Gratitude Exhibition

Close up of the stitching - Giant Cauliflower Harvest - embroidered word, red thread about my father and his allotment

I’m pleased to announce that “Giant Cauliflower Harvest ” has been selected for the Gratitude Exhibition at Canco Park, 47 Dey Street, Jersey City, NJ 07306, USA. This is a public arts event where pieces from artists from around the world are printed onto vinyl and hung outside in public spaces.

Gratitude exhibition poster
Gratitude exhibition poster

Cities gain value through public art – cultural, social, and economic value. Public art is a distinguishing part of our public history and our evolving culture. It reflects and reveals our society, adds meaning to our cities and uniqueness to our communities. Public art humanizes the built environment and invigorates public spaces. It provides an intersection between past, present and future, between disciplines, and between ideas. (The Public Art Network Council explain it best in their Green Paper) ….. Gratitude is something we have learned to appreciate and be more considerate of since the pandemic, it has been amazing to receive such a diverse range of styles and subject matter. Walk Bye has become a platform that the people of Jersey City not only recognize, but crave. People send messages asking when the next show will be coming… To be able to celebrate, discover and enjoy artists and cultures from around the world while you walk in your own city is an incredibly fulfilling thing that encourages you to value the diversity and beauty of your own place.

Catalina Aranguren, Founder & Organizer, Walk_Bye
Artwork shared by Walk Bye on Instagram
Artwork shared by Walk Bye on Instagram

The exhibition is curated by artist Catalina Aranguren in conjunction with Walk Bye, Canco Park Conservancy & Bergen County Audubon Society.

The artwork will be unveiled on Sat Jan 14th, 2023 12-2pm in conjunction with a local event supporting Wildlife at the park.

This is second large scale Walk Bye exhibition I’ve taken part in.

Hello from England

This handwritten postcard called ‘Hello from England’ is part of a postcard exhibition at Marion Branch JC Public Library, Jersey City, NJ, USA curated by Walk Bye. The artwork features an extract from ‘Giant Cauliflower Harvest‘.

The theme of the exhibition – ‘The Surprising Thing about Gratitude’ – made me think about things I’m very grateful for – a childhood full of freedom, love and home-cooked food. These warm memories have inspired a great deal of my own embroideries including Giant Cauliflower Harvest.

The Surprising Thing about Gratitude Exhibition
The Surprising Thing about Gratitude Exhibition
Hello from England
Hello from England

To send a postcard in today’s digital world is a simple, and incredibly underrated experience. It’s an expression to acknowledge others especially outside this new, mostly virtual way of life. A postcard expresses a desire to maintain a connection regardless of where the sender and the receiver may be. In addition to the beauty of the created or manipulated postcard, the story also includes the handwriting, which is peculiar to a specific person, the precision, or lack thereof of the placement of the postage stamp(s), the stories told by damage that can be incurred during its travels – all carry a rich narrative and establish a profound, interpersonal connection that simply cannot exist in cyberspace…. The theme is “The Surprising Thing about Gratitude”. We encourage you to use lots of words and/or phrases in your submission, please use your native language, or that of the place you are living in… it DOES NOT need to be English only.

Walk Bye
Message to New Jersey
Message to New Jersey

This is latest Walk Bye exhibition I’ve taken part in.

Tribute to HM the Queen

‘Tribute to HM the Queen’ is my latest artwork featuring hand stitched text.

The central panel features a hand stitched couched image of our late Queen and the embroidered panel includes a hand sewn aperture and text.

Size 12 x 16 cm. Hand stitched with vintage Sylko thread onto cotton cloth. Assembled onto a Union flag.

Tribute to HM Queen
Tribute to HM Queen
Tribute to HM Queen detail
Detail

The piece was designed shortly after the loss of our Queen and is taking part in the ‘Stitched Tribute’ exhibition at the Knitting and Stitching Show 2022 in Harrogate.

Artwork on exhibition
Artwork on exhibition

(Thank you to textile artist Lesley Wood for taking this photo for me