Jenny Cowern
Encyclopedia
Jenny Cowern was a visual, multi-media artist, who took inspiration from the natural surroundings of her adopted county, Cumbria
, to produce some of the most dramatic and lasting images of nature. An acute observer of the continual change in the natural world, she took light and reflection, growth and decay, beaches and tides, pebbles and stones, clouds and shadows and manipulated them to capture a unique view of her surroundings. In addition to pen and ink, pencil
, oils
, watercolours, and pastels, a series of commissions enabled her to employ egg tempera murals, architectural designs, and industrial
enamelling techniques. Irrespective of the media employed, it was with felt that she produced her most compelling and remarkable work. In the words of lifelong friend Duncan Smith: “Cowern took an ancient craft, pushed it in thrilling new directions and gave us contemporary pieces of the highest order.”
, England
, on 20 June 1943, the second daughter of artists Raymond Cowern RA and Margaret (nee Trotman). In 1959, Cowern enrolled at the Brighton College of Art, where her father was Dean
of the Art
faculty. During her time studying for her National Diploma
in Design she produced ‘Mother Cutting the Hedge’ (1962) and ‘East Street, Brighton’ (1963). In 1963 she began studying at the Royal College of Art
, London
, where, amongst others, she studied under Peter Blake
and Carel Weight
, graduating from the Painting School in 1966 with the award of an ARCA (Alumnus of the Royal College of Art). At a tube station in London, she met the artist Raymond Higgs, who later became her life-long partner.
to paint landscape
, and used the opportunity to visit Cumbria
where Raymond’s mother owned a row of cottages at Langrigg, near Aspatria
. One of these was empty and available for use, despite being derelict with neither water nor electricity, Cowern used it as a base for her scholarship. Following her graduation in 1966, Cowern moved to Sheffield
, where she took up a teaching post on the Sheffield College of Art’s Foundation Course. In 1968, Higgs and Cowern moved to Langrigg and with no assistance and no prior skills eventually saved the three condemned cottages. She lived and had studios here for the rest of her life. While making the cottages habitable, Cowern took short-term teaching jobs at art colleges in Newcastle
and Carlisle and began to take an artistic interest in the everyday building structures and materials that surrounded her non-art work. After working on renovating houses for eighteen months, domestic architecture became a dominant theme in her works. Several paintings of interiors followed; ‘Doors and Windows’ (1970), and ‘Drawing on Walls’ (1971/72) are prime examples of her thoughts during this period. In 1976, works including ‘Media Ideas Matrix’ and ‘Weaving Felt Knit Matrix’ set her on the path to exploring textiles as a creative medium.
, Kendal
and bought the accompanying book, written by Mary Burkett, entitled ‘The Art of the Feltmaker’. Although the exhibition consisted in the main of traditional articles: rugs, shepherd’s cloaks, camel head-dresses, and hats, Cowern could see an alternative potential. "Though beautiful, this was not the aspect which interested me. It was the mural scale, the freedom, unfussiness, oven crudeness and the directness which appealed." The show and the book had a profound and stimulating affect upon the artist who having taught herself the necessary technicalities, realised the immense scope the medium had to offer. As Burkett recalls: “Once she started to work with felt she was taken out of doors – before when making patterns she was inside, but having discovered the joys and possibilities of working outside, she stayed outside. She was working with nature.” Cowern did not have to travel far for inspiration, the diversity of the skies over the Solway Firth exploded outside her front door, In 1981, she gave the following explanation to the readers of Crafts Magazine. “My felt skies are a dialogue between a new medium and a new subject. The desire to work in the medium came first and the skies second. Excitement at looking at skies became foremost; their integration with felt became natural.” In 1980, she exhibited her huge Sky Felts, to wide acclaim, first at Abbot Hall and later at Tullie House, Carlisle. In 1981, the collection went on a two year tour of galleries in Scotland
, with venues in the MacRoberts Centre in Stirling
; the Artspace in Aberdeen
, the Crawford Gallery at St. Andrews University, before crossing over to the Orkney Islands
, then returning to the Central Museum and Art Gallery, Dundee
. Cordelia Oliver writing in Crafts Quarterly observed.
