November 22 – January 20, 2009

JUDY and CHRIS WILFORD
Remembered Places
Embroidery and Woodwork

Opened Saturday November 22 at 11am
by Sarah Tucker MA (Textiles)

Judy Wilford works in a realistic, impressionistic manner gaining inspiration entirely from the landscapes of the regions she has visited and lived in. She references the natural world in its many and varied aspects; from the wide scale landscape to the intimacy of the habitats of birds and small animals, and in recent times the small and minute elements of the land, such as lichen and mosses.

Judy has worked and experimented in the various mediums and techniques of drawing, painting, clay, design and printing. However it is the flexibility and technical variety inherent in textiles, and in particular hand embroidery, that has continued to fascinate her.

Many of the techniques she uses have been adapted from traditional forms to suit her needs. She has never worked at embroidery in a traditional manner and uses a mixture of techniques such as, dying, painting and mono-printing of background fabrics, combined with fabric layering, painted and cut elements with manipulation techniques and layered surface stitching. Judy uses fabric in much the same way a painter uses washes to lay in a background.

Trees. mountains and grass lines may be different layers of fabric either cut to the required profile, or shape, or torn and frayed for specific effects. Up to sixteen layers may be superimposed to form the background then a silk organza layer is placed over the completed background and the stitching begins. Using simple stitches Judy combines layered fabrics and layered stitches to give the work a sense of depth, distance and play of light that is inherent in all low-relief work. She continues to make subtle changes and finds new and different ways of interpreting her environment.

As well as designing and stitching for commission and exhibition she regularly teaches her techniques. Having lived and worked in isolation for most of her life, this gives an opportunity to travel and broaden her landscape experience, greatly enhancing her work and her life.

For many years she supplied galleries on in Australia’s eastern states and in New York, but now concentrates on private commissions and exhibition work for Bungendore Woodworks Gallery. She finds this a more satisfying way to work and allows for experimentation, further research and moves into different but related areas of embroidery and textiles.

For Judy Wilford the land remains as the one constant inspiration and influence, from its wide scale aspects to its intimate habitats; from the small, the minute and the infinite patterns of nature; from the day to day and the season to season changes.

Stan d’Argeavel M.A.
Exhibitions Coordinator

Selected Catalogue of Works - all items, Hand Embroidery in hand-made Australian timber frames or boxes

For a complete listing of pieces still available for purchase please contact the Gallery on 02 6238 1682 or gallery@bwoodworks.com.au
The Seed Eaters - Diamond Finches $3000A Whisper of Grasses $2390Button Grass Flat $1990New Growth on the Escarpment $1990On Alert - White-browed Scrub Wren $2500Lichen 1 $4000After Rain - Desert Flowers $1990At the Beach $1350Summer into Autumn $1750Autumn into Winter $1750Billy Buttons $990Falling Tide - Bay of Fires $1500Fan Flower $990Fringe Myrtle $990Grasslands 1 Western Plains $5000Azure Kingfisher $3250A Lamentation on Trees $2390Lichen III - Bay of Fires $10000Nectar Sippers - Eastern Spinebill $3000Terra Kakatoe - Red Tailed Black Cockatoo $3000Rising Dust - Storm over Salt Flats $1990The Rock on the Plains $1600Ruby Dock & Everlastings $1600Sand & Spinifex $1600Sun Lights up the Dunes $1350Tanglefoot Beach $990Wax Flower $990Terra-Cotta of Sorghum $1990The Sentinels $1350Wattle Flat $1990Nesting Time - Scarlet Robins $2500
A4 Jewellery Box - Desert Glowing $2800A4 Jewellery Box - Beachwalk $2800A4 (Bare) Box $1250A6 Box - Summer $625