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Winter Windfall

 

Dear All,

This is the first of what I hope will be an annual end-of-year sale.  So, it would be great if some of you manage to make your way up here to the West Highlands to take a few bargain buys home.

I have a lot of stock - too much to list on the website - so you'll really need to visit the studio in order to see what is on offer.  However, I have put a few larger sale items on my website, for the benefit of those of you who cannot travel and who are considering giving yourself ( or a friend) a lovely Christmas present.  To see those pieces, have a look at the Textiles For Sale page of the website.

So, I'll be spending the next few days getting all the work hung on the walls.  It will be a bit of a contrast to last week, which I spent on the Isle of Harris, in glorious sunshine (it is bucketing down just now, here in Elphin!).  My Harris trip was the first in what I hope will be a series of journeys I intend to make by way of pilgrimage. This is such a personal process that I don't intend to document everything.  But if you are interested, you can get a glimpse of my early experience by visiting the Pilgrim page of the website.

That's all for now.

Warm wishes for a cheery winter.

Jan 

 

 

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Earthworks Move into Print

 

 

At long last the book version of the Earthworks project is complete!  And as I leaf through the pages of the book, I feel the warm glow of a job well done, thanks to the solid support of Chelsea Frew (designer) and Ricky Frew (photographer).

This beautiful, high-quality art book contains over a hundred pages of images and words celebrating the intricate workings of the earth, as experienced through the eyes - and hands - of textile and mixed media artist Jan Kilpatrick.  Striking photography by Ricky Frew illustrates the landscape that both inspires Jan’s work and provides the materials from which the work is made.  The nature-led processes involved in the making are also recorded through photography, along with a selection of the finished textile and poetry works that emerged from this immersive project. It is a visual feast.

Earthworks, the book, is a textile-covered, hardback volume, almost A4 in size.  It is limited to an edition of 500 signed copies and was launched on the 28th of May 2023.  It is only available through the artist’s website.  To make an advance order, please click here.

 

March 2023 

 

 

Launching the Ark

 

 

Dear All,

A long, quiet winter is now behind me and all the happy little daffodil heads are nodding away either side of the drive to the house.  Spring is here!  Seeds are sown!  Showery weather is back!

So this is the perfect time to launch Ark, a collection of work full of boats, birds and beasts (in a variety of unlikely combinations).  After making the work, I have only a week left to clear the cobwebs and the clutter from the studio in order to turn it into a temporary exhibition space.  But, it is amazing what a lick of white paint and some new spotlights will do.

On show will be textile wall hangings, framed textile collage, original textile and paper collage (mounted, but not framed, and selling at very attractive prices), hand made books, greeting cards and the odd experimental objet d’art.  And I have published a new book to accompany this show.  Ark, the book, features images of the key pieces of art work from this collection, along with some of my poetry and the occasional  photograph of Coigach and Assynt, my local patch of land and sea.

Ark, the exhibition, runs from Wednesday 25^th of March until Wednesday 8^th of April, 10 am until 4 pm each day.  If you have not visited my studio before, you can find directions on the Open Studio page of the website. I hope some of you will manage to come along to see the display and to buy a copy of the book.

If you cannot visit, but would like to experience the essence of the work, then you can buy a copy of Ark, the book, online by visiting the Prints and Publications page of the website. 

 

 

Co-incidentally, my long-time and occasional collaborator, Mairearad Green, has a new body of work on exhibition at an talla solais, in Ullapool.  Tìm (the Gaelic word for ‘time’, and which is pronounced ‘cheem’) runs from 27^th March until 17^th May.  This collection of bold and expressive paintings is accompanied by a new album of mesmeric music, also called Tìm, and I am delighted to have made a small contribution to the lyrics.  To buy the album and to find out more about this exciting project, visit Mairearad’s website here.

Well, this is a busy spring for me, since the Ark exhibition is quickly followed by a creative retreat, also running from my studio.  Then, for the rest of the spring and throughout summer, life takes on a more leisurely pace with, generally speaking, my studio open to visitors on Wednesdays until October (always best to check the up-to-date times via the website if travelling from afar).  Other than that, I plan on living an adventuresome life in 2026, as much as I can.

I wish you all the energy and optimism that comes with the spring solstice.

Jan