competition to design a mural
for a multi-storey car park at Stockton on Tees. Using the structure of the existing brickwork she proposed shimmering screen which would have made decorative mural, but Stockton Council this was never realised, and it remains a design. In 1990, she designed, again through Northern Arts, a mural on the wall behind the interchange platform of the Heworth railway station, on the Gateshead
to Sunderland line. Because they required a permanent construction, which was unbreakable, washable and vandal proof, they specified an enamel
design. With no previous knowledge of the media, Cowern created a 29 panel mural of vitreous enamel
, 3 metres high and 33 metres long. Its theme paid homage to the industries of the north-east of England
, past and present, depicting coalmining, ship building, textiles, glass making and other related industries. Cowern returned to the media of enamel six years later when she received a commission to design and construct a set of murals for the Accident and Emergency Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead
. In 1991, she received a further commission to produce a Felt Triptych
Wall Hanging, for a long corridor wall for the Elderly Mentally Ill. (E.M.I.) Department at Hastings Hospital, Hastings
, England.
, (1986) a felt later purchased by the Shipley Art Gallery
. She would return to the subject years later, where, using first oils and then pastels she produced equally stunning but differing representations. Indeed this flirtation with varying media became one of her many strengths; after choosing her subject she hopscotched between a variety of media, producing watercolours, oils, pastels, pencil, enamel, tempera’s etc. She interpreted the geological structure of a group of tide-washed pebbles; and captured the spectrum of light as it danced through her windows. In 1996 she received an award from the Northern Arts Board and Cumbria County Council, which allowed her to produce a body of work inspired by the Solway Coast on the Cumbrian side. Not satisfied with encapsulating the changing facets of the beach and the tide at Allonby
, she moved down the coast to sketch, paint and felt the sandstone rocks below the Roman Fort at Maryport
. Then on to Workington
to study the slag
formed cliffs, with their giant boulders and rusting metal. The coast would demand her attention for a number of years, as she explored every aspect, endeavouring to improve and perfect what she had previously done. After completing a commission to decorate a Summer House
on the shore of Windermere
, Cowern continued with the theme and produced a body of work centred on her own conservatory
, where she contrasted the wooden-glazed structure, the hanging vine
s, and spectacular floral displays with decaying compost. For the remainder of her life she would continue with recurring themes, at Bassenthwaite
, Isel, the River Derwent
, Bergen
; and many more places and many more themes.
, Denmark
and France her international reputation was confirmed. When people think of Cowern they have a tendency to think of Felt, but there was much more than Felt, as she herself acknowledged:
, is an exhibition of the creative work of a single person.
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, to produce some of the most dramatic and lasting images of nature. An acute observer of the continual change in the natural world, she took light and reflection, growth and decay, beaches and tides, pebbles and stones, clouds and shadows and manipulated them to capture a unique view of her surroundings. In addition to pen and ink, pencil
Pencil
A pencil is a writing implement or art medium usually constructed of a narrow, solid pigment core inside a protective casing. The case prevents the core from breaking, and also from marking the user’s hand during use....
, oils
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
, watercolours, and pastels, a series of commissions enabled her to employ egg tempera murals, architectural designs, and industrial
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
enamelling techniques. Irrespective of the media employed, it was with felt that she produced her most compelling and remarkable work. In the words of lifelong friend Duncan Smith: “Cowern took an ancient craft, pushed it in thrilling new directions and gave us contemporary pieces of the highest order.”
