MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE

Alison, Lisa, Julia and Heather having fun on the toadstools!

So Sunday was the launch of one of our most exciting exhibitions in 6 years, May All Your Dreams Come True, inspired by fairytales and folklore. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves dressing up as characters from Alice in Wonderland, eating mini fairy cakes made for us by Truly Scrumptious, listening to magical stories in the garden told by nationally acclaimed storyteller Ursula Holden Gill and chatting to customers about the amazing work we are currently showcasing. Here is a little glimpse at our day:

Toadstools kindly lent to us by The Old Treehouse, Market Street, Hebden Bridge

Fairycakes made by Rachel at Truly Scrumptious, Todmorden

Bunting made from pages from old children’s’ books by Mandy, Alison and Julia

Fairy Wish Tree-borrowed from The Old Treehouse and trimmed by Mandy

Lisa and Julia

Ursula storytelling in the garden

Mixed media artist Gillian Lee Smith with her ‘dreamy’ original paintings on display

Alix Swan with her beautiful daughter Effie and her stunning work in Heart Gallery

Josephine Gomersall with her collection of wall pieces and mini sculptures

Fairy Wish Tree sign

A lovely wish written on one of our birdies

Sad wish that made us cry

Happy wish that made us smile!

Fun with feet!

Ursula keeping the little ones entertained all day

Children enjoying the Fairy Wish Tree

Customers enjoying the day – Andy Pointon’s tea towel of Hebden Bridge always popular

Drink me!

There’s no place like home!

My Queen of Hearts hat was made by Heart Gallery’s resident artist Heather Wilson

We were all stars

Meet The Maker – Alix Swan

Alix Swan – Designer Maker

Described as a ‘textile artist’, ‘fine art bookmaker’, sometimes ‘paper artist’, Alix is a designer-maker with a love of combining paper, print, graphics, textiles and found materials.

Badges – Alix Swan

Apparently for Alix it all began with a paper doll she made who told her that her name was Alice. Alice started Alix reminiscing about childhood story times with her mother and grandmother and the world of books and stories these opened up. Alix remembered too how she drew constantly, cutting out her miniature portraits and using them in larger storyboards and little books. Now her Fine Art bookworks are based in traditional tales. She fuses old and new technologies through found materials, original drawing, digital photography, stitch, collage and bookbinding together with direct quotations to echo ideas and phrases that are universally familiar.

Artist books – Alix Swan

Everything is made by Alix from start to finish.  She cuts, sews and assemble by hand.  She has a computer, digital camera and four old typewriters and her home is a treasure trove of found and second-hand materials. Alix is happiest working on a small, even miniature, scale and her eye for detail and finish is of great importance. 

Thumbelina – Alix Swan

The themes of her work are vintage stories, rhymes and sayings.  She has learned the universal human need for these traditional forms and the importance of keeping them alive which is why she offers her work as a quirky twist on the traditional that connects with reminiscence, rediscovery and joy.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Alix Swan

Heart Gallery awarded Alix an Outstanding Makers’ Award at Holmfirth in 2011 and we are so proud to be showcasing Alix’s work for the first time here in Hebden Bridge for our new exhibition ‘May All Your Dreams Come True’ which is inspired by fairytales, folklore, stories and dreams.

Alix’s fairytale text we should maybe all listen to!

MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE

May all your dreams come true exhibition invitation

May all your dreams come true exhibition invitation

We are all so excited at Heart Gallery about this magical exhibition and hope that you are too – it is going to be one of our best, we can sense it! The wire Mergirl on the invitation has been made for us by Rozie Keogh and we have 3 of them swimming around the gallery to keep an eye on you all as you browse the amazing new work we are showcasing. Here are a few sneaky peaks but please make sure to come to the launch on Sunday 13 May – you will not be disappointed!

Alice in Wonderland framed papercut by Yasemin Wigglesworth

Mars necklace by Rachel Lucie

Storybook by paper/textile artist Alix Swan

Feather Fox by glass artist Rachel Elliott

'Like Ghosts from an Enchanter Fleeing' Nicola Taylor, self portrait photographer

Lovers' Triptych Brooch by Catherine Chester

'Untaken' Cyanotype print by Moira Fuller

Recognised phrases and stories on bags by Alison Hughes

Lucy Palmer's fairytale inspired silver jewellery

Lucy Harding's illustrations inspired by customers she meets on her milk round

So, a few images to whet your appetite but if they haven’t tempted you enough then maybe Ursula Holden Gill can! Ursula is one of the North’s most innovative, award winning Storytellers. Her quirky, unique sets are influenced largely by 19th Century Music Hall, Lancashire Dialect, Westmorland Clogging, Folk, Traditional and Original Song, Contemporary Dance, Puppetry, Clean but Cheeky Stand Up Acts and essentially, life. This has led her to be frequently described as a cross somewhere between Gracie Fields and Billy Connolly!

Urusla Holden Gill

Ursula will be spending Sunday 13 May with us presenting a song and story set she calls Sightings of the Little People – suitable for adults and children alike. It explores the idea that fairy sightings have been associated with – and are responsible for – the naming of more places in the British Isles than anywhere else in the world and that in the North of England alone we proudly boast numerous fairy bridges and glens, a few sets of standing stones, waterfalls, cottage gardens, and a variety of hills and wells! By revealing how such places came to take their title Ursula will welcome all who attend the launch into a most controversial debate that has fascinated artists for hundreds of years – are fairies real or not… and if so, what are they? Fanciful Friend or Malevolent Foe? Further, who can see the little people and how?

See you all at Heart Gallery, Hebden Bridge on Sunday May 13 from 12pm – 5pm for fairy cakes, angel dust and magical stories and of course an eclectic mix of jewellery and craft inspired by fairytales, folklore, myths and dreams to tempt and delight xXx

Dreaming of the dwelling place original painting by Gillian Lee Smith