Cinnabar

August 12, 2009

Last Friday night I didn’t know whether to feel totally inadequate, flattered, humble or terrified!  My good friend  Judith (member of Nolitex like me) had asked me to open an exhibition of textile art at Newark Millgate Museum for one of her textile groups called Cinnabar.  Give me a class of students any day of the week rather than a gallery full of folk who would much rather look at the beautiful art on the walls than listen to me waffle on.  It should have been easy, the work was wonderful, no need to fish around for things to say.  However, my mind disappeared into a corner of my brain and I felt acutely that I was not going to be able to string the right words together in the right order.  Fortunately, no one expected any thing other than a very short utterance, and it was all over before my knees knocked too loudly under my skirt.

The gallery is not a big one, but it is currently full of very lovely work.  Judith, Julie, Francine and Liz pulled out all the stops to create enough lovely pieces to fill the space and provide a variety of things to look at and buy.  The standard of workmanship is high, the patterns and colours are most appealing and there is a very pleasing combination of dying, hand stitching and machine stitching, contrasting styles, framed pieces, and 3D work to make the trip worth while.

Cinnabar presents “Bordering On The Middle” at Newark Millgate Museum 10am – 4pm until September 20th

Francine’s “Teasels” are cleverly stitched so that they appear almost 3D

Julies “Herb Borders” is one of 3 and has a wonderful touch of folk art to it.  The colours are joyful

Liz’s “Time For Tea” is very finely stitched in machine embroidery.  The flower is actually a cup  with the leaves acting as a saucer.

This section from Judith’s “On the Margin- Berry” is vibrant and understated all at once.

This is a detail of their Group Piece (a piece that everyone contributed to), and it was absolutely delightful.

This is another from Francine “Plovers Edge”, finely stitched and very serene.

If you haven’t been to the Millgate Museum, then now is a very good time to go.  It is completely free, the museum itself is full of Nottinghamshire life over the last few centuries, old machines, interesting equipment, everyday household implements and things, in fact all manner of things that tell the story of everyday folk in the last 100 years or so.  Immerse yourself in nostalgia and wander the floors of the museum, then emerge from past into a glorious art filled gallery  space devoted (until 20th September) to the work of four talented textile artists who make up the group Cinnabar.

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