Website Updates - All Artists Images to view

                                                       

www.ilkleyarttrail.org.uk

Art in Unusual Spaces - Forerunner exhibition for Ilkley Art Trail 2011

Ilkley Osteopath Andy Mansfield of Wells Practice, is the latest businesses to embrace The Ilkley Gallery’s mission to bring more Art to unusual spaces in the town. In collaboration with curator and director of ‘The Ilkley Gallery’ Lorna Bird, he has opened up his practice, on Wells Walk, Ilkley to the public for an exhibition of two local artists, whose work it is hoped will support his practice’s efforts to heal and refresh our tired little bodies.

Linda Dewart is an Ilkley based fabric and mixed media artist whose work is more frequently exhibited elsewhere in Yorkshire, and in Cumbria and London. Her work uses unusual techniques. Of the exhibition Linda says: “Most of this work is 2-D with each piece dictating the materials used.  Some are heavily stitched and textural whilst others concentrate more on paint with minimal or no stitch.  It all depends on what feels right!  Others will demand clay, wire, digital print or photographic elements.” In an interview she talks of her current influences as being: “the relationship between the natural landscape and man and figurative work where I am most interested in people who do not quite fit into the stringent ‘norms’ imposed by society.” Perfect for a therapeutic practice. 

Linda has recently worked collaboratively with another Artist based in Ilkley whose work is also more usually seen elsewhere in the country. Graeme Willson is an internationally noted public artist and Linda has been working on translating his artwork into a processional banner for Halifax Minster. 

The second artist of the exhibition is also an internationally collected artist, Leeds based Judith Levin, whose seasonally appropriate and

Ilkley-responsive, swathes of heather moorland compliment and contrast with Linda Dewart’s more intimate work.

Practice Director Andy has been moved by the potential synergy of the concept from The Ilkley Gallery in mounting the exhibition there: “The practice has been transformed! I love the coherent thread of natural tactility that flows through the place and the brightness it brings to the hallway. The work has already drawn some tremendous compliments.”

The Exhibition at Wells Practice is a forerunner of Ilkley’s first ever Art Trail (www.ilkleyarttrail.org.uk), which is gaining momentum for its launch event October 8 – 16, at the same time as Ilkley Literature Festival. The two exhibiting artists as well as Graeme Willson and over 30 others will all be staging exhibitions and selling work as part of the forthcoming Ilkley Art Trail 2011 in October. Andy said “I also love the idea that Ilkley Art Trail will involve Ilkley businesses in the same way.”

Access to view the exhibition is by appointment during office hours.

Linda Dewarts work can be seen any time in reception and hallways, whilst Judith Levin can be seen between appointments in treatment room 1. It lasts until December with a break in October for the Art Trail. 

For Ilkley Art Trail visit:

www.ilkleyarttrail.org.uk

or call  07789681862

To visit the exhibition at Wells Practice – call  01943 817191

Ilkley Art Trail Needs Your Books

Ilkley Art Trail has another 'fringe piece / project' planned as part of the trail and we need your help with it.

Emma Straw at Cakewalk, along with the Trail has had the great concept of making an Art Trail / Literature Festival link : We are asking for as many of your unwanted but ok quality, second hand books that you can give us.

We will liaise with local cafe's / bars / restaurants / shops / community spaces etc to leave small piles of books on tables, bars, seats etc all around Ilkley, and keep them topped up, throughout the festival... People can read and leave them, or take them away, or whatever they want to do with them, and when all is over we will collect the remaining books and take to the library and to charity shops.

Books don't have to be art related or even fiction (but please no car maintenance manuals - be creative)

Each book will have a flyer in it for Ilkley Art Trail 2011 (and a flyer for Cakewalk since Emma will be doing most of the the leg-work).

Please take, or send all books to Cakewalk Handmade and Vintage soon as you can. If you could volunteer a little time to help insert the flyers, etc., then please do speak with Emma to arrange this.

Contact details for Cakewalk are:

Emma Straw

Arcade at 7a
7a Railway Road
Ilkley
West Yorkshire
LS29 8HQ

Opening Times

Tues–Sat: 10am–5pm

Telephone (01943) 604 222

Email emmastraw@tiscali.co.uk

Getting There! Thank you.

Job Nearly Done -Website Wise

Visit the website now www.ilkleyarttrail.org.uk  and see it still under construction, but we do have a tempting thumbnail on there for every artist and participant so it's well worth a look. The next stage is a page for every artist... Watch this space.

