Sunday 20 November 2016

"Away, Away" - Julie Arkell at the Harley Gallery

Tiny Pond - Julie Arkell
    
Julie Arkell currently has an exhibition at the Harley Gallery.  This is a rare treat so if you can get to see it, don't hesitate! Julie is a textile and mixed media artist who creates whimsical folk art inspired scenes.  Her creations are made from papier-mâché and have knitted and handstitched garments or features and are embellished with handstitched phrases.

Comfort List - Julie Arkell
Away - Julie Arkell


Ponds - Julie Arkell



The Pond Looks Deep - Julie Arkell

"Away, Away" has grown from her exhibition "Away" which was shown at the Ruthin Craft Centre in 2014 for which Julie made 100 creatures.  Julie says that since then her collection of nature books has grown, mentioning "Pond Life", "British Birds' Eggs and Nests" & "Woodland Trees".   You can see the influences of these in her work - some of her characters now have their own ponds and fantastically some of the trees and characters have knitted shadows and there is even a knitted strip of land.  There are birds' eggs, books and twigs - all sorts of "collections"


What's hidden behind... - Julie Arkell
Trees - Julie Arkell
























A strip of land - Julie Arkell
A Shadow for Myself - Julie Arkell
On Fragile Ground - Julie Arkell

Large Knitted Crow Shadows - Julie Arkell

The shapes of the large knitted crow shadows were made from tracings of actual shadows from some of Julie's crow figures.

Birds' Eggs Illustration - Julie Arkell

Twigs & Books - Julie Arkell

Matchbox collections - Julie Arkell
The bird that refused to fly - Julie Arkell

It is impossible to not be fascinated by her vignettes and to wonder about their stories.

Owls - Julie Arkell

Long live the glorious crow - Julie Arkell
Saints - Julie Arkell
Becoming Jane Eyre - Julie Arkell

I wish I'd been kinder - Julie Arkell
Houses have secrets - Julie Arkell
Julie's brooches displayed in Hotel D'Angleterre

The Harley Gallery is situated on the Welbeck Estate in Nottinghamshire.  There is ample car parking and a cafe close by. 

Note: It is also handy for Hope & Elvis, where Louise Presley curates a fantastic range ot textile and mixed media workshops, run by leading artists and makers.

This exhibition is on until 8 January 2017.  Go see!


4 comments:

  1. Lovely to see JULIE's work. I've shared your blog post with my craft group members. Thank you for sharing it with us
    Lynn

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    1. Hope you get a chance to see the exhibition and thanks for sharing :)

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  2. What an awesome collection of images of Julie's work! I did a workshop with her at Loop in London a few years ago... and found then that she didn't have much of an online presence. Thank you for sharing and the video link is brilliant!

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    1. Glad you liked the blogpost. You can find Julie over on instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thescatteredchairs/

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