Caroline Watson Artist

Ramble -  Between the waters and the roads, we move and live. 

One of 25 artists selected by competition for Paisley First public art trail to paint a life-sized sculptural lion using art and culture to regenerate the town centre. Ramble  has a hand-painted map of Paisley. The map is not for directional purposes or to highlight points of interest but an intricacy of threads winding their way, passing waterways and green spaces and connecting communities. The artwork was an opportunity for townsfolk to view the full span of their town, as they found familiar spaces, their street, their home and a sense of pride within the boundaries of this historic place. 

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Part of a wonderful collaborative project from RMHAFF, Studio 14 Workshop joined other groups from across Paisley creating banners that were hung throughout the town describing how we felt about our town; it's history, our connection to this place, our hopes for the future. 

After the success of Renfrewshire Musical Threads  art festival, I joined with Elise Kelly and Judy Brunton to found a new arts organisation Weaving Musical Threads (WMT) which went on to develop and organise large cultural events and activities within Paisley, developing collaborations and projects and building partnerships with other cultural and educational organisations. To find out more about WMT visit www.weavingmusicalthreads.com  

 An outstanding exhibition of quilts made by thousands of women (and men) across Canada during WW2 for the Canadian Red Cross which distributed them to British troops and civilians affected by the destruction and hardship of the war. Displayed at SECC, Glasgow.

A cross country tour in Scotland and northern England taking Mill Girls on Tour - a production of poetry, music, theatre and visual projection celebrating and telling the story of the thousands of women who worked in Paisley's great thread mills during the 19th & 20th centuries. 

It was an honour and pleasure for WMT to host this beautiful tapestry, one of the biggest community projects in Scotland and stitched my hundreds of people all over the world. Displayed for the first time in the west of Scotland. 217 panels depicting personal experience and stories of Scotland's culture and influence across the world. With accompanying workshops, talks and events. 

A coming home for this beautiful tapestry exhibited in one of Paisley's historic mill buildings at the old Anchor Mill site, where once 99%  of the world's threads were manufactured. For 6 weeks, WMT and local museum Paisley Thread Mill Museum hosted this great tapestry with over 18,000 visitors coming to see the history of Scotland. A full programme of events, talks, workshops and a boost to Paisley and its regeneration. 

WMT hosted the production Angus Weaver of Grass in a collaboration with RMHAFF. With puppetry and grass weaving projects, artists' exhibitions, and WMT set up Paisley's first 'pop-up' gallery.

Developed in 2011, to create an arts festival, Weaving Musical Threads, which took place during Music Nation, 3-4 March 2012, a weekend of music and the arts across Britain to celebrate the London Festival of Culture, part of the Cultural Olympiad 2012. Never before had the region experienced such an arts festival. With 19 venues, 78 events and over 300 participants, it was a spectacular weekend involving all the arts - music, film, sculpture, literature, song, visual art, drama and heritage.  It inspired collaboration, developing cultural links across Renfrewshire and building the region’s reputation within Renfrewshire and Scotland. A time to celebrate Renfrewshire's history, its people and place in the world.

The anthology was developed from the theatre production Mill Girls on Tour 2013. I designed the anthology with a simple, elegant layout to best display the thoughtful and insightful work of the poets. Central to the design of the cover is an image from the archives of Paisley Thread Mill Museum taken in the late 19th century, transformed through colour bands to represent the spirit of the women who brought a special energy to the town where they worked.  The colour continues inside the book with tinted photographs, a mix of edited archival images and my own photographs, representing the coloured threads that were made in the factories. Copies are available to purchase from ww.weavingmusicalthreads.com 

The culmination of poetry and local history workshops developed by writer Tracy Patrick and held in primary schools throughout Paisley to raise awareness of the history of the thread mills, manufacturing processes and the effects of the mills on the people and the town of Paisley. The poetry and artwork of 200 children were reproduced in this anthology with artwork for front and back cover chosen from the submissions. Each child was presented with a copy at a final.