There will be a down-loadable programme with map at the end of September.

Thank you all for your support.

Ist Ilkley Art Trail Artists Networking Get-Together

Such a good time was had at this important do, that no pictures were taken! Artists and the team will have to rely upon their memory and readers upon their imagination!

A cryptic feature as reminder of the space however, since I feel an image is necessary:

Thanks go to FABRIC (Creative Bradford) who provided help with food and drink. We decided to save on the costs of a venue and bar prices, and  hold it at the home of Ilkley Art Trail organiser, Lorna Bird. House parties are funkier anyway. And it was indeed a funky and exciting do. (We came in bang on budget with extras materialising from within, to make an ambitiously good time and a cosy, cool meeting. More could not have been wished for).

For the first time in ... ages... ever?... the visually creative community of Wharfedale began the forming of a hub by meeting under one roof. Some were out of the country but are determined to hook in on another occasion as soon as possible. It was an important time for creatives in Ilkley and the creative souls, without whom creatives might struggle for context, to get to know each other, each other's work and ideas. Names were put to faces and a team was born. Present were...

Trail Artists:
Linda Dewart
Jason Howgate
Lucia Smith
Chris Rymer
Christine Robinson
Kerry Stoker
Ian Robinson
Joy Godfrey
Chris Bailey
Anne Honeyman
Denise Ledgerwood
Flick
Lesley Anne Greene
Ken Jaquiery
Emma Fotherby
Lisa Hinds
Jackie Knight
Volunteers:
Carole Barnes
Gillian Gilmour
Supporters:
Jane Winn
Mairead O'Donnell
Designer:
Hayley Smith
IAT Supporters offering their homes as exhibition space:
Didi Metcalf
Jane and John Thorne
Trail and Artistic Community Mentor:
Brian Berrett

Apologies Trail Artists:
Emily Harvey
Tamara Lawson
Lucie Burrows
Hilary James
Tara Binns
Philippa Horne
Geraldine Thompson
Christine Vandenhaute
Liz Sutcliffe
Angela Barrow
Judith Levin
Graeme Willson
Emma Straw
Steve Moore
Mike Moor
Vicki Nolan
Kitty North
Marie Wood
Apologies volunteers:
Anna Nolan
Cheryl Woods

Wine flowed (fruit punch available but less popular). Gorgeous nibbles were provided gratis by the lovely Jane Winn. Thus a synergy became tangible between the whole gathering. Artists, being the tip of the iceberg, along with the motivated body of  volunteers and supporters giving their all to make this good.

I have been moved, once to discover the wealth of creative work being made in isolation in this town by visual artists, and again to discover the hunger to see it, from an audience as unaware that it existed as myself , and again to witness the easy subsequent evolution of the communal goodwill to bring the two together. Our aim could be to make something in Ilkley's first Art Trail that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Thanks go to all.

Go to Our Website www.ilkleyarttrail.org.uk

This is a reminder that more information is becoming available on our developing website. We are not visible to search engines yet and so please type the address straight into your address bar.

www.ilkleyarttrail.org.uk

Ilkley Art Trail at Ilkley Art Fair 12 and 13 August 2011

Carole Barnes and Lorna Bird stood for a day each at Ilkley Art Fair to catch early interest from outside the town to demonstrate that Ilkley has more than landscape to offer, should they wish to return in October.

The opportunity was thanks to the generosity of Tim Tennant of Tennants Art Shop on Hawkesworth Street, who organises the Art Fair and who is also a supporter of Ilkley Art Trail. Our space there was given as sponsorship.

Ilkley Art Fair attracts visitors from the length and breadth of the country and many of those are Art Club groups. We discovered, as hoped, that many visitors are looking for more than is generally on offer in a rural town. Many were pleased and heartened to be offered the opportunity to come and see some of our more conceptual, non-representational and abstract work in October.

Much interest was generated, much checking of diaries and taking of our postcards, many names for the mailing list gathered and promisses to go straight home and check out plans for October.

All in all an excitement generating success. Twigglets and chocolate went down well too.

Website Launch

http://www.ilkleyarttrail.org.uk/

Our new website is still under construction but viewable in the meantime. Watch us build it if you like!

Ilkley Art Trail logo has been designed by H Designs Hayley Smith, after a silver brooch designed and made by Silver worker Adele Taylor. You may recognise it as a representation of the Cup and Ring Stones ancient carvings on Ilkley Moor.

Enjoy it.

Lorna Bird