Sheila's work is inspired by narrative - she seeks to tell a story. This talk was about her memories of Gairloch, visiting it every year as a child and running wild on the beaches and hills around the croft, and later researches into the history of the place and the people who lived there. Sheila had a slideshow of pictures of this beautiful part of the world, which most of us had visited, and it was interesting to hear the results of her searches, stories that could be told from the census, and pictures of the last black house as it deteriorated after being deserted. Photos from a rural life in the fifties took us back to a slower way of life.
Sheila had many lovely handmade sketchbooks which gave inspiration to her textiles, and gave focus to her abstract work. As always it is most interesting to see the creative journey and thought process from sketchbook to finished textile.
More of her work can be seen at her website https://sheilamortlock.co.uk/ and members are looking forward to a day school with her shortly.