Early days
Jenny Cowern was born in WorcesterWorcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, on 20 June 1943, the second daughter of artists Raymond Cowern RA and Margaret (nee Trotman). In 1959, Cowern enrolled at the Brighton College of Art, where her father was Dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
of the Art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
faculty. During her time studying for her National Diploma
National Diploma (UK)
A National Diploma is a standard academic qualification, offered by most further education colleges and universities in the United Kingdom. The title National Diploma is used in a variety of ways, however most are undergraduate qualifications rated at levels 3 on the National Qualifications...
in Design she produced ‘Mother Cutting the Hedge’ (1962) and ‘East Street, Brighton’ (1963). In 1963 she began studying at the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where, amongst others, she studied under Peter Blake
Peter Blake (artist)
Sir Peter Thomas Blake, KBE, CBE, RDI, RA is an English pop artist, best known for his design of the sleeve for the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He lives in Chiswick, London, UK.-Career:...
and Carel Weight
Carel Weight
Carel Victor Morlais Weight was an English painter.Weight was born in Paddington in 1908. He studied at the Hammersmith School of Art and Goldsmiths College...
, graduating from the Painting School in 1966 with the award of an ARCA (Alumnus of the Royal College of Art). At a tube station in London, she met the artist Raymond Higgs, who later became her life-long partner.
West Cumberland
In 1965, Jenny won a David Murray travelling scholarshipScholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to paint landscape
Landscape
Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including the physical elements of landforms such as mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of...
, and used the opportunity to visit Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
where Raymond’s mother owned a row of cottages at Langrigg, near Aspatria
Aspatria
Aspatria is a small town and civil parish in Cumbria, England, and lies half way between Maryport and Wigton, on the A596. Historically within Cumberland, it is about away from the coast. It is approximately seven miles from the northern boundary of the Lake District, and located to the south east...
. One of these was empty and available for use, despite being derelict with neither water nor electricity, Cowern used it as a base for her scholarship. Following her graduation in 1966, Cowern moved to Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, where she took up a teaching post on the Sheffield College of Art’s Foundation Course. In 1968, Higgs and Cowern moved to Langrigg and with no assistance and no prior skills eventually saved the three condemned cottages. She lived and had studios here for the rest of her life. While making the cottages habitable, Cowern took short-term teaching jobs at art colleges in Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
and Carlisle and began to take an artistic interest in the everyday building structures and materials that surrounded her non-art work. After working on renovating houses for eighteen months, domestic architecture became a dominant theme in her works. Several paintings of interiors followed; ‘Doors and Windows’ (1970), and ‘Drawing on Walls’ (1971/72) are prime examples of her thoughts during this period. In 1976, works including ‘Media Ideas Matrix’ and ‘Weaving Felt Knit Matrix’ set her on the path to exploring textiles as a creative medium.
Sky felt hangings
In 1979, Cowern visited a felt exhibition at Abbot HallAbbot Hall Art Gallery
Abbot Hall Art Gallery is a museum and gallery in Kendal, England. Abbot Hall was built in 1759 by Colonel George Wilson, the second son of Daniel Wilson of Dallam Tower, a large house and country estate nearby. It was built on the site of the old Abbot’s Hall, roughly where the museum is today...
, Kendal
Kendal
Kendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...
and bought the accompanying book, written by Mary Burkett, entitled ‘The Art of the Feltmaker’. Although the exhibition consisted in the main of traditional articles: rugs, shepherd’s cloaks, camel head-dresses, and hats, Cowern could see an alternative potential. "Though beautiful, this was not the aspect which interested me. It was the mural scale, the freedom, unfussiness, oven crudeness and the directness which appealed." The show and the book had a profound and stimulating affect upon the artist who having taught herself the necessary technicalities, realised the immense scope the medium had to offer. As Burkett recalls: “Once she started to work with felt she was taken out of doors – before when making patterns she was inside, but having discovered the joys and possibilities of working outside, she stayed outside. She was working with nature.” Cowern did not have to travel far for inspiration, the diversity of the skies over the Solway Firth exploded outside her front door, In 1981, she gave the following explanation to the readers of Crafts Magazine. “My felt skies are a dialogue between a new medium and a new subject. The desire to work in the medium came first and the skies second. Excitement at looking at skies became foremost; their integration with felt became natural.” In 1980, she exhibited her huge Sky Felts, to wide acclaim, first at Abbot Hall and later at Tullie House, Carlisle. In 1981, the collection went on a two year tour of galleries in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, with venues in the MacRoberts Centre in Stirling
Stirling
Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...
