Jill Brown - Multi Media Artist
Photography Through Surfaces and Materials
NEWS UPDATES
January 2025
I'm really excited to be the 1st exhibition of 2025 at Kendal Museum starting on 16 January & running until 1st March 2025.
I'll be exhibiting my Smardale Railway work entitled 'Smardale Railway - a landscape embedded in People & History'.
The 8 translucent voiles are back on display in a framed format, with my work supported by additional photography & merchandise.
If you are in the area why not take the chance to walk the line & become inspired like I still do, walking throughout the seasons.
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December 2024
What started out as a chance conversation in the local library/ Museum of Molyvos on the Greek island of Lesvos in 2019, ended up with an invitation ( with a weeks notice!!!) from the University of the Aegean/ Dept of Sociology to speak to the post grads on their module of photovoice. Unfortunately I didn't go to Greece but the wonders of zoom connected the students both remotely & possibly on the adjoining islands.
I shared with them my inspiration & designs for Smardale Railway, my Costa cup project & the use of my lampshades to tell a narrative. They asked some really good questions ( in English) & I've received a lovely letter from their Professor.
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December 2024
Picture This: HOPE exhibition at the National Justice Museum in Nottingham.
16 November 2024- 7 March 2025.
My image of a simple dandelion was my submission & part of the exhibition. Its simplicity, tone & the way they survive growing from the pavement was my interpretation.
November 2024
I am really delighted that my lampshades are now stocked at The Courtyard Gallery in Appleby. I have been a visitor to the gallery for many years and it's a beautiful setting with lovely artwork run by Andrew & Rosie who is a printer herself. The coffee, cake & chat is always worth it.
Andrew has designed an ingenious system for installing the shades on the beams which can easily be amended.
October 2024
I did it! My talk at Maulds Meaburn Village Hall went down well. The audience seemed to enjoy my tales of Smardale Gill Railway Line. I touched on my family history links to the line, the history of the development of the railway, supplemented by stories & the people obtained from the newspaper archive. I then pulled all these threads together with my final degree installation project.
Lots of lovely conversations over coffee afterwards & I even sold a lampshade of the line, so I'm looking forward to seeing it lit in the village window.
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October 2024
Some months ago I agreed to a talk in Maulds Meaburn Village Hall in Cumbria. I'm passionate about Smardale Gill Railway, so I'll be bringing my voiles, sketchbook & merchandise.
It is years since I've done something like this- I'll be nervous but I hope the visitors enjoy it. Proceeds to the village hall fund.
Wish me luck!
October 2024
I love my volunteering roles & at the Silk Museum in Macclesfield I work with a group of people in the archives every Thursday afternoon- we are called the History Hunters..
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We have curated an upcoming exhibition: The People of Paradise Mill. We meet weekly at the Silk Museum to help uncover the hidden stories within the archives and collections of the Silk Museum and Paradise Mill. Looking at all types of source materials from catalogue books and account registers, to machine parts and textiles, this exhibition focuses on the people of Paradise Mill and occupier Cartwright and Sheldon.
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It also includes a display of artistic interpretations created by the History Hunters of the people and stories that have inspired them.
History Hunters of Macclesfield (@historyhunters_macclesfield) • Instagram photos and videos
September 2024
Farfield Mill in Sedbergh have now added my lampshades to the Craft Gallery- the team have done an amazing job, & I have to admit they do look rather lovely on the stand & hanging from the ceiling. There was an incredible response to the 1st batch with ' Blue Window' selling out in 24 hours. I also love running around the Mill placing them & taking a few extra photos!
August 2024
Delighted to report that The Hub in Appleby in Westmorland is now stocking all my Smardale Railway merchandise. The Hub is an important community/art facility for the town, with fabulous cafe to add. Proceeds from the sale of the work will go towards the Cumbrian based charity Oaklea Trust which operate the Hub. Whilst in Appleby I couldn't resist taken the shades up to the famous station- needless to say I caused a stir!
July 2024
Really excited to be supporting Eden Viaducts at the forthcoming Westmorland Dales Festival at the end of July in Kirkby Stephen. I've developed some new merchandise based on my original photography which we will be launching at the Festival, and a percentage of sales will be donated to the Northern Viaduct Trust.
I am very grateful to the Trust and to Nanette Rigg in particular who has supported my work and development and encouraged me to reach this position. More from the day to follow and the merchandise can be found under the Projects/ Smardale tab.
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June 2024
I'm delighted to have my work stocked at Farfield Mill in Sedbergh, a heritage mill based on the local wool industry and located on the Yorkshire Dales/ Cumbrian border. I grew in Cumbria & spent summers with my grandparents in Kirkby Stephen. My grandfather had the local shop and agricultural merchants in Ravenstonedale further along the valley.
