In early 2017, Laura was awarded a Creative Scotland grant to enable her to complete a self-initiated residency in various locations throughout Finland focusing on the traditional Finnish weaving technique known as täkänä. Täkänä is a double-sided woven textile, typically of just two colours, with the same design appearing on both sides, but in reverse. Laura first discovered this technique whilst on a residency at Arteles Creative Centre in Finland back in 2015 through a chance catalogue find at a village flea market. She was instantly drawn to the graphic patterns used in some of the weavings, but it wasn’t until she returned to her studio in Scotland that she discovered that many täkänäs only use two colours (the catalogue was produced in black & white) – something that is prevalent in Laura’s bold and colourful print designs.

Her interest in this technique led to many hours exploring the patterns and meanings of original täkänäs in archives throughout Finland. Many seemed to reflect the weaver’s favourite things, or often inspiration derived from nature. Laura often looks to the natural world for inspiration and had been struck by the long hours of daylight during her summer experiences in Finland. Hours of light and dark seemed to have a huge influence on many aspects of life in Finland so with this in mind, Laura decided to create a rug design that explored those lengthening and shortening of daylight hours throughout the year to create 'Solstice'. Maintaining Laura's strong graphic sensibility and dynamic colour palette these rugs are intended to make a bold, colourful statement to any room.

Often called flatweaves or kilims, hand-woven rugs are made using a loom-weaving process that creates a neat alignment of yarn. A great technique for reproducing geometric pattern and also makes a good choice if budget is tight.