HOW OWN ART HELPS TO SUPPORT ARTISTS’ LIVELIHOODS – A conversation with Jilly Edwards
Since its beginnings in 2004, Own Art has been enabling different people to benefit from its primary offer of interest-free finance and the creative culture and community that has built up around the scheme. In 2014 Creative United was established to take over the Own Art scheme from Arts Council England and develop similar programmes. With Own Art continuing to flourish, we have continued supporting those who may not ordinarily have access to the art market by enabling them to own the art they love. We have supported art galleries – including independent retailers, charities and community hubs – to make more sales and grow their clientele. We have supported the livelihoods of artists and makers up and down the country by providing new opportunities and access to a growing creative community. In this, our 20th anniversary year, we wanted to share the stories of the artists who have benefitted from the Own Art scheme in more ways than one.
We spoke to Jilly Edwards, a British tapestry artist based in Bath, whose solo exhibition Woven Tapestries: Follow the Thread is currently on display at Own Art member gallery New Brewery Arts in Cirencester. Jilly gave us some insight into her creative background, how this exhibition came to be, and the ways in which Own Art has helped to support her livelihood as an artist.
Can you tell us a little about yourself and your creative journey so far?
I have been making art my whole life. I come from a family who always encouraged me to be creative and never said ‘no’ to my ideas – yet they had more of an academic background. I trained at the West of England College of Art, Bristol, (now UWE, University of the West of England), studying Textiles. Then, 10 years later, I went to Edinburgh College of Art (now Edinburgh University) and studied in the Tapestry Department and the Dovecot studios.
I then began to follow my dream, which took me in many different directions. I moved a lot for job opportunities and artist residencies, and after 25 years of teaching part-time, I decided it was time to focus solely on creating my work. And, for the last 30 years, that is what I’ve done. Living, doing what I love – not working to keep the bank happy.
Journey of a lifetime
How did you come to work in textiles?
I always loved drawing but wasn’t sure how I was going to push my drawings on, oil/acrylics/watercolour didn’t give me the answers I was looking for. A tutor at the West of England College of Art told me that the teacher of weaving in the textile dept, Anne Barron, wove huge tapestries and so I went to talk to her about her work. Anne showed me her studio and as I could already weave it was a bit like a lightbulb moment, she showed me the cupboards full of coloured yarns and said there’s your colour pallet & I was sold! Weaving is a tactile way of working, I feel I’m painting with yarns, and you can layer the colours giving a transparent appearance, yet creating dense areas in other places.
What inspires your work?
Travelling, whether it’s long haul or just to the nearest cafe – I love going on trains/buses and walking, that’s when I experience unexpected moments, a glimpse or a word that sparks my creative process. I also take a great deal of inspiration from the landscape around me, whether countryside or urban.
Within the Walls
What do you like most about weaving as an art form?
It’s so absorbing, calming, and infuriating like all art forms but for me, it’s about decisions being made after the initial drawing, and the total excitement at making those decisions, and then hopefully achieving what you are aiming for.
How did your relationship with New Brewery Arts begin and where did the impetus for this exhibition come from?
Back in 2019, Beth Alden, from New Brewery Arts came to see me at my studio and we spoke about having an exhibition there in 2020 … then the pandemic hit, and all exhibitions stopped. Then earlier this year, Beth emailed me and said they had a gap over the summer and wondered if I could help – or was that total madness? I said, as I was mad, let’s go for it!
The exhibition doesn’t show my most recent work, as a lot of that is currently out in other exhibitions, but it does cover a good deal of my career and many works that haven’t been seen much before, so it was good to get them all together. It was bringing all these pieces together that inspired the title of the show, Follow the Thread – that’s just what it does, it follows the threads of my life, my work and my creative process as it has changed and grown.
Whispering Trees
As New Brewery Arts is an Own Art member, visitors to your exhibition could buy your beautiful tapestries on the scheme. What would you tell potential buyers to encourage them to purchase your work with Own Art?
Own Art is wonderful, it’s a national initiative, supported by Arts Council England, that makes buying contemporary art and craft easy and affordable for anyone and everyone by providing interest-free loans. You can go into New Brewery Arts, or any Own Art gallery, choose the artwork you love (yes, that includes my tapestries), apply for a loan from as little as £100 up to £2,500 and pay it back over 10 months, completely interest-free. What’s not to love?
I understand that you have also had some experience exhibiting and selling with another Own Art member gallery, could you tell us about that?
Yes, The Harley Foundation in Worksop. I had a great solo show back in 2014 – I sold more work there with Own Art than anywhere else. The Curator trained as a tapestry weaver so was a great supporter of my work.
August Moon
As an artist, how has the Own Art scheme helped to support your creative practice and business?
I have sold many works through Own Art at several galleries across the country. When customers and viewers are made aware of the scheme, how it works, and how simple it is, they are so excited for the opportunity to split the cost of the artwork they love. Exhibiting with Own Art member galleries has allowed me to sell my work to wider audiences, especially those on lower incomes who may not have been able to buy artwork conventionally.
After your exhibition at New Brewery Arts, do you have any exciting projects on the horizon?
I have some new work in an international woven tapestry exhibition that will tour the UK, and I have just found out that I have won the Heallreaf 5 Award, for which I received money and a fancy tapestry bobbin. I’m now working on a piece of work that is made of multiple smaller pieces, I look forward to seeing how it progresses.
Where can people find out more about you and your work?
You can follow me on Instagram @_jillyedwards
I am also on the Crafts Council Makers website and the Textile Curator website
Sense of Summer