Jilly Edwards

Jilly Edwards Tapestry at the Harley Gallery

Jilly Edwards
http://www.harleygallery.co.uk/

Today I paid a visit to the Jilly Edwards tapestry exhibition at the Harley Gallery.  It was very busy probably because Jilly was there to talk to the visitors.

The exhibition is called "Wanderlust" and depicts journeys long and short, that the artist has taken.

Visitors can unravel these journeys from their abstracted and recollected compositions. Bands of colour that suggest fields, or a delicate mark which hints at the trace of a fence,all give clues to the inspirations behind these works.

 http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/

On display were some of Jilly's sketchbooks.  She makes many sketches and then watercolours before she starts working on a tapestry.  I love looking at sketchbooks especially when there are things like wrappings that I do as well.

Some of the work was very small, presented framed and hung in a series where the layout of the work was similar throughout.

Jilly Edwards
www.pinterest.com 

In the gallery these were in grey boxes and in one long horizontal line.

Some of the work was in shades of yellow.  The website (http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/) tells me these are inspired by fields of oil seed rape.

From Wanderlust - Jilly Edwards
Photo - Jo Cook

From Wanderlust - Jilly Edwards
Photo - Jo Cook

Some of the work appeared to be stitched into with fine running or back stitches like the diagonal pairs of lines in the picture above.  There was lots of tonal work.....

Ma. 2002. 90 x 230cm - on plinth in front of Ma,
 A walk from Porthmeor to Zennor.
Date 2009. Size: 20 x 300cm.
Photographer: Robert Edwards.

..... and some pieces that were made up of long thin tapestries:

From Wanderlust - Jilly Edwards
http://www.harleygallery.co.uk/

The orange in this worked like a dream.  I also liked the asymmetrical aspect of some of the pieces.

Long thin pieces were plentiful, some almost like belts:

 Long tapestries coiled and viewed from above.

It was interesting to look at tapestry and feel that I knew about the techniques being used.  For instance I knew when a tapestry had been work on from the side.

One thing I really missed was information about the pieces.  Maybe it was left to the viewer to make their own stories but I would very much have liked to know more about the artists' inspiration and interpretation.

http://www.harleygallery.co.uk/