Farfield is really interesting in itself with a weaving heritage together with some lovely artist studios and a great cafe. When I dropped off the shades we took the riverside walk through the buttercup meadows to Sedbergh and back.
Farfield Mill (@farfield.mill) • Instagram photos and videos
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April 2024
The new shades look amazing in the newly reopened Paradise Mill in Macclesfield. You'd almost think the original silk threads inspired the colours used but they are a perfect match! They were meant to be.
All available to purchase either directly from me or the shop in the Silk Museum.
March 2024
New lampshades have arrived!
I've had a busy weekend creating and finessing my new batch of bespoke lampshades. The inspiration for this group came from my Friday night wine, a Morris minor car, peeling paint and a rusty shed!! Each final image is printed down in Staffordshire on to a bleached cotton fabric, before I make up each shade by hand.
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I have just as much enjoyment taking them back out to photograph in the landscape.
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My online shop is currently under construction, so please contact me direct should you see a shade you are interested in
Silk Museum - My lampshades!
As you'll see from my research heading, I volunteer at the Silk Museum in Macclesfield. They have started stocking my new lampshades & they have been selling ! The shades look fabulous on the heritage shuttle bases- I might have to buy more myself. All the images are from my own design, with the fabric printed in Leek Staffordshire & the then each shade hand made by myself.
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I need to developed my online presence!
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Here is the link to the full reel The Silk Museum and Paradise Mill (@silkmuseummacc) • Instagram photos and videos
19-25th February 2024: Dark Peak Photo Festival
Found my photo at The Two Hares which doubled up as a gallery over the weekend for selected images. Great to see Glossop High Street & a range of local retailers take part support the weekend exhibition.
19-25th February 2024: Dark Peak Photo Festival
Very excited to have my image of a wall tie at Torr Vale Mill selected as part of the week long Dark Peak Photo Festival. The theme for the Open Call was 'Now & Then' and it will be displayed on Glossop High Steet between 19-25th February 2024.
There are a series of excellent talks & workshops all week too .
February 2024:
Infamous: Opium, Silk, Tea & The Mission
Great opportunity to work with the team on the installation of this new exhibition at The Portico, with creator Iris Yau. From painting , to lighting and how to handle and display exhibits all part of the learning process.
January 2024:
New Volunteer role at The Portico Library, Manchester
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One of Manchester's hidden gems- The Portico Library.
It's a great time to join the team as there are many plans afoot to enhance this great building & its books.
One of Manchester’s longest-running institutions, the Portico is a subscription library and newsroom whose historic collection of over 25,000 books and archives spans over 450 years.
The Portico Library was established by 400 founding subscribers in 1806, during Manchester’s emergence as ‘the first modern city’. Early readers and associates included word-famous authors, future Prime Ministers, leading scientists, and educators. Built with wealth derived from the Industrial Revolution, British empire-building, and colonial expansion, the Library amassed a collection that reflects the innovations, but also the exclusions and inequities of its time.
December 2023:
Merchandising & Lampshades!
After months of thinking about it, I finally made up my series of lampshades based on my own designs. This rust shade was inspired by detritus in the landscape & looked lovely on the shuttle lamp base at The Silk Museum in Macclesfield. It sold to a gentleman within a matter of hours of being put on display. The panama calico fabric is printed in Staffordshire.
2024 means I'd better start printing some more fabrics & designs!
10th October 2023:
Take a Moment: World Mental Health Day
'I took a moment for World Mental Health Day & now I'm part of the art' -collective statement. I was very surprised to see my image & story as 1 of only 25 selected from over 5500 images submitted ,which helped create the photo mosaic of mental health supporter Stephen Fry. Perhaps my message resonated & if it starts a conversation with someone you know then that's important! On 10th October my image was also projected at the National Portrait Gallery. You'll see my image if you scroll to the gallery & click on Stephen Fry's right cheek ( sorry Stephen!) ( story no12). Take a Moment UK - The People's Picture (thepeoplespicture.com) click here
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Take a Moment is a virtual exhibition with a collection of photos of some famous people taken by Ray Burmiston & then the public submissions, all with their eyes closed. Helen Marshall founder of the People's Picture created the mosaic. Produced & conceptualized by Lara Journo-Leggatt the purpose of the exhibition was to remind everyone about their mental health.
September 29-October 1st 2023: Singing Drumlin
What a fabulous 3 days I have had working as part of a team with the Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership on the above event at the reserve at Bowber Head, Ravenstonedale in Cumbria belonging to Cumbria Wildlife Trust. I met so many lovely people, heard lots of stories and engaged in lots of conversations on a range of diverse subjects from art, how do you do that?, tourism, farming, heritage, to name a few examples. Loved the way the visitors embraced my voile art pieces.
