Last weekend it was Open Studio at Sunny Bank Mills. Community reporter Noelle Williamson went along to Farsley to see some of the artists, jewellers and creatives in action.
Many artists in ceramics, glass and textiles, as well as jewellers, painters, printmakers and potters welcomed the public into their studios as part of a three-day Heritage Festival which also offered exhibitions, workshops and guided tours.
Here are snapshots of a few makers, and their work, out of 48 artists based in the Spinning Mill studios, or in the Twisting Mill and Red Lane Mill.
Painter Poppy-Lee Jennings and printmakers Matt Hooper and Nat Hues all celebrate natural history through their work. Poppy (@poppyleejennings) presented small, beautifully detailed botanical studies in pencil and acrylic, and a wonderfully observed portrait in oils, of ‘Lydia’ at home.
Self-taught Matt Hooper (@hupalinocuts) spoke eloquently about the pleasures and challenges of cutting woodblocks, and the different qualities of wood and lino.
Limiting himself to black ink – and occasionally a second muted colour – he creates striking natural history images such as his ‘Armourdillo’ or a Death’s-head Moth, with a ‘skull’ like a negative tattoo against shaggy stripes of mustard and black.
As for Nat Hues (@Pearly Rubble), in between creating digital prints, murals and illustrated wooden installation art, Nat is also a tattoo artist and the illustrator of two colourful Usborne natural history books for children. Her two fat pigeons (pictured, top) will soon be going to roost at the Fat Pigeon Bakery in Bramley!
Helen Dryden’s studio (@helen_dryden) was hung with an eclectic collection of lively abstract canvases, and explorations of contemporary experience – including space exploration, and a first visit to New York.
Clare Lane (@claredlane) is a printmaker-turned-textile artist who delights in strong colours.
Some of her pieces have the energetic, barely contained harmony of jazz.
Others suggest weather-worn metal and peeling external paintwork, relics of yesteryear. She creates her effects by screen-printing her fabric in bold colours, then cutting and layering it into abstract collages, and using her beloved 1920s industrial sewing machine, or hand embroidery, to build up texture.
Faryal Aslam makes elegant jewellery and accessories from cord in mouthwatering colours. Her creations are currently only available online (at https://knottinger.com/) and she is definitely looking forward to opening her own shop in Horsforth, next month, full of her handmade pieces. Look out for Knottinger in October.
Although there were kilns in several studios in the Spinning Mill, only Penelope Pendle Hayes was working on Sunday afternoon.
Besides her trademark pale glazed figures in enveloping textured robes, Penelope had some almost-life-size raku-fired heads on display.
While pointing out the different effects she had achieved, or discovered, she happily confessed her fascination with the raku process, and the miraculous possibilities of copper oxide, like millions of Pottery Throwdown fans everywhere.
For those who missed these open-studio days, there will be another chance to ‘Meet the Maker’ on Saturday, October 4. For the record, there are lifts as well as all those stone steps.
The Xmas Fair will take place on two Saturdays, December 6 and December 13.
One flight up from the second-floor studios, is the Loft gallery, an inspired use of a tiny, light-filled roof space. In ‘Joint and Several’, an exhibition of collaborative paintings by Mel Davies and Kim Coley, every single canvas had a red ‘sold’ sticker on it.
However, both artists will have other works for sale on the October and December dates.
To discover more about Mel, Kim, Matt, Nat, Penelope, Poppy-Lee, Clare, Faryal and other Sunny Bank makers, go to their website.
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