be asked for a book contribution by another artist whom you greatly admire.

8. If someone who knows nothing about your craft could know one thing, what would it be?

Although straw is a very humble material, it has so many uses, interesting techniques and possibilities and is relatively easy to start learning without expensive equipment. Working with straw like many hand crafts is also a very mindful activity. Once you start to work with it, smell it, feel it and learn about how it has shaped our cultural heritage, our communities and our landscape you will be hooked.

Learn more about Penny