This week  I went to an exhibition by three artists, Gillian Arkley, Chris Dixon and Rose Stanley, who show work together as a group entitled, intriguingly…

This is a touring exhibition which has already appeared at the Scottish Quilting Show in March 2017 and the Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycrafts show at Harrogate in May.  I saw it at Old Low Light in North Shields, on a bright summer evening.

The Old Low Light, which was once a lighthouse is right on the Fish Quay in North Shields, and from the building there are beautiful views out to sea.

Within the building are references to its historical past, such as the enlarged nautical map on the ground floor.

A project called ‘Flow’ is being carried on in the building which allows young people with Additional Needs to create art-work for sale – I loved this chair:

The textile exhibition which I had come to see is up on the second floor of the building, in a light and airy gallery. It is entitled ‘Borders, Boundaries and Beyond’. It was fascinating to see how the three artists had played with these ideas in the work they were showing. Here in the North-East we are border people, living near to Scotland. This hasn’t always been harmonious and the border ‘reivers’ (both Scots and English) who used to make raids on properties in the border area between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries, appeared in the show.

We also live on edge of the land, at the border with the ocean, and a beautiful piece in the exhibition full of rich blues and purples celebrated some of the castles set on the north-east coastline.

One textile piece in the exhibition ‘Margins’ by Gillian Arkley, was an installation of letters and tiny fabric books set inside a print-tray. This had resonances for me, as my first job was in publishing and I remember going to a course at the London College of Printing and being shown how the hot metal cast type was selected by the printer from just such a tray and then how each individual letter was set into each line, so a page could be printed. The installation was considering borders in print and the gaps between letters and words – I loved it.

Different again were the witty fabric dolls on display.  One, ‘The Boarder’ (clever pun) by Rose Stanley particularly caught my eye. Here was a twelve-year old (called Peaches Abigail Blenkinsop) is off to boarding school, complete with her own doll, a trunk, magazine and the tiniest scaled-down chocolate bar!

The artists: Gillian Arkley, Chris Dixon and Rose Stanley  share their sketchbooks as part of the exhibit. This is such a generous thing to do, providing much pleasure and interest for the visitors, to see the creative process at work.

This exhibition is full of delights. See it if you can. It opened on 1 June and it runs until the 2 July 2017 at Old Low Lights, Clifford’s Fort, Fish Quay, North Shields NE30 1JA. The Gallery is open from 10am until 5pm every day.