Contributed by Cath Snape

I had a trip to the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield in January 2019. I love the Hepworth if you ever get a chance to go make the most of it. Entry is free but parking is £5.

I had a wander round the Barbara Hepworth’s wonderful sculptures then on to the design exhibition.

“To help celebrate 300 years of Chippendale furniture, Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield hosted an installation ‘Giles Round: The Director’. “On display were design objects from ceramics and textiles to glass and furniture that were shown in the 1959 exhibition and are still in production, alongside examples of the best hand-crafted and industrially-produced objects being made today.” -Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield

I was admiring the pieces when I realised that two of the rugs on display were woven by our very own Jacqueline James. I knew Jaqueline made fabulous rugs but I hadn’t appreciated that she was so widely recognised.

Jacqueline James writes “The  rugs were designed by Giles Round and woven by me.   They were inspired by motifs from textiles in the original ‘Living Today’ exhibition.  Each rug is made with a linen warp and British rug wool weft.  Both measure 120 x 194 cm and the designs are reversible. They were made using a traditional weft faced rug weaving technique called 3 end block weave with shaft-switching, a special technique invented by Master Weaver Peter Collingwood OBE.”

Unfortunately, the exhibition is now over so I can’t encourage others to visit but I did want to celebrate the work of our talented members. Jacqueline’s weavings are much admired and her commissions include Westminster Abbey, York Minster and the Jorvik Viking Centre.

For more information on Jacqueline James visit her website.

If any other members have exhibitions or special events please let us know so we can all visit, learn, and be inspired.