Sunny Bank Mills

I made my first visit to Sunny Bank Mills recently. It is a Victorian woollen mill complex in Farsley on the outskirts of Leeds. The oldest building on the site was opened in 1829 and when the textile business closed down, as recently as 2008, its owners converted the site to units for small businesses and creative organisations. It has a gallery that hosts exhibitions, with a small café and a shop full of original and creative gifts: prints, jewellery, ceramics, houseware and textiles. It's a bit like Salts Mill, though not on such a grand scale, and without the associated village setting. 

It's a delightful place to browse and I very much enjoyed the current exhibition: Drawn from the Land, by various artists whose work is inspired by and evolves from the land. I particularly liked the prints by Bridget Tempest (see HERE for her website).

These colourful ceramic buttons in the shop caught my eye, as well as some gorgeous blue-green glassware, amongst a host of other delightful things. 

Everything was attractively displayed alongside old artefacts that presumably once graced the mill, like this cash register. 

I enjoyed Oonagh Corr's pieces, woven from brambles and reminiscent of birds nests:

The colourful boards below are Bridget Tempest's work too. They are painted (or printed) but reminded me of the kind of effects some photographers manage to achieve with Intentional Camera Movement - and it prompted me that I should go out and have another play with that technique. 

I really enjoyed looking round the gallery and then I had an interesting wander round outside, through the mill complex, where there is a history and art trail.