Visiting the LAF artists – Anne Townshend and Helen Howes
Two visits again this week!
On Thursday, a lovely sunny spring morning, I drove out to Wissington, near Nayland, to visit printmaker, Anne Townshend. Anne’s linocuts show fields, hedges, man-made marks on the natural landscape. Her home, at 1, Blacksmith’s Cottages, is in a lovely rural area, and faces south over the water meadows of the River Stour on the Essex/Suffolk border. It was easy to see where her inspiration comes from! Anne told me she often goes out into the neighbouring fields, and sits drawing for hours – and having discovered this lovely area, to which I had never been before, I intend to do the same when the weather is a bit warmer!
Anne uses a room at the front of her house as a studio, and there was her big press, and lots of prints hung up to dry with clothes pegs. I am sure her work is going to be very popular with Festival goers. In the photo below, taken in her studio, Anne is wearing a cardigan by another artist-maker whose work we are showing this year – knitwear designer and maker, Caroline Sullivan! What a coincidence!
To find out more about Anne, and have a preview of her work, go to www.annetownshendart.weebly.com
Anne Townshend in her print making studio
Yesterday I was off to the Suffolk/Norfolk border – this time to visit Helen Howes at her studio/gallery/shop at the Raveningham Centre. Helen is a textile artist who uses an enormous variety of techniques to produce wonderful hangings, and numerous smaller items. Huge colourful quilts hung from the rafters of her unit – and she showed me small exquisite pieces made from tiny pieces of silk with textured, hand-dyed stitching – and zipped silk purses, and screen printed, and collaged items . . . . her work disply at the Festival is going to be so colourful and interesting!
To find out more about Helen and her work, go to www.helenhowestextiles.co.uk
Helen Howes in her textile studio
I also had a second visit to the Royal Academy’s ‘Painting the Modern Garden’ exhibition this week, this time with my niece. It was so good to see my favourites again, and we spent a long time just looking at Monet’s water-lily triptych, in the last room. What an awesome work!
Hope you’re having a good weekend! 🙂