What does your auto repair shop lobby, office/waiting area look like? Does it look like a place you would like to spend some time waiting for your car repairs to be completed? Better yet, how do you think the employees feel about coming to work there? When businesses create a pleasant environment for their customers and employees, it makes people feel better about where they work and where they do business.
One of the things we’ve done at BA Auto Care is to decorate with artwork. We receive many compliments on the 6 colorful panels we display on our office wall, which are textile art, done by Brian England’s sister, Jill. She lives in St. Albans, just 20 miles from London and you can see her website gallery at: www.jilltextileart.com.
This fall, her work is being featured in two shows. One is at the Flagstaff Gallery in Baker City, Oregon, which runs through October 16th, 2011. It’s a quilt exhibition, called “The Trail That Lay Before Them.” The other exhibition is “The Knitting and Stitching Show”. This is a prestigious event and will travel from Alexandra Palace in London, to Harrogate, then Dublin, Ireland. Occasionally, she lectures at events where she exhibits her artwork.
Jill’s mother was a seamstress, making clothes for the family. She also recycled fabric remnants, by making them into rag rugs. In high school, Jill excelled in her sewing class and won a pair of golden scissors as a prize for her stitching. She pursued her interests at The London College of Fashion and later worked at a local university in their Art and Design department.
I asked her which artist she would like to be for a year. She told me, “Miro, Klee, Kandinsky and Brigit Riley are all favourite artists of mine. If I could choose to be one of these artists for a year it would have to be Joan Miro! I saw his work whilst I was in Barcelona, Spain. It was truly amazing.”
She occasionally sells her artwork, but she says, “My aim in life is to enjoy what I do. Selling a piece of work is a bonus—it is not a priority.” In spite of being retired, she keeps quite busy by taking classes though The Open University, writing art journal entries for her website, and continuing to do a bit of textile art daily. She’s currently finishing a large wall hanging for The Knitting and Stitching Show.
For additional websites of interest, she recommends checking out:
www.woolwrights.com – They have a rug-hooking guild in Lancaster, PA
www.Hooked-in-London.blogspot.com – A rug-makers’ group she belongs to.
My thanks to Jill for her time and enthusiasm in sending me an overview of her artistic occupations.
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