Greenbelt Festival
Sew Far Sew Good
We joined our relatives Susie and Phill Hopkins for the annual Greenbelt Festival, held at Boughton House near Kettering for a weekend at the end of August. The theme of this year’s festival was Dream On, so our invitation to both adults and children was to create a personalised dreamcoat by upcycling cardigans and waistcoats that had been generously donated by people from church congegrations. Sew Far Sew Good is the family art collective created to organise these workshops which aim to encourage making of all kinds with needle and thread. Susie (Gillian’s sister) is currently training in Spiritual Direction having worked as a primary school teacher and Phill Hopkins is an artist. Children loved making magical capes whilst others created lavender scented pillows for sleepy creatures, diving enthusiastically into our extensive collection of fabrics to create garments to wear around the festival site. The adults really enjoyed the opportunity to slow down and sew, personalising garments with stitch, layered fabrics and printed words.
AUGUST NEWS 2024
SAVE THE DATE!
This Summer we are working towards an Open Studios event that will take place at our house in central Kings Heath, Birmingham on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th November 2024. (11.00am - 5.00pm both days.) We have both turned 60 in the past year so the weekend will be a Birthday celebration as well as an exhibition. Please call by for a drink at a time to suit you. RSVP Lever Arts CONTACT for exact location. We are collaborating with members of All Saints Youth Project who will be selling cards that they have created. All artwork will be for sale, although it will be fine just to look. 50% of proceeds will also go to ASYP. ASYP is a vibrant youth project in Kings Heath, Birmingham that believes in promoting inclusive practice and being accessible for ALL young people.
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.
