Artybird Carnforth

Artybird Carnforth School of Art & Textiles offering City & Guilds Accredited Programmes at all levels. Online available

27/08/2026

🧵 How do you stitch movement? 🧵

At Leighton Moss, Kate watches the reeds constantly shifting... bending, overlapping and changing as they move.

But capturing that movement in textile isn't simply about copying what she sees.

In this clip, Kate takes us into her making process.

She works from drawings of the moving reeds, pleating and folding her fabric before stitching across those folds. Even the colour of the thread has its own story, with threads dyed using madder and logwood.

She's looking for the lights and darks of movement in the reeds and finding ways to translate what she's observed into cloth and stitch.

🎥 Watch Kate's full reflective film on YouTube to follow more of the journey from Leighton Moss to the finished artwork.

🎬 And join our free Movie Night to experience the complete Glimpses of Our Bay exhibition film and discover the work of all four artists.

🔗 Watch Kate's full film: https://youtu.be/TkT_AKQB1HU
🎟️ Register for Movie Night: https://forms.gle/nzDnJ64vpHGcDgMX6

🖼️ Glimpses of Our Bay
📍 Farfield Mill, Sedbergh
📅 Until 13 September 2026

⚪ What happens when stillness meets movement? 🍃Yesterday, Diane explored a Morecambe Bay coastline where those two thing...
26/08/2026

⚪ What happens when stillness meets movement? 🍃

Yesterday, Diane explored a Morecambe Bay coastline where those two things continually exist alongside one another.

Sea defences hold a line against the water. Land reclaimed from the sea meets an incoming tide. Salt marshes disappear beneath the water. Birds rise as the available land becomes smaller.

Today we're taking a closer look at Floaty Stillness.

There's an intriguing tension in the work: strong lines sit alongside lighter, looping forms; structure alongside movement; soft, shifting tones alongside dark marks.

Rather than telling us what to see, it invites us to spend a little longer looking.

And that's something you can do with the complete work at Glimpses of Our Bay at Farfield Mill.

📱 As you explore the exhibition, scan the QR codes to watch and listen to Diane and the other artists reflecting on the landscapes, observations and experiences behind their work.

🎧 Bring your headphones and hear their voices while standing alongside the pieces themselves.

🎬 You can also join our free Movie Night to experience the complete Glimpses of Our Bay exhibition film from home.

🎟️ Register here: https://forms.gle/gCg5w3q8E1cquxur8

🖼️ Glimpses of Our Bay
📍 Farfield Mill, Sedbergh
📅 Until 13 September 2026

25/08/2026

🗻 A landscape where land and water are constantly negotiating. 🌊

Around Glasson Dock, Diane sees a coastline shaped by both nature and people.

Sea defences protect the land. Pasture has been reclaimed from the sea. Salt marshes disappear beneath the incoming tide before emerging again.

And throughout it all, the landscape keeps changing.

“The colours are always changing as the light changes.”

Diane watches the patterns of the water, reflections of the sky, mossy greens of the seagrass and birds taking flight as the rising tide reduces the land beneath them.

It's this continual movement between sea and land, light and colour, people and nature that provides such rich inspiration for her work.

🎥 Watch Diane's full reflective film on YouTube and journey with her around this changing edge of Morecambe Bay.

🎬 You can also join our free Movie Night to experience the complete Glimpses of Our Bay exhibition film and discover the work of all four artists.

🔗 Watch Diane's full film: https://youtu.be/QCUGUfgHKdc
🎟️ Register for Movie Night: https://forms.gle/NNeiXN4jVebx7qgg9

🖼️ Glimpses of Our Bay
📍 Farfield Mill, Sedbergh
📅 Until 13 September 2026

🐦 Remember Kate's “little burnt sienna smudge”? 🔴Yesterday, Kate told us about the tame robin she regularly encounters a...
24/08/2026

🐦 Remember Kate's “little burnt sienna smudge”? 🔴

Yesterday, Kate told us about the tame robin she regularly encounters at Leighton Moss ... or perhaps the succession of robins! And how that familiar little presence finds its way into her artwork as “a little burnt sienna smudge.”

Today we're getting closer to Deconstructed Growth, a printed felt piece which also appears in Kate's reflective film.

And burnt sienna certainly isn't hiding here.

Rich rusts, reds and earthy browns sit alongside bold black forms and warm yellow, giving us another glimpse into the colours and visual language Kate has developed through observing the world around her.

🖼️ See Deconstructed Growth in person as part of Glimpses of Our Bay at Farfield Mill.

📱 You'll also find QR codes throughout the exhibition. Scan them to watch and listen to Kate and the other artists sharing their own reflections on the landscapes, experiences and creative processes behind the work you're seeing.

🎧 Headphones are definitely worth bringing!

🎬 And you can discover even more by joining our free Movie Night, featuring the complete Glimpses of Our Bay exhibition film.

