Elizabeth Ashdown

2023 QEST ADAM Architecture Scholar - Passementerie
London

Elizabeth is a passementerie artist, determined to breathe new life into the craft with her innovative techniques. Passementerie is the making of elaborate trimmings such as tassels, braids, fringing or edgings for clothing or furnishings. It is an endangered craft that is practiced by less than five makers in the UK.

Elizabeth mainly creates wall-based artworks with a fresh approach through her business and has also written her own passementerie book, which was published in 2024. A Scholarship enabled Elizabeth to sharpen her off-loom skills and bolster her skill set. Her QEST training involved a mixture of one-on-one training with a master craftsperson, online courses and overseas study visits.

Elizabeth learned gimp, cord and rope making with soon-to-be-retired master craftsman Brian Turner. The second part of her training included off-loom passementerie skills she learned from Clare Hedges and the third involved travel to Paris to visit Declercq Passementiers, the Bibliothèque Forney and Passementerie Verrier.

She is confident that her QEST training has boosted her commission opportunities, allowing her to grow her teaching workshops to inspire young makers.

My QEST training was a transformative experience, allowing me to refine my technical skills, explore innovative approaches to passementerie, and elevate my craft to new heights.

Gallery

PHOTO:JEFF GILBERT 19th January 2023. The Experimental Weave Lab, City of London, UK Picture shows Elizabeth Ashdown weaving a 'Crete' Passementerie design on her 1970's floor loom in a disused former parish hall, which is soon to be knocked down on January 30th leaving the weavers without a studio to work from. Standalone picture of Elizabeth Ashdown creating and with her passementerie weaves https://elizabethashdown.co.uk/about One of only a few hand Passementerie artists working in the UK today, Elizabeth combines traditional and endangered craft skills with a contemporary aesthetic in order to create intriguing, energetic and playful art works. Elizabeth’s studio is based at the City of London’s first contemporary weaving lab, The Experimental Weave Lab. Here Elizabeth creates work for a diverse range of clients, from working on bespoke artwork commissions for private collectors, to creating artworks for exhibitions. Elizabeth’s artworks can be found in numerous private and public collections throughout the UK and abroad.
PHOTO:JEFF GILBERT 19th January 2023. The Experimental Weave Lab, City of London, UK Picture shows Elizabeth Ashdown weaving a 'Crete' Passementerie design on her 1970's floor loom in a disused former parish hall, which is soon to be knocked down on January 30th leaving the weavers without a studio to work from. Standalone picture of Elizabeth Ashdown creating and with her passementerie weaves https://elizabethashdown.co.uk/about One of only a few hand Passementerie artists working in the UK today, Elizabeth combines traditional and endangered craft skills with a contemporary aesthetic in order to create intriguing, energetic and playful art works. Elizabeth’s studio is based at the City of London’s first contemporary weaving lab, The Experimental Weave Lab. Here Elizabeth creates work for a diverse range of clients, from working on bespoke artwork commissions for private collectors, to creating artworks for exhibitions. Elizabeth’s artworks can be found in numerous private and public collections throughout the UK and abroad.