An artist, her patrons, and the landscape of dreams

It took Kate Lawless five months of weaving rope, thread, metal beads and ribbon to create an image of the Island in winter with the colors, shapes and rhythms of the sand, sea and sky. 

On Friday, Sept. 18, Kathy and Gordon Gooding invited friends and neighbors to see what Ms. Lawless made with hands and heart, and share their joy at displaying it in their home.

The story of this remarkable labor of love began with the Sylvester Manor sculpture exhibit of 2024, when a ceramic and rope installation Ms. Lawless created for the show made such a strong and positive impression on the Goodings that they asked Ms. Lawless if she would create a woven work for their home.  

When Ms. Lawless came to see the large space over the fireplace they hoped she would fill, she says her first thought was, “That really is a large space.” 

But Ms. Gooding assured the artist that she must feel free to express herself. “We said to her, whatever you feel, whatever comes to you, we’re comfortable with it,” Ms. Gooding said. “We had already talked about nature, and the textures and roughness. We had all those discussions, and she came back a couple of times, measured, and we let her go.”

Ms. Lawless started work in December 2025, inspired at once by the scenes around her, and the piece soon became “a visual diary of the landscape we call home,” the artist said.

All the materials: rope, ribbon, metallic and fiber strings were found, repurposed or bought on Shelter Island. She collected large, heavy ropes from local fishermen, and the North and South ferries, unraveled and hand dyed them with onion skins and vegetables from a nearby farm. Years of yard sale-frequenting yielded more materials, including an old-fashioned pull chain, a beaded chain used to turn on an overhead light. 

With these materials, Ms. Lawless recreated the landscape around her. “There were just oak leaves left on the trees and no other, and then into that intense winter we had ice formations on Coecles Harbor,” she said. “So that really was informing me.” 

She wove the slate blue skies; she cut blue linen into strips and wove waves, and clouds. While ice boaters glided over Coecles Harbor, Ms. Lawless wove the metal bead chain into light that glistened on the ice and sparkling waters.

“I was responding to the winter light, that can be dark and beautiful, and quiet,” she said. “I came into the Gooding house and saw what colors are here. I really wanted to respond to the environment.”

She wove all winter in the basement of her home off Manwaring Road on a large frame constructed for the purpose. The size and sculptural nature of the work required physical strength to manage. “Because of the nubbly textural quality of all the materials, I did all by hand, so it was very physical,” Ms. Lawless said.

The weaving, which she named “Sand, Sea, Sky” was completed in May 2026, and when she showed the finished work to Kathy and Gordon Gooding, there was a lot of emotion. “When she opened it up, I actually just started to cry,” Ms. Gooding said. “It belongs here.” 

Ms. Lawless said, “It was nerve-wracking at times, but because of their confidence and generosity, it was a pleasure to collaborate with them.”

Mr. Gooding designed a pair of wood finials to anchor the 60-pound work on the living room wall with Ms. Lawless’s hearty approval. It took a team with a scaffold to hang the work in its new home. 

At the Sept. 18 celebration, someone wondered about the back of the weaving and asked Ms. Lawless what the side against the wall would show. “It would reveal a lot of knots,” she said.

Ms. Lawless spoke of the gratifying collaboration between her and the Goodings, telling them, “The beautiful thing about collaborating with you is how you had faith in me and the project, and your support of the arts.”