Author Archives: jackiehmorris

I am a folklorist investigating our place in the world through creative and participatory practices. As an artist maker with a textile sensibility, I craft engagements, events, workshops and year long projects. I have a BA(Hons) Fine Art and MA in Contemporary Dialogues. I am currently writing up the thesis of my research investigating rural place in Herefordshire (UK) with its community through its folkloric heritage and landscapes of common land. I live in Herefordshire and study at Manchester Metropolitan University. I am Australian born to British parents and have lived in both countryside and cities of Britain. Rural conversations and fieldwork with my art collective 'Fold' supports and inspires my thinking. My art practice, Volka Arts, is named after my recent investigation into the now enclosed Volca Common Meadow, a short distance from my home. j.morris@volka-arts.org

Launch night 2/2/22

Seven volunteers came forward from the local community on launch night to take part in this project to explore and understand the our heritage of the river.

A sculptural artwork is being made. So far nine sacks, have been embroidered with a river bend from the site of the historic Battle of Mortimer’s Cross where some 4000 soldiers died and the river ‘ran red’.

The mill owner there inspired the project by giving the researcher 9 mill sacks from the mill and telling the story of how he throws a few snowdrops into the River Lugg each year on the battle anniversary to commemorate the fallen soldiers.

The project is to embroider snowdrops to be strewn from baskets fashioned from riverside materials. No stitching knowledge is required and there is a developing programme of speakers/participant contributors on all things river whilst the participants stitch.

Darning on an original mill sack (I think they look like dances), with a snowdrop on launch night

Launch night coincided with the 561st anniversary of the Battle in 1461, so I threw a few snowdrops into the nearby Lugg afterwards.

The snowdrop template

I screenprinted two different designs of snowdrops onto Valencia linen, in case participants wanted a starting point. Two weeks in, and I’m having to zig zag some more edges of the pieces. The drooping snowdrop has been popular. Some are stitching the other more complex design, others are designing their own. The only brief is that it needs to be a snowdrop and of the size of the piece of linen. Artistic license is over to the stitchers who are thinking and hearing about aspects of The River Lugg as they stitch.

The snowdrops will be made into small pillows, each one an edition with its number stitched on the back. They will be documented in a handmade book to accompany the exhibition along with aspects of heritage of the river experienced along the way.

My practice example, mainly stitching as drawing or mark making

Resources:

The Royal School of Needlework’s Stitch Bank is fantastic for learning stitches . It can be found at https://rsnstitchbank.org

A participant told me about two other useful sites:

https://pintangle.com and https://needlenthread.com

I was inspired to stitch as drawing when I read this article about the embroidery of artist Pascal Monteil in ‘The Eye of the Needle‘ (Selvedge, April 2021: Issue 99)

Original inspiration for the screenprinted designs

Open Gardens at Lugwardine

The Garden at Old Longworth HR1 4DF

Open this Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th of February, 12 noon – 4 pm.

The snowdrops and hellebores will be in flower and there will be special varieties of snowdrops to see.
Entrance is £5 which includes tea or coffee and cake

‘At th’wedding of the Lug and Wy’

The Lugg flowing into the Wye, just below Mordiford.

With lockes uncomb’d, for haste the lovelie Wye to see
(The floud that grac’t her most) this daie should married be
To that more lovelie Lug; a River of much fame,
That in her wandering bankes should lose his glorious name.
For Hereford, although her Wye she hold so deere,
Yet Lug (whose longer course doth grace the goodlie Sheere,
And with his plentious Streame so manie Brookes doth bring)
Of all hers that be North is absolutelie King.
From ‘The Seaventh Song’, Poly-Olbion Poem by Michael Drayton PArt 1, 1612.
see https://poly-olbion.exeter.ac.uk/

Pete Blench, Leominster’s local historian, told me about this 15,000 line poem produced in the 1600’s as a collaboration between poet Michael Drayton illustrated with thirty engraved county maps by William Hole, with the first eighteen songs accompanied by John Selden’s prose ‘illustrations’.

I walked the short distance along the Lugg from Mordiford to find this romantic meeting point, a quiet spot witnessed by sheep and ducks. Sure enough, mistletoe was growing thickly on the trees leaning into the Lugg.