This Sunday I went down to the Westbury Arts Centre as part of Bucks Open Studios which is running this month. Its a great chance to nosey around the studios of artists of all kinds and be inspired by what they create. This includes textiles and fibre artists. At Westbury there is an artist called Helen Den Dulk who creates large scale sculptural pieces with crochet and knitting. She creates fantastic wall hangings with crochet which throw shapes and shadows onto the walls which become part of the finished effect. She recycles and hand dyes some of her raw materials. She kindly allowed me to photograph some of her work to show you on this blog.
This one is reminiscent of a sea creature / Dr Who monster and was big enough that my four-year-old could have rested in it! I love the way it pools onto the floor.
This next one I have a strange affection for because she used Drops yarn, bought from Wool Warehouse, in it. The ‘brickwork’ is knitted in stocking stitch. It’s special to see something so striking made out of something we would all use for our more traditional makes.
In this one Helen crocheted around the flex of some fairy lights to create the spirals, which are then lit up by the lights embedded in the work.
Hanging spiral and circular forms recur in Helen’s work and are strangely hypnotic.
The open studios are open again this weekend coming. Do go along if you live in or near Buckinghamshire – there are so many places you can visit, but at Westbury you can see many artists all in one place. And they do a nice cup of tea too.
The Knackered Psycho 