Top weaver Jilly Edwards will be exhibiting her tapestries at The Harley Gallery, Nottinghamshire, from 22 January to 23 March 2014. The exhibition will include new tapestries that are drenched in a vivid yellow colour palette - perfect for brightening up grey winter days!

Edwards weaves abstract, painterly compositions which capture fleeting moments and recollections through the time consuming and laborious process of weaving. This is a meticulous craft – a tapestry 10 by 12 feet in size can take over a year to complete. Though Edwards’ compositions seem spontaneous, often like broad washes of watercolour, they represent a considered, lengthy process and a multitude of experiences.

Edwards’ tapestries tell stories about her journeys through different landscapes. In her new work, Edwards has found new inspiration in oilseed rape fields and the resulting tapestries are drenched in uninhibited, sunny tones. Visitors can unravel these journeys from their abstracted and recollected compositions. Bands of colour that suggest fields, or a delicate mark which hints at the trace of a fence, all give clues to the inspirations behind these works.

Spinning yarns about her travels, the compositions in these tapestries distil a vast collection of stories and moments into an eloquent image. Edwards makes reams of notes; her journals and sketches are then worked and reworked from realistic drawings, to colourful watercolours and eventually to a finished tapestry design.

Image: Shadows and Shapes. 2010. 30 x 70cm. Photo Mei Lim