It was a full house at The Art Tree in Shepton Mallet last Wednesday evening. Bundles of willow, coloured dogwoods and hazel sticks, trays of tea, coffee and biscuits plus 10 enthusiasts eager to learn how to make a dragonfly for their garden.
Set amid the fabulous new layout of the gallery, participants mingled very well with Ned Boyd’s bold paintings of Nasturtiums, the organic forms of Phil Brown’s ceramic lamps and my willow sculptures. The natural colours of the willow and dogwoods contrasted beautifully with the bright colours of Gill Hulse’s glass work and the group referred to Gill’s glass dragonflies for inspiration. But of course there is a lot more in the gallery including cards, felt work and a whole range of paintings by other local artists.
Willow weaving is all about controlling the willow and having confidence to experiment with it so as the evening progressed, the nervous chatter was soon taken over by silent concentration and everyone made fantastic dragonflies!