Somerset Arts Weeks 2022

And so after a 3 year break that at times felt very much longer, my studio at Spring Farm in Moorlinch, Somerset opened again this autumn for Somerset Arts Weeks 2022.  

Setting up in glorious autumn sunshine felt a very positive sign for my 3rd exhibition in my peaceful studio that has become a haven to me and other textile creatives.  As a pottered around tinkering in the late afternoon sunshine, I recalled my displays of years past - and a flood of last minute tasks that had long since faded from memory came to mind!  

In truth, final satisfaction with my displays often comes pretty close to the end of the exhibition.  Take my table of naturally dyed textiles from this summer - tinkering with this continued throughout my open days and this became an regular morning activity for most of my displays!

My visitors were really interested to hear about my experiments this summer with solar dyeing and eco printing and I was pleased to share my ongoing learning and pleasure of naturalistic ways of colouring textiles.

And to hopefully inspire others about the many possibilities and benefits of creating with wool - my passion for this tactile and versatile fibre of my home country grows with each year.  Historically, it was absolutely a textile of Somerset and funded the building of many of Somerset church towers.  

There are so many new and innovative ways that we can make use of a fibre that we have in abundance and yet place little value on - my new wool duvet and bed mattress being a case in points.  These felted and free machined stitched leaf brooches were one of my little wool creations for Arts Weeks this year and for my students to enjoy creating this autumn.

I also went back to an early summer daliance crotcheting around Somerset pebbles with vintage Twilley Lysecordet - there is something about combining old soft and hard which feels very appealing.  

Plus I have discovered that these creations have a number of practical uses - pattern cutting weights for one!

I gave pride of place this year to my summer tapestry weavings following a life changing adventure to the Orkey Isles this year.  My first weaving was inspired by an idylic visit on bright and breezy late Spring morning to the beautiful Tafts End bay on the island of Westray.  

The colours in the water ranged from periwinkle purple to aquamarine blue and were a delight to weave in wool and silk across cotton warps - the latter of which I kept visible in the final framing as a reminder that all beauty requires a firm foundation.  

And my second weaving was inspired by a magical moment view memerizing night light across Pierowall Bay in the wee small hours.  

A creative Westray resident told me the first blue sky day that she filled herself up with summer light to make up for the lack of in the winter months.  How easy it was to do this on Westray and the colours, tones, places and people remain vibrant in me many months after my visit.

I was blessed by many kindly and friendly visitors throughout my open days and their feedback on my textile work was much appreciated.  

A number of my textile pictures will be taking up new homes this autumn, including this wool and free stitch creation, inspired by the glowing autumn berries of Crataegus Monogyna. Hawthorn is one of the few trees that can survive and thrive in even the wettest Somerset Levels winter and their autumn berries are a joy to behold just now.

As I enjoyed a little afternoon sunshine on my last weekend, I recalled the happy conversations throughout my open days this year.  As I and many others have come to find, sharing creative tales, highlights and lowlights, is as uplifting as any tangible result.  

I had the great pleasure of sharing my experience this year with my talented creative neighbours, glassmaking wizards Silver Tree Crystal, painter extrodinaire Tina Spratt and 3rd generation stained glass artist Josh Samways - between us all we will have shared creative words in abundance!  Long may this continue - as so many of us have come to find, creativity is life enhancing in the most remarkable ways.