In 1975, she moved to Cornwall with her husband, Nic, when he became a full time student in studio pottery. She has taught in a variety of situations, including Adult Education Weaving Classes and a series of lectures on the History of Textiles for the Extra Mural Department of Exeter University. She also taught weaving on the Foundation Course of Falmouth School of Art, and at Holifield Farm Project, a Day Care Centre for people with learning difficulties, Gweek, Cornwall.
Jackie worked for two years in a studio at the Penwith Galleries in St Ives. In 1981 she established her weaving studio together with her husband???s pottery at Trelowarren, on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall. Here Jackie produced hand-woven rugs for the floor and wall, mostly commissioned and individually designed to the requirements of the customer. Upon leaving Trelowarren in 2005, she moved her studio to their new Gallery, Nic Harrison Ceramics in Helston which she ran until 2008 and subsequently at Penhale Jakes near Helston until June 2021.
The Loom at which she works, a ???Maxwell???, has been strengthened and converted from a roller harness cloth loom, to an 8 pedal, 8 shaft countermarch loom. The weaving may be up to 110cm (45 inches) in width, by almost any length, generally using a woollen weft, on a 100% linen warp. The woven design involves many colour changes. As many as 35 shuttles are used to produce the varying range of colour in just a few inches. A tapestry technique is used to produce a ???Seascape??? which explores the rich colours and textures of the Cornish Coastline. This process is slow. The beautifully handcrafted, rugs, hangings, tapestries and cushions, explore colour and seek to represent the movements and changes in the landscape. The use of very short pieces of coloured wool allows interpretation of the seascape in the manner of the Impressionists or Pointillists. The eye of the viewer mixes the colours and presents the colour, texture and movement of the land or sea.
Following the series of ???Seascape??? and ???Headland??? hangings and tapestries, her latest work continues the themes of movement, colour and texture in cushions ??? large for the floor and small for other furnishings.
Currently Jackie is between workshops haveing moved home in June 2021.
Jackie has been a member of the Cornwall Crafts Association since 1976.