; the Artspace in Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, the Crawford Gallery at St. Andrews University, before crossing over to the Orkney Islands
Orkney Islands
Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...
, then returning to the Central Museum and Art Gallery, Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
. Cordelia Oliver writing in Crafts Quarterly observed.
- “The medium is an unusual one, even exploratory. Jenny Cowern is a painter by training (and a good draughtsmanDraughtsmanA draughtsman or draftsman , is a person skilled in drawing, either:*drawing for artistic purposes, or*technical drawing for practical purposes such as architecture or engineering...
, too, on the evidence of a single drawing in her exhibition in which the essence of a sky in movement is caught and pinned down in a dance of lines) who has found an outlet in the potential scale, and, as she herself says, “the freedom, unfussiness, oven crudeness, and the directness” of creating these works in felt. Her home is in Cumbria where the sky is omnipresent and always fascinating in its element flux - nature’s theatre of wind and light and water vapour.”
Commissions
In 1977, Cowern won a Northern Arts, Arts CouncilArts council
An arts council is a government or private, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing events at home and abroad...
competition to design a mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
for a multi-storey car park at Stockton on Tees. Using the structure of the existing brickwork she proposed shimmering screen which would have made decorative mural, but Stockton Council this was never realised, and it remains a design. In 1990, she designed, again through Northern Arts, a mural on the wall behind the interchange platform of the Heworth railway station, on the Gateshead
Gateshead
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
to Sunderland line. Because they required a permanent construction, which was unbreakable, washable and vandal proof, they specified an enamel
Vitreous enamel
Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...
design. With no previous knowledge of the media, Cowern created a 29 panel mural of vitreous enamel
Vitreous enamel
Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...
, 3 metres high and 33 metres long. Its theme paid homage to the industries of the north-east of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, past and present, depicting coalmining, ship building, textiles, glass making and other related industries. Cowern returned to the media of enamel six years later when she received a commission to design and construct a set of murals for the Accident and Emergency Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital is based in Sheriff Hill in Gateshead, England and was officially opened on 18 March 1948. The fully furnished and equipped hospital, contains 26 wards and an Accident & Emergency....
. In 1991, she received a further commission to produce a Felt Triptych
Triptych
A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...
Wall Hanging, for a long corridor wall for the Elderly Mentally Ill. (E.M.I.) Department at Hastings Hospital, Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
, England.
Continuous improvement
After the success of her Sky Felt hangings, Cowern began to expand and develop the media, taking inspiration from the natural elements found in her immediate surroundings. At heart she was an abstract painter, as she explained. “I have often found the need to balance my observational work with completely abstract work, developing it along side.” Taking encouragement from her own garden she produced HydrangeaHydrangea
Hydrangea is a genus of about 70 to 75 species of flowering plants native to southern and eastern Asia and North and South America. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Japan, and Korea...
, (1986) a felt later purchased by the Shipley Art Gallery
Shipley Art Gallery
The Shipley Art Gallery is an art gallery situated in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. It is at the south end of Prince Consort Road, near to Shipcote.-Origins:The Shipley Art Gallery first opened to the public in 1917...
