Wednesday 4 May 2011

Exhibition at Ashton Court, Bristol.

The group I belong to, Gordano Textile Artists, took part in the North Somerset Art Trail over the past few days and held our exhibition in the refurbished gallery in the Visitors' Centre at Ashton Court. It is a lovely venue and one of our favourites, though for some pieces the beautiful stone walls can be a challenge.
On entering the gallery the first thing I noticed was the Pearl Project which we had made to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Bristol Branch of the Embroiderers' Guild back in February. I hadn't seen it in it's entirety before and think the fabric folds and driftwood set all our individual pieces off very well.
The next things to catch my eye were Kirsten Hill-Nixon's amazing felt vessels which are so tactile and Liz Hewitt's columnar strips of dyed stitched African mudcloth. The detail on them is wonderful. Liz appliques small shapes of various fabrics which take the dye differently and add to the effect.


I tried to take photos of several glazed pieces but without success as the glass reflected the lights and everything else, making it impossible to get a clear result. Added to that, I was not really 'with it' yesterday afternoon and trying to decide whether I had hay fever or a threatening throat infection - I'm still not sure.


So I opted for just a few to give you a small taste of what it was like.


This is another of Liz's long pieces which I love. The pattern is oak leaves with lots of hand stitching meandering right down the entire piece.

A close-up of part of it. This picture illustrates how the various fabrics used, take up the dye differently.
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The day after my last post the collared dove fledglings flew their nest. We always took a peep at them each morning and suddenly they were gone. They mature so quickly and it's hard to imagine they were strong enough to fly though we had seen them doing quite a bit of preening. I wonder if there will be another brood this year. I'll let you know, but promise no more photos of them!




13 comments:

Gina said...

It looks a lovely exhibition. Hope you are feeling better today.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Loved that last photograph Heather.

Interestingly I walked through a bluebell wood yesterday and now have a sore throat and am wondering whether it is a throat infection or hay fever - so snap!

Jane said...

I'm sorry I missed this one, it looks excellent as always. Fingers crossed for your throat getting better - I have been plagued with bad throats and keep losing my voice.

Heather said...

There must be something going round Pat and Jane. Hope it doesn't want to stay for long and that you both soon feel better.

Michala Gyetvai (Kayla coo) said...

Lovely exhibition and a wonderful setting.
M x

Carol Q said...

I really enjoyed meandering round last year Heather. I'm sorry I missed it this year as it looks very interesting again.

The Poetry Bus said...

A very interesting exhibition Heather.What are the green and purple tall columns in the photo?

Hope you feel better.

Heather said...

Poetry Bus: The purple and green 'columns' are grouped strips similar to the oakleaf one in my last photo. They each relate to different trees and have different designs on them. I should have taken a closeup of those too.

Anonymous said...

I do hope you are feeling better Heather. The exhibition looks gorgeous and the setting for it is stunning. Wonderful wisteria in the last post.

Jackie said...

I enjoyed the exhibition through your description. I also enjoyed the previous wisteria post. I have some aliums like yours but I had hoped they'd be the really spectacular ones, but I need to try again. I look forward to seeing yours when they come out.

Maureen said...

Looks a great exhibition Heather, I hope you are feeling better now!!

Val said...

What a wonderful Gallery Heather - filled with light. The Exhibitions looks fantastic - thanks for sharing! Hope you're feeling better today!

Linda Vincent said...

What a great building for an exhibition......and don't the pearls look lovely!