Perspectives of Gayle Mill
An exhibition in words and images carting some of the stories, aesthetics and restoration of this unique building
28 June - 17 July 2008
Dales Countryside Museum, Hawes
From December 2007 until June 2008 Carol Tyler was Artist-in-Residence at Gayle Mill, near Hawes in Wensleydale.
As an artist - a painter - Carol looks at Gayle Mill in terms of atmosphere and materials, shapes and textures. Areas of intense light contrast with extreme dark, dotted here and there with patches of bright and muted colour.
The wheel pits and areas below the floors open up vast mysterious spaces, the depth of which, at times, can only be guessed at. On the old lime-washed walls generations of work-people have made their marks - calculations and comments are intermixed with the blue and the red paint cleaned from the brushes used to paint the articles made at the Mill.
As well as traditional oil paint her images use dust, rust and sawdust to make images which evoke the very essence of the historical and current working environment of Gayle Mill.
At the end of June an exhibition of the work she produced during that time will be on show at the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes. Alongside her paintings and prints will be shown the work of four other people who have also worked with the history, materials and aesthetics of this special building.
The black and white photographs of Richard Ross convey a sense of the haunting quietness which now pervades the old machinery and interior of the Mill.
Peter Burrage has documented the progress of the Mill's restoration since 1988 and his new photographs from 2008 show how it has been reborn over a twenty year timeline.
Andris Bergs uses locally sourced timber for his dramatic chainsaw sculptures which show a very personal response not only to the material he uses but to the natural environment in general.
Tony Routh was the last apprentice to work at the Mill in the 1960s and his stories and memoirs are unique.
More information: 07969 667227, caroltyler@onetel.com