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Sunday 25 February 2018

Wingspan: An Exhibition of Art and Poetry


I'm really excited to be exhibiting at the RSPB Geltsdale Visitor Centre again. In the winter of 2016/17 I had my show 'As the Crow Flies' there and it was a really important moment for me. 'As the Crow Flies' proved popular with visitors and I was delighted to be asked back. It's a lovely space to exhibit, very light and quirky and set in a beautiful location.

Stagsike Cottage

Stagsike Cottage

Mr. Stitches and an empty gallery

My partner, Mr. Stitches aka Nick Robinson, is a writer and as I'd be dragging him out bird-watching with me he'd been writing some poems inspired by birds and the nature reserves we visited. I asked him if he'd like to do an exhibition with me; my artwork and his poems as we are both inspired by the beautiful and wild places in Scotland and Northern England that we visit. He thought this was a good idea and so we went for it.

Exhibition view

Exhibition view

Exhibition view

I'm really pleased with the exhibition, I've made some new pieces and there's more colour than in a lot of my previous work. As I've been exploring natural dyeing recently a lot of these experiments have made their way into my pieces and are an important part of how my work is evolving. More and more I'm interested in our connection and relationship with the natural world and I want to explore this in my pieces.

Exhibition view

Exhibition view

Exhibition view

Nick explores some similar themes in his poems and I think that his poems and my pieces complement each other well. It's been great working together on this project and I think we've inspired each other. I'd had the idea for Owl Moon in my head for a long time but when Nick wrote his poem 'Owl Moon' I finally had the incentive I needed to make the piece.

Owl Moon, 2018

Edge, 2017

Little Egret, 2018

Little Egret (detail) 2018

We've also made a book to go with the exhibition. This has more of Nick's poems and illustrations and some of my artwork in. It's available to buy through blurb or we have a few copies for sale at the exhibition.

Our book

Our exhibition is on until 21st May 2018. If you'd like to visit it is free (but all donations to the RSPB are gratefully received.) The car park is about a mile from the visitor centre at Stagsike Cottage but it's a lovely walk. You can park up at the centre if necessary, please contact them to arrange this in advance (geltsdale@rspb.org.uk or call 01697 746717.) If you visit I'd love to hear what you think so do please get in touch.


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