As part of this year’s Somerset Art Weeks Festival, Somerset Rural Life Museum will be celebrating one of the county’s most sustainable natural products. ‘Spinning a Yarn’ is a partnership project with Somerset Art Works to tell the story of wool in Somerset. Through art installations, an exhibition, workshops, talks, and family activities, visitors can discover more about the history and uses of this versatile material.
In the Museum’s 14th-century Abbey Barn, visitors will encounter a dramatic new installation by Nicola Turner. The striking artwork, created using hand-crafted woollen tendrils, will encompass the 8-meter height of the historic barn. A film by Trevor Pitt will also be playing in the barn.
‘Somerset Yarning’ captures the personal stories of sheep farmers and artists who work with their fleeces. The film weaves a poetic journey that follows how the fleeces from Fernhill Farm are carded, spun, felted, and woven by artists from across the county. In the Mapstone Gallery, contemporary makers will display works made with wool.
These include kimonos and handbags by couture-felt artist Liz Clay and wall hangings by hand-loom weavers Jade Ogden, who uses regenerative wool from the Mendips, and naturally dyed and recycled wool pieces by Penny Wheeler. There will also be pieces by Gladys Paulus, whose work straddles the worlds of fine arts, traditional crafts, and ritual. There are workshops offering a chance to learn hand-weaving, needle felting, and natu.