A grand day out

Wensleydale and I had a trip out yesterday to see ‘Of Quiet Observation’, an exhibition by Hilary Bower at Walford Mill in Wimborne, Dorset:

http://www.walfordmillcrafts.co.uk/current.htm

We had seen some of her work at the Knitting and Stitching Show, and I was keen to see more. I wasn’t disappointed.

The work uses textiles and thread in combination with metals and wood. It is muted, achromatic, and peaceful. Bower says she uses landscape as part of her inspiration, and I was strongly reminded of the work of Richard Long, because of the colour, the mood – and the poetic lines from Bower about some of the pieces.

Wensleydale commented on the shock of moving from the gallery, with its muted tones, to the shop, where there was a lot of brightly coloured glass.

Despite the evidence of my metre piece I very rarely work in neutrals – the only other time I tried I had to introduce some colour, as I was so bored with what I was doing. But Bower’s work really makes you look at the variations in colour and texture in a piece of metal, or [hand-dyed?] grey fabric or thread.

It is quite a small exhibition, but well worth a visit if you are within reach. The gallery is free, the shop has some interesting stuff, and there’s a café with good coffee and cake – what more could you ask?

Coincidentally, today I read June Underwood’s article on shadow in art – specifically art quilts - here:

http://junomain.wordpress.com/

She mainly discusses the representation of shadow or the effect of shadows falling over work – but makes little mention of three dimensional art. Having spent the previous afternoon looking at Bower’s work, I think there is a third alternative - where the shadow of the work itself is an intrinsic part of it

I am very interested in textile works which use light and shadow – Cherilynn Tyler is someone else who comes to mind, although her website doesn’t show the works I am thinking of, where she suspended translucent embroidery clear of the background in shadow boxes.

http://www.cherrilyn.com/

Does anyone know of anybody else working in this way?

All this has inspired me to begin taking photos of my leaves at different times of day and in different lighting conditions.