Hexham Abbey

The second book group I joined came to me at 10am for a coffee and a biscuit to discuss my choice “Cuddy”. I am pleased to say everyone got a lot from it though the consensus was it took an effort to get into. Some enjoyed the poetry, others not so much and we all thought there were too many quotes from other writers. We all had favourite parts, some loving the journey carrying St Cuthbert, and hating the second part, others preferring the modern part. We all appreciated how the tone changed in each book and realised how much we learned. We had a lot of questions about the structure - why did the font decrease till it was almost too tiny to read? I thought it could be because she was gradually waking and the vision was fading. Also what caused the illness of the priggish Victorian academic? I’d like to go back to Durham as I’d see the cathedral through new eyes. I’d be interested to see what the afternoon tea book group would make of it. I might choose it when it’s my turn though I’m pretty sure few would finish it. Re books - Orbital by the author we discussed on Monday won the Booker.

In the afternoon we drove the hour over the wiggly roads to Hexham to see Threads Through Creation, an “exhibition of twelve enormous, embroidered silk panels which explore the story of creation” as told in the bible. It was beautifully designed and wonderfully colourful but I’d not really describe it as embroidery - it was machine stitching to hold together all the lovely bits of fabric. I liked that there was a brown Adam and a white Eve. Her design process wasn’t made clear - I wanted to know if she’d made giant paintings to plan out the colour combinations of the material or if she worked from the fabric alone.

Round a corner there was one panel which I admired much more. “The tapestry of Life”
was created by Ukrainian artist Yullia Achkasova who fled from her country when the war commenced in 2022. She said -
“Being far from our country Ukrainians feel disconnected from their roots. Our ancestors have used patchwork, tapestry and embroidery historically to overcome the pain of conflict and in times of difficulty.
This was in my mind to combine traditional handicraft practices with modern art techniques and create a design based on my inspiration from walking through the Sele park, Hexham and watching the sun set behind the crown of a large tree. This was my vision, this was my dream!
I decided to create a piece of Art which would strengthen interpersonal ties between both Ukrainian and British communities in Hexham”.

The Ukrainian embroidered tapestry is on the top left and one of the silk creations below.

There’s going to be a Blurb book offer so I must get on with my Arctic book.