What do we really value? Many things that have little or no monetary worth are deeply treasured – memories, family sayings, a particular poem or a special place.

That old pair of jeans, darned, patched and repaired.

A handmade gift, especially made for you.

A  childhood toy. A family heirloom. Your child’s first shoes. Your Grandmother’s mixing bowl.

One persons rubbish is another’s treasure…

This is the starting point for new textile art from Textilia 3. A rich seam to be explored, resulting in work as diverse as the title suggests!

Textilia 3 is a well-established group of 14 contemporary textile artists, based in the North of England, who have exhibited widely in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria over the last 25 years. The artists employ many diverse textile and mixed media techniques, including hand and machine stitch, felt, appliqué, mixed media and painting, ceramics, dyeing and resists, print and manipulated fabrics and fibres. They make abstract, figurative and decorative pieces, wall art, 3D and wearable art.
The work is varied and individual, but linked by an uncommon thread.

This body of work focuses on moments of reflection in the natural landscape during deep Winter. Gina explores how there is a resonance and intrigue to be found in a deceptively dormant landscape during the colder months of the year.

This exhibition is collection of oil paintings and drawings, and is an ongoing project of understanding natural from one individual’s perspective.

This work is driven by the landscape surrounding her home of The Yorkshire Dales and exploring The Lake District. Gina spends time walking, sometimes in darkness with the headtorch or the moonlight. She finds there is primeval intensity in the landscape in the last light of the day, and her own vulnerability to the landscape are strong narratives which she draws upon in this body of work.

Gina feels that this exhibition will help show how the natural landscape in deep Winter can be a compelling, intense emotional experience which has been forgotten but can be found through understanding.

See more of Gina’s work here

Sandra Meech and Elizabeth Brimelow are landscape inspired artists.          

’Momentum’ will focus on personal experiences based on memories and catching a glimpse of special moments in time.  The Somerset Levels, climate change and art, collage and stitch observations from personal walks and journeys are some of the themes which will be explored.

Water is an exhibition exploring two different Artists’ observations and interpretations of the theme of water. Rivers, ponds, waterfalls, clouds, puddles and the wildlife within North Yorkshire’s waterways inspire both Jo Garlick and Lynn Ward. Their unique styles complement each other to bring an interesting exhibition of the natural world.

Lynn paints in both oil and acrylic likes to portray a sense of movement and light. She is drawn to contrasts, such as stormy skies or shapes and shadows created by a gate, stone wall or a bridge.

Jo works in soft pastels, and is especially interested in British wildlife. She loves the flexibility that pastel offers and enjoys experimenting with different techniques and ideas to portray texture, movement and light.

Tribes – International Textile Exhibition

The International Textile Exhibition is back with new work from around the world. Tribes is the inspiration for the work entered into the competition from internationally renowned textiles artists. There is a stunning array of figurative and abstract work reflecting elements such as culture, values, goals, and family. This exhibition features the 30 finalists from all over the world working in many different styles and creative techniques.
Farfield Mill is just part of this exciting international 10-month touring exhibition featuring galleries, museums and quilting events in countries including Brazil, Japan and Australia.

I have always been called to water, having grown up near lakes and rivers and holidays by the sea. Drawn to its mysterious depths, transparent and yet visible, reflecting light and catching colours. Intrigued by cold water’s healing properties and the wonderful feeling of being submerged in an icy blanket.

This exhibition aims to capture the colour and motion of water, It’s deep depths and combination of water and sky in textile form, using free motion embroidery, manipulated fabrics and hand stitch.

Learn more about Nancy and here work here

The Space we Fill

What is a space?

Where are the spaces?

Who fills the spaces and why?

Nolitex have been exploring these issues and invites viewers to consider the spaces they fill.

NOLITEX, (Notts. Lincs. Textile Artists) is a group of artists which promotes textile and mixed media art through regular exhibitions

The group has exhibited in the UK and Ireland in a range of venues including art galleries, cathedral chapter houses, museums and at the NEC Birmingham, as well as in more challenging spaces such as outdoors in Easton Walled Gardens and at Papplewick Victorian Pumping Station. At each venue the work is curated to take on a different character.