. She would return to the subject years later, where, using first oils and then pastels she produced equally stunning but differing representations. Indeed this flirtation with varying media became one of her many strengths; after choosing her subject she hopscotched between a variety of media, producing watercolours, oils, pastels, pencil, enamel, tempera’s etc. She interpreted the geological structure of a group of tide-washed pebbles; and captured the spectrum of light as it danced through her windows. In 1996 she received an award from the Northern Arts Board and Cumbria County Council, which allowed her to produce a body of work inspired by the Solway Coast on the Cumbrian side. Not satisfied with encapsulating the changing facets of the beach and the tide at Allonby
Allonby
Allonby is a village on the coast of the Allerdale district in Cumbria, England. The village is on the B5300 road five miles north of Maryport and eight miles south of Silloth....
, she moved down the coast to sketch, paint and felt the sandstone rocks below the Roman Fort at Maryport
Maryport
Maryport is a town and civil parish within the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England, in the historic county of Cumberland. It is located on the A596 road north of Workington, and is the southernmost town on the Solway Firth. Maryport railway station is on the Cumbrian Coast Line. The town is in...
. Then on to Workington
Workington
Workington is a town, civil parish and port on the west coast of Cumbria, England, at the mouth of the River Derwent. Lying within the Borough of Allerdale, Workington is southwest of Carlisle, west of Cockermouth, and southwest of Maryport...
to study the slag
Slag
Slag is a partially vitreous by-product of smelting ore to separate the metal fraction from the unwanted fraction. It can usually be considered to be a mixture of metal oxides and silicon dioxide. However, slags can contain metal sulfides and metal atoms in the elemental form...
formed cliffs, with their giant boulders and rusting metal. The coast would demand her attention for a number of years, as she explored every aspect, endeavouring to improve and perfect what she had previously done. After completing a commission to decorate a Summer House
Summer house
A summer house or summerhouse has traditionally referred to a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden or park, often designed to provide cool shady places...
on the shore of Windermere
Windermere
Windermere is the largest natural lake of England. It is also a name used in a number of places, including:-Australia:* Lake Windermere , a reservoir, Australian Capital Territory * Lake Windermere...
, Cowern continued with the theme and produced a body of work centred on her own conservatory
Conservatory (greenhouse)
A conservatory is a room having glass roof and walls, typically attached to a house on only one side, used as a greenhouse or a sunroom...
, where she contrasted the wooden-glazed structure, the hanging vine
Vine
A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...
s, and spectacular floral displays with decaying compost. For the remainder of her life she would continue with recurring themes, at Bassenthwaite
Bassenthwaite
Bassenthwaite is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 412. The village is about east of Cockermouth, and is approximately from Bassenthwaite Lake...
, Isel, the River Derwent
River Derwent
River Derwent is the name of several rivers in England:*River Derwent, Derbyshire*River Derwent, North East England on the border between County Durham and Northumberland*River Derwent, Cumbria in the Lake District*River Derwent, Yorkshire in Yorkshire...
, Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
; and many more places and many more themes.
Death
Cowern died on 31 July 2005 at the age of 62. She had established her stature as an artist, and with exhibitions in Hungary, Norway, Poland, GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and France her international reputation was confirmed. When people think of Cowern they have a tendency to think of Felt, but there was much more than Felt, as she herself acknowledged:
- “I firmly believe that drawing, painting and observation have contributed more to my work in felt than has the medium itself, or rather they have allowed me to continue with felt beyond the point where I would otherwise have left it, by suggesting avenues of inquiry. I am sure that all feltmakers of however long acquaintance know of the excitement of discovery and the beauty which the medium brings, so easily, and will agree that a balance is required between allowing the medium its head and making it do what is wanted. An argument against the use of felt is that it ‘gives’ of itself too much, and therefore, if reliance on that ‘gift’ is too great. all work in felt becomes similar, banal. It must be made to behave, beautifully why not, but in a controlled way. It must be fed with ideas, not allowed to be fixed in its own past. Felt is a brilliant teacher; it tells us of colour mixing, it tells us of graduated colour, it tells us of collage, it shows us that development can, if necessary take the form of destruction and reconstruction. They are valuable lessons, but too many of these things together can become a riot of decoration. What is needed is a reason for being, a simple statement.”
