Gillian Lever 

Summer scrim paintings 

This Summer I have been experimenting with scrim to create new textures in my paintings. (Scrim is a light, loosely woven textile made from cotton or flax that is used in bookbinding and upholstery). I was inspired to start using the material in my work after seeing a small print titled ‘Mending the nets’ at a friend’s house this Spring. My friend’s figurative print showed three women grouped together mending fishing nets. I love the symbolism of net mending, the patient, necessary, ‘behind the scenes’ task, sometimes arduous, vital but often hidden. For those of us who don’t fish for a living, it is interesting to think about what we regularly repair and restore? How do we practice mending? Do we recognise the small kindnesses that mend? We can’t repair the big things if we haven’t mended the small.  Besides enjoying its net-like qualities, scrim also reminds me of the bandages sometimes used to bind up wounds - another form of mending. In my work I have carefully applied the scrim to gessoed boards and canvases and then painted them with layers of acrylic and oil paint.