Dressing up - Being with my Baby - Walking the dog - Tea - Sewing... (that list continues for an age and is evergrowing...)
...and on that list, very near the top, there is the work of Julie Arkell....
I don't even know what to say about her work.It leaves me speechless.
I am utterly compelled by it. I look at this book alllllll the time. I think about her alllll the time. Images of her work pop into my head day and evening. I am so envious that I am not her but I am so grateful she is who she is otherwise she would never have produced such craft.
All i can do is show you a few images from the small booklet i have. Even if the quality of these photos were better or brighter, they still can't match up to the 'real thing'.I'll try to tell you what her work makes me feel of:
Think about an eldery lady who has sadly passed away, and you have been asked if there is anything you'd like from her attic before they clear it all and sell the house. There are dusty trunks filled with old lace, postcards and buttons.... there are toys, handmade from paper, wearing woolly hats. There are rabbits - on wheels! that you can pull along with string. There are wooden block clowns with frightening inter-changable heads... you find old letters and postcards from seaside towns and brown-edged photographs of a slim man whose name has carelessly been forgotten. There is a whole world of childhood all huddled and stored in paper. The stories of Summer days spill onto the wooden floorboards as you remember the taste of home-made lemonade and the smell of someones old house-coat.
Twee? maybe. But i think there is also a sinister or 'sad' edge to her work that i fail to capture in words. The sadness is a sort of frustration, like when you can't remember the name of something and it 'kills' you to rack your brain!!
You might also think I am mad, and you know Julie Arkell's work and it isn't at all how I have described... maybe my descriptions say more about me than they do about the artist?Ah well, look her up and see for yourself. Decide if you like her too?
Julie Arkell.Born in London 1955
and look at her here: http://lovelytextiles.blogspot.com/2008/06/julie-arkell-knit-to-embroidery_25.html she herself is beautiful... damn my envy of her brilliance.
Ahhh Julie Arkell, thanks so much for making the world a better place to be x
Ahhh Julie Arkell, thanks so much for making the world a better place to be x
12 comments:
I know exactly how you feel about Julie Arkell and her work. I think you iterated it well! her work is beautiful and yes a do think a little dark too, a great combination ;0 x
I know Julies work from years back when I worked for the Crafts Council. It has really developed an incredible sensitivity and depth and I agree it is so inspiring!
the pictures look lovely, im definatly going to chck her out
I think you have described Julie's work perfectly , that's how i kind of see it too !!
I would love to go on one of her workshops one day when i have some spare pennies !!
Sara x
Gorgeous picture of you and your little one.
I really like some of Julie Arkell's work and then there are pieces which I find slightly unnerving to look at.
Her work is lovely, and has so many layers and stories attached to it just as you describe. And I love that book. I don't have it but always spend ages looking at it whenever I come across it. It draws me in everytime. There was a good feature on her in Selvedge last year. And I've just seen Loop have another of their workshops with her on April 19th. That would be a lovely day!
Go out a get yourself a copy of the current Selvedge magazine- there's a feature on her and I think you can win a crafting holiday at her place in France. (just had a quick flick through so I may be wrong)
Thank you for that lost post. It gave me pleasant time trawling the internet looking at her wonderful work. :O)
ah, how reassuring i wasn't on my own with these feelings x x ..off to get selvedge....
Hello....thank you for the really sweet comment...I'll be back later to read your blog!xxx
Hi Kirsty, we thought you might be interested in this wonderful plate Julie has painted us. We are currently holding an online auction of handpainted plates to celebrate our twentieth birthday. Have a peep at our website! Lettie @ Cosmo
http://chinacosmo.blogspot.com/2010/07/auction.html
There are wooden block clowns with frightening inter-changable heads.
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