Windy Bank 2

Mounted on board, W50 cm × H40 cm with slate grey fabric border, embroidery is W39 cm × H29 cm.

The countryside which surrounds me here, in rural Lancashire, is a constant source of inspiration. This is the case with this piece. I have embroidered this magical place, which is just a bit down our lane before. That was about 20 years ago.

Inspired by my husband who has been fascinated with the mystical names and legends that he has found during his research of the local history of this area, I couldn't resist revisiting this scene with a new embroidery.

The deep dark woods on the other side of the stream are named in ancient documents as "Ooze Castle Wood". Apparently a "Giant Serpent" lives in a hole somewhere in these spooky woods. 

There is an ancient stone bridge over the little stream consisting of one huge slab supported by a rock on either side. For us it became "The Fairy Bridge" from the first time we walked that way more than 30 years ago. The stream is in the deep dip behind a wilderness of rushes. The windswept trees I named "The Eerie Trees" as they catch the last sunlight and stand brightly against their darker backdrop.

The whole area used to be a busy settlement, known and documented as “Windy Bank” for at least 200 years. It is now just ruins. 

Using free-motion embroidery, I have tried to echo the rhythm of rushes, grasses and autumn trees bending in the wind. The changing colours of the threads mirror the richness of the landscape itself, where a myriad of greens mingle with russet, ochre, gold and brown.

Although inspired by a familiar scene, this piece is also an exploration of colour and light. Viewed closely it becomes a tapestry of stitched marks and intersecting lines; from a distance the landscape emerges. It celebrates the extraordinary beauty hidden within the ordinary places we pass every day.

Maybe I should have called this piece "The EerieTrees" which was its original working title.