'Felt'

They occasionally open up the roof space in Salts Mill for exhibitions. It's a raw, textural expanse of rough stone, wood and whitewash, surprisingly light from the huge skylights. I absolutely love it. I find it an incredibly peaceful place. I will always try and see the exhibitions up there just to experience the whole vibe. 

For the Arts Trail this year, there is a site-specific installation by Clare Tindale, called 'Felt'. It's actually in a section of the roof that I'd not been in before, with beautiful wooden cross beams - a magnificent, dramatic space.  Clare has used wool to explore the industrial heritage of the mill and the surrounding village. The artwork consists of hundreds of little hand-crafted houses, sculpted using a needle-felting technique. Working the wool in this way, repetitively stabbing it with a needle to compact it into a solid felted material, becomes quite a therapeutic and meditative process.  Many of the pieces were created by workshop participants from the local area and further afield. They are displayed with lengths of felt swooping, curving and hanging from the beams. 

The accompanying leaflet says: 'In responding to the historic and contemporary contexts of the mill and village, the work explores the relationship between industry and home, the communities that develop and the supportive, symbiotic relationship that results.'  For me personally, the joy came from the shapes, colours and textures of the whole artwork in the space, and a lovely sense of nostalgia and linkage to the textile creating activities that originally went on in these huge spaces of the mill. The exhibition closes tomorrow (Sunday 6th June) unfortunately. It's a shame it's not on for longer (and was quite hard to find!)