The last in a series of three tapestries designed by Clare Woods RA. The Smotherers, explores the contradictory place that weeds occupy in our cultural imagination. Each of the series depicts a different plant: The Take Over explores passion flower, The Volunteers depicts bindweed, and The Smotherers focuses on wild peas. All three tapestries will be exhibited at The Garden Museum London from 9 October - 5 November 2026.
Together, the tapestries have taken six Dovecot weavers over a year to create, translating small watercolours that were themselves created in hours. They are inspired by the artist’s desire to create art with skill and with feeling and in response to opportunities afforded by the art world to make work on a large scale. While much of her practice involves the slick sheen of oil paint on aluminium, working with tapestry coincides with Woods’ recent exploration of watercolour. By enlarging these works on paper, the weavers have captured the way the watercolour pigment pools, bleeds and sinks into the paper’s grain.
Woods began her collaboration with Dovecot in May 2025 following a conversation at the Royal Academy of Arts. In discussion, it became clear her approach to painting shares an affinity with tapestry as she often begins with a drawn outline, similar to a tapestry cartoon, mapping the composition before building up the image in paint. Encouraged by Dovecot, Woods created the watercolours specifically with their translation into tapestry in mind. The size, layered washes, subtle tonal shifts and fluid depth of the watercolours gives rich scope for interpretation through Dovecot’s expert skill in blending yarn.
Clare Woods RA is a British painter who lives and works in Hereford. Originally trained as a sculptor, Woods career as a painter spans 30 years. Painting initially with gloss paint, the artist now works predominantly with oil based paint on aluminium, and creates smaller works on paper. Woods is well known for her large-scale abstracts and landscapes, more recently exploring themes with reference to historical art practice, including flowers in the tradition of memento mori, and increasingly figurative subjects, including her first self-portrait. Woods completed an MA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, London in 1999, following a BA in Fine Art at Bath College of Art in 1994. Woods has had many solo exhibitions both in Britain and international locations. Her work is found in many major public collections.
