The upper rooms of Brough House have been transformed into Ms Howell's working studio for three months until May, with the studio open to the community on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Ms Howell's residency is focused on weaving, and exploring the art form in relation to the textiles made at Brough House over the years.

"The idea of my residency is 'Creating Necessary Objects: Celebrating the Beauty of Efficient Movement'," Ms Howell said.

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"This came about from Grossmann and Brough Houses' incredible textile collection. They have textiles from the 1800s up until now, and anything that was used in the household was usually created in the household."

Ms Howell said her eye has particularly been caught by a bed spread and pillowcase set that were made in the early 1900s from the muslin bluo bottle bags which were used in the laundry.

"This is an example of creating something incredibly creative and beautiful out of necessity," she said.

"50 and 100 years ago, things were made out of necessity so maybe your grandmother made your mother's clothes, but out of that came an opportunity to be creative,

"That was necessity first, creativity second and what I'm doing with my interpretation is creativity first, necessity second."

Ms Howell said she will be weaving, drawing, block printing and creating objects that pay homage to the necessary objects in Brough House, but in a purely creative way.

Inspired by an international residency in India in 2017, Ms Howell is very focused on sustainability and reducing, reusing and recycling materials whenever possible.

Out of necessity, Ms Howell is starting her collection of art and materials from scratch as she lost everything from her studio in the Wickham Wool Store fire at the end of February.

"My studio was in there, it was burnt to the ground and I lost everything, I lost the last 15 years of things I'd collected and art I'd created," she said.

"Starting from scratch again gives me the perfect opportunity to commit to sustainable art practices."

"The first week it happened was a bit harrowing, but now it's an opportunity."

Chairperson at Friends of Grossmann and Brough Houses, Holly McNamee, said the group is extremely excited about the start of the artist in residence program.

"We are hoping this will be a yearly event around this time each year, and we are concentrating on it being textile oriented," Ms McNamee said.

Ms Howell is working on a SAORI loom during her residency, which is a simple and easy freestyle type of weaving, and everyone who comes to see the studio will be invited to have a go.

"Anybody could sit down and weave, we already have about 10m on it at the moment and when that cloth is finally woven it will be taken off the loom and given to a community group," Ms Howell said.

Associated with Ms Howell's residency will be block printing workshops for adults on May 7 and 11, and a childrens workshop on April 13.

Ms Howell's studio at Brough House is open for the community to go have a look and a chat on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10am to 3pm from March 8 to May 26.