The Craft Centre and Design Gallery Leeds has opened a brand new Summer Exhibition, Rambling, set to inspire visitors to reflect on our affinity with nature.
This show celebrates the connections which many people have felt particularly over the past twelve months or so, with handmade collections of jewellery, ceramics and works in mixed media – all inspired by the great outdoors. We have until 25 September to enjoy art taken from the joy of rambling the unexplored path, foraging, the ever-changing landscape and the treasures found on the journey.
Two of the sixteen makers share their own foraged finds from which they’ve created new works – Yorkshire artist Hayley Hudson fostered her love of nature when she was just 14 years old, when she had a job for a greetings card company to pick and press flowers. This love of collecting and preserving has stayed with her through her life. She spent 31 years as Director of the gallery she now showcases her work in at The Craft Centre and Design Gallery. Hayley gathers her materials from long walks in the countryside whereby these natural elements are then combined with stitching, embroidery and crochet. Hayley: “If I can encapsulate my passion within my work to fill someone else’s soul, then I will feel that I have achieved something within my long journey.”
Jane Bevan uses natural and found materials, gathering bark, thorns and twigs on daily walks in local woodlands, then using traditional techniques of tying, stitching, twining, coiling and binding to make small sculptures and vessels. She is particularly passionate about English woodland and spends much of her time walking, sketching and collecting materials outdoors.
All works are for sale or you can simply visit for a peaceful, mindful experience.
For further information on the gallery’s exhibition and events programme you can sign up to their monthly newsletter via their website or visit the What’s On page of their website www.craftcentreleeds.co.uk
Feature photograph: Jane in local woodland. Photography by Chris Webb Photography.
