ABOUT

Hello!! I am Francine Renée. I am a self-taught fibre artist living on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. My weaving practice started about 6 years ago.

I finished my BA in Creative Writing and worked in the Canadian publishing industry for a short time before becoming pregnant with my first son. I am a writer at heart but once I had children, I found connecting to my creative energy more difficult and fibre art became a therapeutic practice for me.

During my first pregnancy I was knitting and crocheting a lot and that is how Frannie.Made (my previous Instagram) got started. I was making blankets, booties, sweaters, shorts, and stuffed animals for my unborn child and other people were taking an interest. But as soon as I got the demand for supply, I lost interest and was onto the next creation. I am an intuitive creator and the idea of making the same thing over and over bored the life out of me. I stopped knitting and crocheting. Tried my hand at felting and needle work but neither spoke to me. I tucked my needles and hooks away but I still treasured my fibre stash.

One day while at a friend’s house her niece came home from a day camp where she had just learned to weave. She had a small piece of cardboard which she had made into a simple loom and she was quickly finishing a bookmark. She was 7. I was amazed at what she was making. I tried to stay calm as I casually packed my then 5-month-old up and made an excuse to leave early. Once home I rushed to the recycle bin where I found the largest sturdiest piece of cardboard I could. I measured it out, made my cuts, warped it and I was off. I was instantly in-love. A week later I made my first wooden lap loom, and a couple months later I got Dorothy my Leclerc floor loom and I continue to accumulate looms, weaving tools and mountains of fibre.

Since then my weaving practice has evolved into a daily ritual. Each piece I hand weave is consciously designed to minimize waste and to showcase the fibre in the most flattering way. I am passionate about my connection to the natural environment I work in and Vancouver Island's beautiful landscape has a way of influencing a lot of my work. My First Nations heritage has also begun to translate into my design as I explore my identity as an Anishinaabe woman. When possible, all fibres are locally sourced or thrifted. And any of my art containing natural fibres (driftwood, grasses, shells, stones) from the land have been respectfully gathered.

The intention of my work is to create a moment of contemplation through the joining of fibre and mind.

Thank you for visiting my site.