Lynn Shaw is a weaver, knitter, and spinner who creates hand-made and unique works of beauty and utility. Endlessly interested in new techniques and fabrics, she’s experimented with many art forms, including silver and copper jewelry making, painting, pastels, and many other mediums.
Growing up in the country at Fowler’s Corners, Lynn learned to knit and sew from a neighbour, Erna Cross, her Aunt Pamela (a perfectionist knitter who made garments that her great-nieces still wear today) and mother, Cynthia. She expressed her artistic talents through drawing and photography, and yet had a strong interest in maths and sciences.
While raising three daughters – Candace, Cassandra, and Samantha – in the village of Keene, she worked as a librarian, photo technician, photographer, videographer, and even brought her artistic talents to bear in her work as an electronic assembler. Recently returning to school to pursue an interest in mapping, she completed a diploma at Fleming College in Geomatics, graduating with high marks.
Lynn’s love of animals expresses itself in many ways; from the horses and ponies she rode when younger to the strays that arrive at her door and become part of the family, she’s housed everything from bats and raccoons to squirrels, turtles, and rats, not to mention a beloved assortment of cats over the years. In the past her household included Osiris, an awkward old Siamese cat, Mer, a cuddly former stray, Zephy (aka “Mr. Kippers), a grouchy but loving little black cat, and Mr. Pinky, a Siamese cat. Current (2020) furry friends are siblings Ichi, Grey(skull) and Sweetie. Mer, Mr. Kippers and Friend-o are now in cat heaven with Mr. Pinky and Osiris.
June 2021 Update: Cats… Friend-o and Twilight, two loveable cats who passed through our home are also in Cat Heaven. But we recently found and rescued a tiny black kitten, and are helping a scruffy black street cat to regain his former loveable disposition.
January 2017: The cat situation has changed…. Update: Mr. Pinky and Osiris are in cat heaven 🙁 … and we now have the three young’uns… Greyskull, Ichi and Sweetie, … and Hoolie (Juliette), a stray Cassie picked up in Keene, and Friend-o, who comes and goes… Mr. Kippers has moved to Toronto to be with Candace.
Lynn can often be found walking with her three daughters to collect dye plants in the fields surrounding her current hometown of Peterborough, returning home with lichen, Queen Anne’s Lace, and black walnuts. She keeps a sharp eye out for new kinds of fleece to work with, and has spun fibres such as sheep’s wool, dog hair, and Alpaca.
She also has a strong interest in genealogy, and collects photographs, records and mementos of the Dowdall/Sutherland family in particular.