Person sitting outdoors with a laptop and mug, wearing a pink lace top.

The Story of Tangwystl

Tangwystl grew from a love of noticing the things that are easy to pass by.

The changing hedgerows. The birdsong. Old stories and forgotten places. A feather on the path. The miniature worlds hidden amongst moss. A scrap of cloth. The feeling of a particular day that you want to somehow hold onto.

What began as a search for a quieter, more meaningful way of living has slowly become something much simpler:

Nature • Noticing • Feeling • Making

A place for curiosity, creativity, connection and paying attention to the ordinary things that make a life.

And behind it all is me. Julia. A lifelong daydreamer, deep thinker, maker, wanderer and gatherer of little things.

(Isn't that what pockets in dresses is for?)

I HAVE ALWAYS NOTICED THE SMALL THINGS

The tiny mushroom growing from an old tree stump.

The first berries appearing in the hedgerow.

The way the light changes when autumn begins to creep in.

Moss on old stone. The shape of a leaf. A forgotten footpath. A sentence in a book that makes me stop and think.

I have always been curious about the natural world, old stories, folklore, ancient places and the little traces people leave behind.

I don’t necessarily want to become an expert in any of them.

I simply like wondering.

Following threads.

Looking a little closer.

Seeing where curiosity takes me.

And increasingly, I’m learning that noticing these things isn’t a distraction from life.

It is part of how I experience it.

NATURE • NOTICING • FEELING • MAKING

For a long time, creativity for me felt like something that needed a plan

A project all thought out from beginning to end.

The right materials all gathered together in advance.

An idea of what the finished work was supposed to look like.

But then I realised just how much more joy and ease I find in simply starting with what I notice and going with the flow of the process.

A leaf inked and pressed onto cloth.

A colour from the sky.

The texture of lichen.

A torn scrap of fabric.

A few imperfect stitches.

A photograph.

A sentence scribbled into a journal.

And then seeing what evolves and grows.

I want to keep hold of that childlike way of creating from the time before we learned to worry about whether something was good enough, useful enough or worthy of showing anybody else.

Notice something. Feel something. Make something.

That is enough.

A NURTURED, LIVING, BREATHING PIECE

Creations that feel almost alive

Pieces that aren't planned from beginning to end, but nurtured over time. That grow and change in response to the life happening all around during the making process.

The weather. My mood. My feelings.

The places I wander.

The seasons.

The things I notice. The treasures I find.

The colours witnessed and remembered.

All of them can find their way into the work.

A stitch added in a colour reflecting how a day felt.

A scrap of fabric that carries a memory.

A tone borrowed from the sky.

A mark made simply because, in that moment, it felt right. It felt needed.

The piece becomes a responsive record. Not necessarily of what actually happened, but of how life felt while it was being made.

The finished look of the piece matters far less to me than the feelings, moments and witnessing that found their way into it.

I AM A GATHERER

And apparently I have always been.

I gather books. Words. Photographs. Scraps of cloth. Buttons. Feathers. Acorns. Interesting stones. Leaves that are far too lovely to leave on the ground.

But I gather less tangible things too.

MOMENTS

The light through the trees. A sudden burst of birdsong. The smell of rain. Something glimpsed from the corner of my eye that makes me stop walking and go back for another look.

STORIES

Folklore. Old traditions. Local tales. The history held within buildings, landscapes and well-worn things. The lives that came before ours and the traces they left behind.

COLOURS, TEXTURES AND FEELINGS

The green of moss after rain. The roughness of bark. The faded hues of an old piece of linen. The atmosphere of a place and the way being there made me feel.

QUESTIONS

Why is that there? What happened here? What is this called? Who made this? Is that really true? And the particularly dangerous one for my AuDHD rabbit-hole seeking brain...

I wonder what would happen if I tried this?

Some of what I gather becomes stitching or photographs. Some find their way into the written word. Some are tucked into a journal or stored away safely in my box of treasured things.

And plenty of it simply becomes another tiny piece of the life I am paying attention to.

Tangwystl is really just the place I have made to gather it all together.

And as for me?

I am curious, observant, creative, nostalgic and probably far too easily distracted by old things, hidden paths, interesting textures and questions that lead nowhere sensible.

I love nature, old stories, handmade things and places that feel as though they have a secret to share.

I’m independent-minded, a little unconventional, and far more interested in genuine connection than keeping up with what everyone else is doing.

I think deeply. I notice small things. I make things to understand how I feel.

And these days, more than anything, I want to be present for the ordinary life happening around me rather than always looking towards whatever comes next.

And I am no longer waiting for the right time.