One-man show
Relating to art exhibitions, a one-person show, also known as a one-man show or a solo showSolo show (art exhibition)
A solo show or solo exhibition is an exhibition of the work of only one artist. The artwork may be paintings, drawings, etchings, collage, sculpture, or photography. The creator of any artistic technique may be the subject of a solo show. Other skills and crafts have similar types of shows for the...
, is an exhibition of the creative work of a single person.
- 1980, Abbot HallAbbot Hall Art GalleryAbbot Hall Art Gallery is a museum and gallery in Kendal, England. Abbot Hall was built in 1759 by Colonel George Wilson, the second son of Daniel Wilson of Dallam Tower, a large house and country estate nearby. It was built on the site of the old Abbot’s Hall, roughly where the museum is today...
KendalKendalKendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...
, Paintings, Drawings and Felts - 1980, Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle, Paintings, Drawings and Felts
- 1980 – 85, Touring Exhibition, Sky Felts and studies, a growing exhibition
- 1985, Scott Gallery, Lancaster UniversityLancaster UniversityLancaster University, officially The University of Lancaster, is a leading research-intensive British university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established by Royal Charter in 1964 and initially based in St Leonard's Gate until moving to a purpose-built 300 acre campus at...
, Sky Felts and New Felts - 1987, Abbot Hall, Kendal, Work on Paper, Work in Felt
- 1988, Van Mildert CollegeVan Mildert CollegeVan Mildert College, commonly known as Mildert, is a college of the University of Durham in England. Founded in 1965, it takes its name from William Van Mildert, Prince-Bishop of Durham from 1826 to 1836 and a leading figure in the University's 1832 foundation.Van Mildert College occupies grounds...
, DurhamDurhamDurham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
, - 1988, Lowes Court Gallery, EgremontEgremont, CumbriaEgremont is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Copeland in Cumbria, England, south of Whitehaven and on the River Ehen. The town, which lies at the foot of Uldale Valley and Dent Fell, was historically within Cumberland and has a long industrial heritage including dyeing, weaving and...
, Trees and Sky - 1988, Institute of Education, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Trees and Sky - 1989, D.L.I. Museum & Arts Centre, Durham, A Softer Landscape
- 1989, StaffordStaffordStafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately north of Wolverhampton and south of Stoke-on-Trent, adjacent to the M6 motorway Junction 13 to Junction 14...
Art Gallery, Trees: drawings, watercolours and felts - 1989, N.C.C.A., Sunderland, Trees: drawings, watercolours and felts
- 1990, Helena Thompson Museum, WorkingtonWorkingtonWorkington is a town, civil parish and port on the west coast of Cumbria, England, at the mouth of the River Derwent. Lying within the Borough of Allerdale, Workington is southwest of Carlisle, west of Cockermouth, and southwest of Maryport...
, A Softer Landscape - 1991, Tullie House, Carlisle, Felts and recent Commissions
- 1992, Gray Art Gallery, HartlepoolHartlepoolHartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
, Felts and Drawings - 1993, Oddfellows Gallery, Kendal, Recent work.
- 1994, CreweCreweCrewe is a railway town within the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683...
and AlsagerAlsagerAlsager is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, to the north-west of the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and east of the railway town of Crewe...
College Gallery, Felts and Drawings - 1994, Linton Court SettleSettleSettle is a small market town and civil parish within the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It is served by the Settle railway station, which is located near the town centre, and Giggleswick railway station which is a mile away. It is from Leeds Bradford Airport...
- 1996, Beacon, WhitehavenWhitehavenWhitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England, which lies equidistant between the county's two largest settlements, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast Line and the A595 road...
