Fibre artist Vicki Cornish prepares to start her residency at Brough House

The accomplished Newcastle-based fibre artist specialises in spinning locally farmed yarn, using ancient techniques to create modern textiles.

She will be in residence at Brough House from March 8 (International Women's Day), creating history-inspired art and hosting workshop days.

Ms Cornish said she looks forward to drawing on Brough and Grossmann houses for inspiration in her work.

"I'm really fascinated by the beautiful textile collection in Grossmann House, so I'm going to be looking through that textile collection, learning from those old pieces and gaining some inspiration from those beautiful textiles that were created slowly, meticulously and carefully in the past," she said.

"We have such a different attitude towards textiles today, we've become very disposable in our attitude towards textiles, and I'm very interested in going back to a time where we valued our textiles, we looked after them, we made them carefully."

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The theme of Ms Cornish's residency is History Hides in Quiet Corners, inspired by Brough House.

"The inspiration for that theme came when we were looking in the storeroom, and there was a tiny piece of old original wallpaper left behind," she said.

"I thought, isn't that interesting how no matter how a building changes, or how it's repurposed or reworked over the years, its history will still remain in little nooks and crannies.

"Maybe it's an undulation in the landscape, or maybe it's a little piece of wallpaper, but that history will live on in some way."

Mr Cornish studied art at the University of Newcastle, but her love of textiles started long before.

When she was just 14-years-old, she first learned to spin yarn at a relative's sheep station in Queensland.

As an adult, she went to TAFE to learn more about textiles; mainly because she wanted to learn how to make clothes that fit.

Using local material is very important to her, and she has wool pieces in her collection from farms in Dungog and the Snowy Mountains.

Brough House's 2021 artist in residence Ellen Howell is now the program's coordinator, and said she is thrilled to have Ms Cornish on board.

"Vicki very much fits exactly what we want, and hopefully we fit exactly what she wants," she said.

"In Vicki, we saw someone who was working with traditional methods, and she was reviving methods that had been lost."

The artist in residence program is designed to create a connection between the past creations by women in the house, and present day.

Friends of Grossmann and Brough Houses chairperson Holly McNamee said it's very pleasing the program has taken off.

"What's wonderful, to my mind, is we have a collection that's very often in boxes that people don't get to see," she said.

"What's so fantastic about the way the project works is that fresh eyes see it, and they see it in a different way."

Ms Cornish will be at Brough House on Mondays and Tuesdays from March 8 until the end of May, and community members are welcome to pop in and see what she is working on.

There will be a special launch event on International Women's Day, Wednesday, March 8 from 5.30pm to celebrate Ms Cornish's residency. Visit the National Trust website to book.

Ms Cornish will also host a series of Autumn workshops:

Book through www.trybooking.com.