Ginkgo biloba

I have been invited to take part in a Spring exhibition at Glastonbury Abbey along with two other local artists, Jo Lucksted a ceramicist and Angie Rooke a painter.  The exhibition opens on 14th February and will run until 4th May 2015.  This is short notice but fortunate that at this time of year I tend to have more time away from the drawing board and time to catch up with my garden and weaving in my studio.

The different strands of my life are intertwined; nature, plants, garden design, gardening, winter maintenance such as hedge laying and coppicing, weaving with twigs and leaves… therefore it is a perfect time to work towards an exhibition.  I take inspiration from the hedgerows, garden prunings, fallen leaves from the trees and faded leaves from the flower borders, etc… It is an exciting time of year and my eyes are always peeled and it was whilst I was in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey I caught sight of a golden yellow Ginkgo tree above a deep carpet of yellow – irresistible!

My studio is now scattered with fan shaped Ginkgo biloba leaves and woven banners of dancing yellow leaves which I have never worked with before.

This is a time consuming process without knowing how successful the outcome will be.  I have found that the leaves need to be dried out as quickly as possible once I get them to the studio to avoid them discolouring as the decomposition sets in.