, Sea/Coast. Drawings. Paintings and Felts - 1996, The Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, Outside In. Felts, drawings and paintings
- 1997, Linton Court, Settle
- 1998, Sheridan Russell Gallery, Crawford St., London, Shore-line of Cumbria
- 1999, Oddfellows Kendal, Shore-line and Reflections, Lights and Lustres
- 1999, Theatre by the LakeTheatre by the LakeTheatre by the Lake in Keswick, Cumbria, England is situated on the shores of Derwentwater in one of the most picturesque locations in the Lake District. It opened in 1999, replacing the old Blue Box Touring Theatre, and was made possible by an Arts Council Lottery Fund Grant...
, KeswickKeswick, CumbriaKeswick is a market town and civil parish within the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It had a population of 4,984, according to the 2001 census, and is situated just north of Derwent Water, and a short distance from Bassenthwaite Lake, both in the Lake District National Park...
, Felts & Paintings. - 2000, PendlePendlePendle is a local government district and borough of Lancashire, England. It adjoins the Lancashire boroughs of Burnley and Ribble Valley, the North Yorkshire district of Craven and the West Yorkshire districts of Calderdale and the City of Bradford...
Arts Centre, LancashireLancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, Time and Place. Felts and drawings - 2003, Linton Court Settle, Yorkshire, Felts, drawings and paintings
- 2005, Tullie House, Carlisle, Softer Landscape, (Retrospective)
- 2005, StranraerStranraerStranraer is a town in the southwest of Scotland. It lies in the west of Dumfries and Galloway and in the county of Wigtownshire.Stranraer lies on the shores of Loch Ryan on the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland...
Museum & Art Gallery, Softer Landscape, (Retrospective)
Group exhibitions
- 1982 - 84, Carlisle Touring, Presence’s of Nature
- 1984, BuryBuryBury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester...
Art Gallery, Contemporary Felt - 1984, HungaryHungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Miniature Textile Biennial - 1985, B.C.C. London, Wall Hung Textiles
- 1986 – 87, Fulham PalaceFulham PalaceFulham Palace in Fulham, London , England, at one time the main residence of the Bishop of London, is of medieval origin. It was the country home of the Bishops of London from at least 11th century until 1975, when it was vacated...
, London, Fibre Art touring - 1986 – 87, LodzLódzŁódź is the third-largest city in Poland. Located in the central part of the country, it had a population of 742,387 in December 2009. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is approximately south-west of Warsaw...
, PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Fibre Art touring - 1987- 88, Three venues in the north of England, Fibre Art touring
- 1987- 88, PlymouthPlymouthPlymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
Arts Centre and 7 other venues in England, Felt - 1989, Crafts CouncilCrafts CouncilThe Crafts Council was established in the United Kingdom in 1971 as the national agency for crafts and was granted a Royal Charter in 1982. The Crafts Council’s vision is to position the UK as the global centre for the making, seeing and collecting of contemporary craft...
Gallery, Watercolours in Felt - 1990, BradfordBradfordBradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
Textile Festival - 1990, International Felt Symposium, AarhusAarhusAarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
, Denmark - 1992, Contemporary Felt, Mouzon, France
- 1992, MelmerbyMelmerby, CumbriaMelmerby is a village in Cumbria, England. It is a small village with a population of around 200. It is relatively quiet because the area is not as popular with tourists as other parts of Cumbria...
, PenrithPenrith, CumbriaPenrith was an urban district between 1894 and 1974, when it was merged into Eden District.The authority's area was coterminous with the civil parish of Penrith although when the council was abolished Penrith became an unparished area....
, Terrain. Cumbrlan Group - 1993, Maidstone and Halifax Piece HallHalifax Piece HallThe Halifax Piece Hall is a building in the town centre of Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, originally built as a sales centre for woollen handloom weavers. It opened on 1 January 1779, with over 300 separate rooms arranged around a central courtyard. The term piece refers to pieces of cloth that...
, Fibre Art - 1993, Rye Art Gallery, RyeRye, East SussexRye is a small town in East Sussex, England, which stands approximately two miles from the open sea and is at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede...
