THE SUNRISE PANEL

The story of the Sunrise Panel is the best documented if somewhat romanticised aspect of Weaving Studio history. Its prismatic colours allude to the light in a sunrise sky from violet to green, blue and on through pinks, peach and gold. The threads used are mainly mercerised cotton which has a beautiful shimmering surface.

Sunrise panel

Our studio literature says, “When the first meditation sanctuary was built in 1968 Eileen Caddy received through guidance that it was to be adorned with only one universal symbol. A few days after the completion of the building a package arrived for the Caddys. It was a Sunrise Panel with a light for display.”

This original panel was a gift from the Donavourd Weavers and when they disbanded in 1973 the Great Loom they used, now over 200 years old, was gifted to our studio.

In February 1977 Patrick Lidington, a former Donavourd Weaver, came to visit Findhorn and worked with an apprentice to lay out the coloured threads for a Sunrise Panel in our studio. In May that same year Patrick moved to Findhorn and the weaving of the panels here began.

The years I have spent in the studio have seen many Sunrise Panels woven on the Great Loom, and Crystal Light and Star of Bethlehem Panels woven on smaller floor looms. Jane MacDuff designed a special Star of Bethlehem in blue and white to honour the United Nations and celebrate the Findhorn Foundation’s status as a UN associated NGO. Jutta Geissler and Katharina Kroeber have also worked on the panels in the studio and there has been a popular weekly weaving class running in the studio for many years.

One of the original impulses of the Findhorn craft studios was to build bridges and, in the radiant beauty they produced, to carry the message of Findhorn into the world. Almost 40 years later exactly this still happens with every weaving that leaves the studio.

Kathryn Kusa