This coming weekend I’m taking part in an exhibition of artists’ work in Bedford. It will be the first exhibition I’ve done for over a year and part of me is quite excited.
But I’m going to be totally honest and tell you that part of me is also wishing I wasn’t doing it. The problem isn’t the exhibition itself, I love meeting people and talking art, but I just hate the whole process of getting the artwork ready to show – mounting, framing, labelling, wrapping… arrrgh!
My difficulty is that I’ve always loved the process of making the artwork, but once the final stitch goes in, my mind is off to something else. Framing? It can wait for another day…
But there you go, it has to be done and I’m well on the way with it now. Everything is pretty much under control. The exhibition is open on Friday evening May 12th from 7.30pm to 10pm and on Saturday May 13th from 10.30am to 5pm, at the Harpur Suite in the Harpur Centre, Bedford.
There will be about 50 artists taking part so If you’re in the area and fancy seeing some original art, I hope you’ll pop in and say hello, it would be wonderful to see you there and put some faces to names.
Of course I know that most of you reading this aren’t anywhere nearby at all, (not even on the same continent!), so if you can’t make it, here’s a sneak preview (shhhh, don’t tell)…
Dream Mapping
Inspired by the layers of history, patterns and textures in the English landscape. Sometimes when I’m dreaming I soar above the fields and woodlands and look down on my imaginary landscape.
A Celtic Mystery
If you come here regularly you’re probably sick of this one, but just in case, here’s the link to the post I wrote about it a little while ago. (It’s inspired by the Celtic Bann Disc).
As Above, So Below…
This is the piece I made over the winter of 2015/2016, you can read the story of its creation here. My very dearest friend died in the autumn of 2015 and I found myself deriving enormous consolation from the meditative process of making this textile. It will always feel special.
Rose Window
Where does the fascination, even enchantment with stained glass originate? I have no idea, but I am that woman standing in front of the stained glass, transported through the colours, the play of light, being led into a dream world. I try to bring some of that transience into the stitch work I make. Silks and metallics lend their mercurial nature, but they are tricky characters, sometimes they cooperate, but it’s always a game and I’m never sure who’s going to win.
So, there you have it, these are the four pieces I’ll be showing ‘in the flesh’ at the weekend. I wonder if anyone visiting will feel a connection with them. I wonder if there’s someone out there who’s just waiting to discover them, or who knows, who might just want to take one home. Oh well, we’ll see.
❤
Happy Stitching…
Dreaming In Stitches 
I’m with you here Anny. Making is great, framing etc is so tedious! I’d love assistants to pass that job onto, although lately I do take work to a framer nearby who is very reasonable re cost, and it feels so decadent, but I love it. I’m aiming for more free hanging pieces too.
The work is glorious, and your descriptions of it’s inspiration. I hope the show goes really well.
Thank you Stephanie, much appreciated. I know what you mean, I wish there were framing-fairies who’d come and take over for me. I keep hoping to find a framer who gets the feel for what I’m doing, but so far it hasn’t happened. Still, onwards! 🙂
…its inspiration…grammar correction!
Good luck with your Exhibition…your pieces are quite exceptional with a flow and beauty that resonates from each stitch. I can only begin to imagine how much time and thought has gone into their completion…..
Awww, that’s so lovely of you to say so. I know a lot of time does go in to each piece, but that’s just the process and I wouldn’t/couldn’t do it any other way so it doesn’t feel like any sort of sacrifice, quite the opposite, it feeds and thrills me.
All the best for an enjoyable and successful exhibition Stephanie, the work you’re showing is gorgeous. I’m particularly taken with the dream landscape, just beautiful .
I mean Anny – Doh!
Sweetie x Thank you x
I think most of us lose interest once it comes to the question of framing!
Stained glass always seems magical, doesn’t it.
I hope it’s a great success.
Thank you, whatever happens it will be good to get out and talk to people. It’s lovely when people actually want to talk about the work, it’s nice if someone buys, but it’s also just really affirming to get feedback. I’m getting to be more and more of a stained glass junkie as I get older. Thinking of planning a Tom Denny tour… 🙂
My mother recently launched an exhibition of her paintings in Llangollen, and the lovely things people have been saying have the whole family on a high, so we know just what you mean!
Wonderful work, Anny, and I can completely understand how you can become totally absorbed in a piece, particularly at a time of personal sadness. There’s something therapeutic about losing yourself in the detail of a creative process – or in my case, in searching endlessly for the perfect word or phrase and getting lost in the thesaurus before becoming distracted by irrelevant facts. Stitch on !
Ahhh, thank you x It really is therapy you know, even if you don’t always start with that intention and I have this sneaky feeling that women in particular have found it so, quietly and almost secretly for hundreds of years. The repetition is probably the thing, but stabbing a sharp needle into something certainly has it’s moments of satisfaction…
Oh yes, a thesaurus – dangerous books those, people have been lost for years in there – you keep writing too xxx
Oh how I wish I lived closer I would so love to see these pieces – but will have to wait until you have your travelling show!! You need an assitant to pass your artwork over to once that last stitch is made! I know how you feel my mum loved knitting but not the sewing together, I love sewing but would rather make a garment from scratch than mend one.
Have a brilliant weekend. x
Thank you so much. Yes you’re quite right, it would be wonderful to have a framing assistant on hand ready to finish everything off – I think a lot of us would appreciate that kind of help too! My mum was just the same – she loved knitting but hated the sewing up and as a result we had some rather odd shaped cardigans…