- 1994, l.F.A. Conference and Exhibition. Harpbury, GloucestershireGloucestershireGloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
- 1994, Collins Hall, GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, International. Felt Association - 1994, Norton PrioryNorton PrioryNorton Priory is a historic site in Norton, Runcorn, Cheshire, England, comprising the remains of an abbey complex dating from the 12th to 16th centuries, and an 18th-century country house; it is now a museum. The remains are a scheduled ancient monument and have been designated by English...
, RuncornRuncornRuncorn is an industrial town and cargo port within the borough of Halton in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. In 2009, its population was estimated to be 61,500. The town is on the southern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form Runcorn Gap. Directly to the north...
, New Fibre Art - 1994, Oddfellows Gallery, Kendal, Art in the Garden
- 1995, Rye Art Gallery, Into the Garden
- 1996, Norton Priory, Runcorn, Fibre Art, On The Outside
- 1996, Helmshore Textile Mill, International Felt Association
- 1996, Oddfellows Gallery, Kendal, Tarns and Waterfalls of Cumbria
- 1999, Handwerkskammer fur Munchen und Obb
- 2000, Galleri Bryggen, BergenBergenBergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
- 2002, Percy House Gallery CockermouthCockermouth-History:The Romans created a fort at Derventio, now the adjoining village of Papcastle, to protect the river crossing, which had become located on a major route for troops heading towards Hadrian's Wall....
Public collections
- Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal
- Carlisle Art Gallery
- Victoria and Albert MuseumVictoria and Albert MuseumThe Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
, London - NorthumberlandNorthumberlandNorthumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
Library Services - Northern Arts Collections
- Savaria Museum, Hungary
- Whitworth Art GalleryWhitworth Art GalleryThe Whitworth Art Gallery is an art gallery in Manchester, England, containing about 55,000 items in its collection. The museum is located south of the Manchester University campus, in Whitworth Park....
, ManchesterManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater... - Shipley Art GalleryShipley Art GalleryThe Shipley Art Gallery is an art gallery situated in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. It is at the south end of Prince Consort Road, near to Shipcote.-Origins:The Shipley Art Gallery first opened to the public in 1917...
, Gateshead
Commissions
- 1990-92, Murals (Nov. Oct & Sept) in egg tempera, L G Harris Brush Factory,
- 1990, Enamel Mural, Heworth Metro Station, Newcastle upon Tyne
- 1990-91, Felt Triptych Wall Hanging for Hastings Hospital, Hastings, England
- 1996, Two Enamel Murals, for Accident & Emegency Department, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, England
- 1997, Private tempera wall painting. Bowness on WindermereWindermereWindermere is the largest natural lake of England. It is also a name used in a number of places, including:-Australia:* Lake Windermere , a reservoir, Australian Capital Territory * Lake Windermere...
, Cumbria, England - 2001, Felt Installation in Felt Trail, KalvagKalvågKalvåg is a village located on the southeast side of the island of Frøya in the municipality of Bremanger in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. Kalvåg is on the coast along the Frøysjøen, the southern entrance to the Nordfjord. Kalvåg has a population of 351...
, NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million... - 2003, Sewerby Hall Gardens, series of Felts for BridlingtonBridlingtonBridlington is a seaside resort, minor sea fishing port and civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It has a static population of over 33,000, which rises considerably during the tourist season...
Hospital, YorkshireYorkshireYorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, England
Magazines featuring Cowern’s work
- Craft Quarterey Issue no 5 summer 1982
- CRAFTS No 51 July- August 1981
- Cumbria Life No 28 1993
- Gallery Summer Tullie House Carlsle1980
- CRAFTS No 155 November- December 1998 by Ruth Pavey
- Geordie Bits and Pieces From The Gateshead Map
- Feltmakers Newsletter 1 ISSUE 81 2005
- Feltmakers Newsletter 2 ISSUE 81 2005.