Craving the coast

 

Anyone else craving the coast? We’ve spent so much time at home during this year, lockdown has made my world feel really small. Daily walks have taken me through woodland and to local green spaces, which I love, but nothing feeds the soul like the coast. I’m feeling the lack of big skies, breathtaking blues, the light that only the coast brings and it seems to be echoed in my work.

 

I’m finding myself increasingly reaching for pebble greys, slate and soft sand colours which remind me of one of my favourite beaches in North Somerset. Kilve beach is one of the most spectacular geological treats I’ve ever seen. Originally enticed by the promise of fossils, it was so much more than I could’ve imagined.

                 

Layered limestone, shale and shingle cliffs creep down into the sea at unbelievable angles, creating beautiful rock formations, rock pools and striped bands of colour. Texturally, it’s a photographer’s dream, and it’s a place that has inspired me deeply.

   

I’m finding yarn-based, constructed textiles processes are giving me the opportunity to capture the textures and structures organically, and I’ve been knitting and weaving a lot recently. I’m suddenly driven to work on a much larger scale than normal, finding myself shrouded in these pieces as they grow.

    

These images are close ups of sections of a couple of pieces I’m currently making. Alongside making, I’m in the process of re-doing my website, it’s been an interesting task, trying to catalogue and organise my work. It’s really made me think about overriding themes within both my textiles and jewellery, and the undeniable pull that coastal landscapes have for me.

Keep an eye out for my new website, you can find more of my work at www.juliawright.co.uk