It’s Saturday 24/01/26 and here I am at the formal opening and private view of the Peat Appreciation Society exhibition. Our work has been lovingly installed across two floors of Gibson Mill, a National Trust building nestled amongst the woodland at Hardcastle Crags.
I nibble on a breadstick and wait for a gap in footfall, keen to grab a quick photo of my four pieces looking very much at home in their new surroundings.
As I stand in front of these clean, orderly, white frames I recall all the messy, disruptive, uncomfortably challenging processes that made their contents possible.
Making my simple set of charms drew me far deeper into my relationship with the upper moorland than I had expected at the outset. I’m only just beginning to understand how much I’ve learned about myself, and my creative practice, from following where my curiosity led.
I look around the room and wonder about the myriad choices and decisions, small and large, that have cumulatively resulted in the rich variety of work we’re presenting in this space. So many individual stories, woven together here, creating something new.
