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Sew Seasonal
Tuesday August 17th -Saturday September 4th 2010
Allotments and the food and flowers they produce have inspired the embroideries and photographic images on display in ‘Sew Seasonal’ . The exhibition features embroideries by Oxford Textile Workshop complemented by the digital images of Linda Wride, RHS Photographer of the Year.
The Oxford Textile Workshop are a diverse group of people united by their passion for embroidery and textiles. Whilst some members are professional artists, others are enthusiastic and highly-skilled amateurs. The group, which meets monthly to share ideas and participate in workshops, also holds exhibitions to showcase their embroideries. By responding to a theme, the group hopes that this exhibition will illustrate the wide variety of styles and techniques individuals can use.
Linda Wride is an award winning Oxford-based photographer who specialises in botanical images. Her photograph ‘The allotment in June’ was overall winner in the Royal Horticultural Society Photography Competition. Her winning image was from ‘Cultivating Communities’ a projects based on and inspired by the plants, people and potting sheds of Osney allotments, off Botley Road in Oxford. The exhibition includes a selection of photographs from the project, including the RHS winning image.
There will be a chance to find out more when representatives from Oxford Textile Workshop will be holding ‘Meet the Artist’ sessions on Wednesdays 18th August and 1st September and Saturday 28th August, 11am until 1pm.
 Embroidery by member of Oxford Textile Group
 The allotment in June by Linda Wride
‘Hurry Slowly’
Tuesday September 14th to Saturday October 2nd 2010
10 am to 4pm, Monday to Saturday (closed Sunday and Bank Holidays)
For the past year, Helen Caless and Julie Smith have been creating art inspired by the museum. The public will now have the chance to see the extraordinary work produced by their artistic residency in a three week exhibition running from September 14th until October 2nd.
Julie Smith, a fine art lecturer and visual artist, has been creating exquisite silverpoint drawings and collecting objects on walks, all beginning from the museum. She has also been drawing and mapping Wantage by its hedges. Helen Caless, a professional textile artist and co-director of the Bullpen Arts Centre in Stanford in the Vale, has been casting small textile objects in metal and collecting fragments from the mould-making processes used. The artists have also collaborated to produce sculptures in response to the museum’s own collection.
Helen explains, “After running some family-friendly art workshops at the Museum, the idea of volunteering to be an artist-in-residence was appealing. I enjoy discovering new things every time I visit the museum. I love the way a museum’s collection can transport you, in your imagination, through time – triggering all sorts of associations. My artwork makes reference to the significance of objects, collections, treasures, textiles, toys and storytelling. The chance to collaborate with Julie has meant that some of the pieces in the exhibition are the result of joint ideas and processes. As artists working in the digital age, we have found it inspiring and refreshing to be handling items from the past and using them to inspire our own drawing, sculpture and textiles.”
Apart from exhibiting their own work, the artists will be installing objects into the museum cabinets in the main galleries. Objects will include a cast iron bobbin with wool, an intricately embroidered tablecloth and a plaster doorknob. Julie adds,” We have looked at the role of the museum as a place for interpreting the cultural heritage of the Vale of White Horse. Our aim is to address how we look at things, and the role of ‘touch’, plans, discoveries, books and text in museums.”
There will be a chance to chat with the artists and find out more about their work when they will be in the Museum on Wednesday 21st September from 11am – 1pm for a ‘Meet the Artists’ session.
‘Paysage Spirituel’
Tuesday October 5th to Saturday October 16th 2010
10 am to 4pm, Monday to Saturday (closed Sunday and Bank Holidays)
Local artist, David Morton, makes a long-overdue return to the Upper Gallery with his latest exhibition, ‘Paysage Spirituel’. Running from October 5th until October 16th in the exhibition is one of four long-term projects that have occupied the artist over many years. David, who took early retirement from his career as a psychiatric nurse to concentrate on his art, describes his paintings as ‘varied and complicated’.
David explains, “Paysage Spirituel’ is my response to the wonder and complexity of the natural world. I had the idea of making four large paintings to represent the seasons. This is an historical concept but realized in my own style, using a semi-abstract format and containing some of the unusual juxtapositions and mysteries of the surreal. Most of the works in the exhibition should not be taken as traditional views as seen only with the eye, but as an attempt to achieve a vision of things through synthesis of form; although some realistic images may be discerned in the paintings. As the famous Swiss artist, Paul Klee, remarked - Art does not render the visible - it renders visible.’”
There will be a chance to meet David and find out more about his exhibition by dropping in to ‘Meet the Artist’ sessions at the museum on October 6th and 13th, from 10.30am until noon.
'Tranquil Brush’
Tuesday October 19th to Saturday October 30th
10 am to 4pm, Monday to Saturday (closed Sunday and Bank Holidays)
Twenty years ago, Margaret White attended an evening class to study Chinese Brush painting. She and fellow students found this style of art inspirational. When the evening class eventually closed, the group were determined to keep in touch and continue experimenting with the techniques they had learnt. ‘Tranquil Brush’ was born and today it has twelve members who meet one Saturday per month in Abingdon to explore this ancient art form. Paintings produced by members can be seen in their latest exhibition.
Margaret explains, “The traditional Chinese artists copied works from the old masters. Our paintings are in the style of various artists, some of whom are still living.
Water-colour and ink are the medium used in our paintings. The ink is ground with an ink stick made of pine soot and glue on a well-type stone. Our paper is often called rice paper, but is actually made from various materials such as mulberry or cotton and each type has a different absorbency. The brushes are made from wolf, goat or horse hair, tufts of which are bound together and glued into a hollow handle of bamboo.
Beginning by learning the ‘Four Gentlemen’-bamboo, plum blossom, orchid and chrysanthemum, the strokes used will follow through into landscapes, birds and animals. Paintings are completed by a seal or chop depicting the artist’s name. Calligraphy is often added quoting a poem or saying. Each year is depicted by an animal. 2010 is the year of the Tiger. There are so many techniques involved you are always learning something new.”
There will be a chance to meet members of the group and find out more about this absorbing art on Saturday October 23rd between 10.30am and 2.30pm when members of Tranquil Brush will be in the museum for a ‘Meet the Artists’ session.
 
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