Learn more about Nolitex here

Step by Step

As Kay lives in Cumbria and Gillian lives in the Trossachs, textiles and walking are intertwined within their lives. The steady rhythm of walking is echoed by the rhythm of stitch. The building up of layers with material and stitch and the repetitive process of stitch resonates with the layers of footpaths crisscrossing the landscape which have developed over hundreds of years through the repetitive process of walking. Footsteps overwriting those who have walked the same paths before. Small steps on a walk, small pieces of fabric, all joining together to make a coherent whole.

Their work is about emotional response and memory, conveying the sense of place and what it means to them personally. It is about texture, pattern and colour and how those elements combine to evoke the memory of a place at a certain time, on one day – creating a particular atmosphere. The light, misty shadows, murky foggy, bright intense winter sun. The colours – bracken glowing in autumn sun, sharp white of fresh snow, blue of hills in low light. The textures – smooth wet rocks, spiky grasses, rough abrasive stone, rusting metal from old workings.

Whilst celebrating the beauty of the natural landscape where they live, Kay and Gillian also explore the industrial history of the areas. Gillian’s work explores Loch Katrine Aqueduct and the strange duality of a huge municipal asset running through the picturesque Trossachs, supplying Scotland’s most industrial city with water. Whilst Kay’s work explores the mining and quarrying that has shaped the Cumbrian landscape.

Words: A series of Journal Quilts

Contemporary Quilt Group is a specialist group within the Quilters’ Guild. Its members are a diverse collection of quilters and textile artists, working at the cutting edge of our practice, creating innovative and dynamic art. Their mission is to continue to push the boundaries and be excited by the possibilities of new materials, new techniques and new ideas.
A Journal Quilt is a small quilt, maximum size 30 cms x 30 cms and the aim is to create one a month for a year. In 2023 members of Contemporary Quilt were challenged to create journal quilts on the theme of ‘Words’. The work is extremely diverse including printed, appliqued, painted and embroidered text. Some works do not include text but were inspired by text – a favourite book or poem or a play on words.

Threadmill are a group of fifteen textile and mixed media artists committed to the promotion of textiles as both a decorative and expressive art form. Together they seek to increase awareness and education at all levels through their exhibitions.

Remember

 Remembering and respecting the history and heritage of the local woollen trade and acknowledging its close links with the culture, industry and agriculture of the region.

The focus and central theme of the exhibition is a celebration of the rich heritage of the woollen industry of Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales. Wool in its many forms has been and to some extent remains an important part of the economy for these areas.

React

Reacting to and rekindling the use of wool as a base material in our textile work. Exploring of the potential of woollen fibres, threads and fabrics, both new and re-purposed.

Reacting and responding to the rich and varied products of the woollen industry, past and present provides the valuable opportunity to address contemporary concerns regarding the re-use, recycling and renewal of textiles. Repair and utilization of new and old materials and techniques allows for practical as well as experimental approaches to materials and techniques with opportunities to create new and exciting textile forms.

Re-tell

Re-telling and re-imagining the story through offering a number of different contemporary approaches to textile art.

As individuals, we offer different interpretations through our textile art. Our work is diverse in style and scale.  The skills, techniques and processes we use are varied and innovative.  For this exhibition, we will develop a body of work which tells new stories. By working together, we will create a cohesive exhibition which celebrates the present through the re-imagining of the past.

Encyclopedia of Women – Galla

Galla is a very multifaceted woman, her artistic career encompassing many different themes. We know her textile art, but also she still designs and creates jewelry, likewise clothes, restores furniture, photographs, draws and paints, even on walls. She is a very versatile artist.

Her academic training was in Russia, since she is of Russian origin, although she currently lives in France. She graduated from the National School of Fine Arts in Venetsianov, in interior decoration specialty.

She likes to mix different techniques and to experiment with new challenges. Her creativity seems inexhaustible, and this is reflected in those works of art of such diverse fields.

“ I have always been fond of mythology in different cultures, and in my work there are many pieces that touch on the topic of legends and myths. “

You can see more of her creations on this website http://textile.galla.fr/