Northumberland forms the northernmost region of England. Remote and sparsely populated, even today the very name of Northumberland conjures images of wild hills, untamed moorlands and craggy windswept coastline. Its history is swathed in the mists of time, being intertwined with that of the ancient kingdom of Northumbria, the Irish missionary monks of Lindisfarne, and […]
Mary Lowndes was an influential leader in the Arts and Crafts movement, for her stained glass work and for opening doors for other women stained glass artists.
It was her work in terracotta that established Mary’s involvement with the Home Arts and Industries Association. In 1884, an undisclosed friend of the artist persuaded Mary to hold clay modelling classes, twice a week, at a ‘boys’ club’ in Whitechapel. The purpose, Mary recalled, was to give the boys, who were ‘chiefly shoeblacks, an […]
Embroidering A poem by Frances Richards (date unknown) She embroiders heads; small children sitting With spinning tops on blue velvet A light-footed dancer, delicately darned on lace With flowers, like a garden, as a background. Does she think as she sews her silks and velvet, That she is weaving a paradise of her own mind […]