Dan's 'Soundinterventn' aeolian sculptures were amazing positioned on the drumlin Click here
September 29-October 1st 2023
Aeolian sound sculptures evolve and change as the wind's movement and intensity varies. This creates an immersive and ever-changing soundscape that is responsive to the natural environment and provides a magical, unique sensory experience for those who interact with it.
This free installation of 20 sound sculptures has been commissioned by the Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme and created by Cumbrian artist Dan Fox, director of Sound Intervention based in Ulverston.
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It runs from Friday 29th September to Sunday 1st October from 10am until 4pm each day so just turn up, take a walk and immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of Bowber Head Nature Reserve, near Ravenstonedale.
The Drumlin, like most of the glacial features in the Westmorland dales, dates from the last glaciation about 22,000 years ago. Northern England was covered in thick ice, which scoured the landscape and dumped glacial debris like drumlins.
Drumlins are oval shaped hills, formed of glacial sediments and aligned in the direction of ice flow. The drumlin at Bowber Head is fairly small, but they can reach a kilometre or more in length, 500m or so in width and over 50m in height. From the top of the drumlin there's a panoramic view of the Westmorland Dales, the Howgill Fells and Pennines.
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You’ll also have an opportunity to see a set of voiles created by local artist Jill Brown, which will be displayed during the event celebrating the railway line and the area’s heritage. The railways transported butter, cheese and wool from farms like these across the area.
September 23-October 23
Take A Moment Exhibition-
Raising Awareness for Mental Health
Take A Moment is about simply taking a few seconds every day for our mental health...to pause, breath, disconnect and then reconnect, so we can find clarity. A simple action that can make a life changing difference in our fast-paced world.
Take A Moment - Raising awareness for mental health
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My Take A Moment Image and the other famous faces included in the campaign.
Check out who I'm next to ! & I move as more people take their moment.
Nov 22-Feb 23
FREEDOM Exhibition: National Justice Museum, Nottingham
An Open Call exhibition of black & white images encompassing multiple perspectives, creating a visually dynamic & personal display on the meaning of Freedom .
My personal submission is entitled ' Long Walk to Hope & Freedom' representing the often difficult journey to freedom, with the rainbow on the horizon portraying a vision of hope.
Whilst the physical exhibition may have finished, it is now online as a virtual exhibition seen here: Freedom Open Call Photography | National Justice Museum
Oct 2022- end Dec 2022
Stop Press: My exhibition 'Smardale Gill-A Landscape embedded in People & History at Farfield Mill in Sedbergh' has been extended until the end of 2022.
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Autumn is also a great time to visit the Mill & Sedbergh too. Open 10.30am- 4pm Wed- Sun. Free Entry. The Community Room is down by the lovely cafe.
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Aug 2022
Smardale Gill- a Landscape embedded in People & History at Farfield Mill in Sedbergh
Following the completion of my Foundation Degree, the translucent voiles telling the history of the rail landscape in the Smardale Valley is now being exhibited in the Community Room at Farfield. The exhibition has been beautiful curated by the team & complements the historic nature of the mill & the role of industry in the area.
Open Wed-Sun 10.30-4pm until 30 October 2022.
https://www.farfieldmill.org/smardale-gill-jill-brown/
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May 2022
Astound 2022 Contemporary Art Exhibition, Nicholson Gallery, Leek, Staffs. 14- 28th May 2022
My work for the Degree Show for final year foundation students studying Creative Art & Design Practice at Leek School of Art/ University of Derby.
Art installation showcasing a narrative of Smardale Gill, a redundant railway line in the remote Cumbrian countryside through images and archival victorian text.
May 2022
'The Reusable Cup' a narrative of a time and place captured via sublimation printing on to surplus Costa cups with images, digital mapping and stitch.
April 2022
Newsletter article written for the Northern Viaduct Trust about my Smardale Gill project.
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Feb 2022
What's your North? One of a series of winners selected by The Portico Library, Manchester for short videos representing 'my north'. Video included Alderley Park & Macclesfield Canal
Nov 2021
Treeline Project commissioned by Ruth Maclennan and Forestry England. My video extract (at 16min 49sec) incorporated in film and published to coincide with COP26 in Glasgow.
Aug 2021
Submission and publication to Artful Ways blog: Smardale Viaduct
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July 2021
3 Counties Art Exhibition in conjunction with Keele Arts. 'The Gate'
May 2021
Astound Exhibition: Leek & Buxton College.
Working in Jesmonite
