Jo Budd at Festival of Quilts 2006

by Celia Eddy
published: 17/09/2006
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Jo Budd at FOQ

It was especially exciting to see quilts old and new by Jo Budd, one of the original ‘Take Four’ artists whose work has been seen too rarely of late. Her textiles were particularly well-displayed in cool, white-painted gallery space, allowing calm and unimpeded contemplation of abstracted landscapes worked in wonderfully subtle palette which is at once earthy and delicate.

This use of stitch to create surface movement and texture has always been a feature of Budd’s work and is still an important element of it, but she says that the main effects she now strives for are more an expression of colours and textures abstracted from particular locations. The result is that to view these works is as deeply satisfying and moving as to see elements of the natural world in real life.

A recent work based on observation of natural features in the environment.

The earlier pieces shown were from Budd’s ‘Elemental Landscapes’ series, ‘….reflecting the flat agricultural landscape and huge skies of north Suffolk.’ But today she describes her current work as follows: ‘A new studio, a new location, looking over river marshes, and a new dyeing technique using rust and water, have given me a fresh set of colours and marks to play with.’ The work is inspired by observation of natural surface effects - waves on water, ripples in the sky – to which she then applies a combination of stitch and water-created marks on silk cloth to reveal deeper and more complex layers of both aesthetic effect and meaning.

Budd combines the traditional block format with subtle, earthy colours achieved by a sik-dyeing process.

It’s good to learn that Jo Budd is working towards a major exhibition of her new work in 2007. Details will be posted on this website when they become available, or Email her for more details on jo.budd@virgin.net

A new dyeing technique, including the use of rust, has given Budd a new palette.

© Celia Eddy