Jilly Edwards

At the suggestion of my tutor I looked at http://bletheringcrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/jilly-edwards.html. This page has an interview with Jilly Edwards, who describes herself at one point as an art weaver, and another identifies herself as a craftsperson.

First of all, I liked the friendly open way she talked about what she does, and the way she (or whoever wrote the article) chose photos that reflected what she was saying, sometimes funnily. Which all makes it seem more possible that I might be doing something along the same lines one day.

And I could really relate to what she says about natural fibres doing half the work for you, and going with the yarn that 'feels right'.

I wasn't immediately drawn to the first few works in the article. I was starting to think that I wasn't 'getting' the combinations of colours, or the texture, or the 'concept' of them.

For example, A Splash of Blue 1993 looked more like a splash of red to me! Looking at it now I can see that there is a great deal of skill in the placement and pattern of the blue area, but when I looked at it it did not 'speak to me'.

Textures of Memory 2005 was more interesting to me. It made me think, and wonder, and want to touch and feel it unravelling through my fingers as I discovered something about the artist's memories. I liked the way the ends were unfinished, sticking up like markers, and some of them had labels. It made me think about memory and how it works in real life, and led me into stories. I'm not sure how the colours and patterns come into this though. I think if I was doing a piece about my memories I would make the textures change more often to reflect the very different kind of moods that predominate in different memories.

Ma, detail 2001 was the one that really got my attention though, because of the amazing blues in it I think, and the light and shade behind the satisfying curve. I preferred this combination of different blues to the ones with more colours in them. I think this is because it allows me to submerge myself in the atmosphere of it, which is what I like to do! There are great proportions in this photo, and the little white triangle on the curve of the dark blue edge really makes it different and good.

The photograph that appealed to me most, though, was the unfinished one Work in Progress Around the Red Hills 2011. I enjoyed seeing the threads that the rest of it were going to be woven through, and even more the beautiful wooden (I'm ashamed to admit I don't know the name for them) bobbins? on the ends of the yarn. The texture and weight of the final product is clearest in this photo, and it surprised me how light and fine this piece is. I enjoyed looking at the subtle variations in the colour/texture of the white area with the sun shining onto it.

I was struck by the wide variety of types of art Jill Edwards produces - colourful paintings, subtly textured woven art, and Traveller's samples no7, 2009 enigmatic 3D pieces.

I followed a link to Jilly Edwards' website http://www.jillyedwards.co.uk/index.htm, which is in the process of construction. I hope there are going to be more close up pictures of her work because I would like to see more of them.