🎟️ Register here: https://forms.gle/87npBB2XBMtYzi1o8

📍 Farfield Mill, Sedbergh
📅 Until 13 September 2026

🎨 Our new school term starts on 4th September! 🧵If you’ve been thinking about learning a new textile skill, now is the p...
24/08/2026

🎨 Our new school term starts on 4th September! 🧵

If you’ve been thinking about learning a new textile skill, now is the perfect time to join us! We currently have spaces available on our Foundation courses in:

🧶 Foundation Felt
🪡 Foundation Embroidery
🧵 Foundation Weaving

Whether you’re a complete beginner or looking to develop your skills with expert guidance, our Foundation courses are a wonderful way to get started and build your confidence.

📅 Term starts: 4th September

Spaces are limited, so if you’ve been waiting for the right moment to start your textile journey… this is it! 💛

Get in touch or visit our website for more information.

23/08/2026

🔴 Sometimes inspiration is just a little burnt sienna smudge. 🐦

At Leighton Moss, Kate finds inspiration in the scale and movement of the reed beds but also in much smaller details.

Like one particularly familiar visitor.

“Not just my husband Robin, but this gorgeous robin.”

Kate isn't entirely sure whether the tame robin she encounters is the same bird year after year, but one always seems to be there, watching.

And he's found his way into her artwork too...

“He appears in a lot of my artwork just as a little burnt sienna smudge.”

It's a wonderful example of how spending time with a place allows its smallest details to become part of your creative language.

🎥 Watch Kate's full reflective film on YouTube to discover more about her relationship with Leighton Moss and how it has shaped her work.

🎬 And join our free Movie Night to experience the complete Glimpses of Our Bay exhibition film.

🔗 Watch Kate's full film: https://youtu.be/TkT_AKQB1HU
🎟️ Register for Movie Night: https://forms.gle/LDNkj9xsAekyiLTw7

🖼️ Glimpses of Our Bay
📍 Farfield Mill, Sedbergh
📅 Until 13 September 2026

🌊 What does the tide leave behind? 🌊Yesterday, Maggy took us to the edge of Morecambe Bay as the tide was making its way...
22/08/2026

🌊 What does the tide leave behind? 🌊

Yesterday, Maggy took us to the edge of Morecambe Bay as the tide was making its way out, revealing old salt marshes, traces of former jetties and a landscape shaped and reshaped over time.

Today we're taking a closer look at Tidelines.

Created using wet felting techniques with wool fibres and silk, the work feels full of discoveries: layers, textures, shapes and fragments gathered together, echoing the richness of the Bay itself.

It's another glimpse into the way Maggy experiences this landscape... not simply as a view, but as somewhere to explore closely and notice what has been left behind.

🖼️ See Tidelines in person as part of Glimpses of Our Bay at Farfield Mill, Sedbergh.

📱 While you're there, scan the QR codes around the exhibition to watch and listen to Maggy and the other artists reflect on the places and experiences behind their work.

🎧 Bring your headphones and listen as you explore.

And if you'd like to experience more of the exhibition from home…

🎬 Join us for our free Movie Night, featuring the complete Glimpses of Our Bay exhibition film.

🎟️ Register here: https://forms.gle/siSsLSVKgBRLQVZH8

📍 Farfield Mill, Sedbergh
📅 Until 13 September 2026

21/08/2026

⏳ A landscape shaped by more than the tide. 🌊

At Morecambe Bay, Maggy isn't only looking at what surrounds her today.

She sees traces of what was there before.

The remnants of old salt marshes. The changing course of the River Kent. Old jetties once used when horses and carriages carried people across the Bay. And beyond them, the Lake District hills stretching across the horizon.

As Maggy puts it:

“There's everything here.”

It's this combination of landscape, history and continual change that makes the Bay such a rich source of inspiration for her work.

🎥 Watch Maggy's full reflective film on YouTube and discover more of the places, memories, textures and histories that shape her creative response to Morecambe Bay.

🎬 You can also join our free **Movie Night**, where we'll share the complete *Glimpses of Our Bay* exhibition film and the stories behind the work of all four artists.

🔗 Watch Maggy's full film: https://youtu.be/mGWhVXrUqGo
🎟️ Register for Movie Night: https://forms.gle/ABEDqh23ZA1fapVS6

🖼️ **Glimpses of Our Bay**
📍 Farfield Mill, Sedbergh
📅 15 July – 13 September 2026

20/08/2026

👀 Yesterday we looked out of Andrea's window. Today, we see what looking can become. 💡

From her home in Grange-over-Sands, Andrea watches a view that never stays quite the same.

Tides move. Weather changes. Light shifts across Morecambe Bay. Even the colours of the distant landscape alter from one moment to the next.

🧵 **Glimpses of The Bay 1** takes us somewhere beyond that recognisable view.

An abstract narrative study of Morecambe Bay, wet felted in wool and silk fibres, it brings together fragments of colour, shape and line rather than trying to recreate one particular moment or place.

Perhaps that's fitting for a landscape Andrea describes as “constantly changing.”

See the complete piece as part of **Glimpses of Our Bay** at Farfield Mill and discover Andrea's work alongside the very different responses of Maggy, Kate and Diane.

📱 As you explore, scan the QR codes throughout the exhibition to watch and listen to the artists' reflective films ... hearing directly from Andrea about the places, observations and creative processes behind her work.

🎧 Bring your headphones and listen while you explore.

Can't make it to Sedbergh?

🎬 Join our free **Movie Night** and experience the complete exhibition film from wherever you are.

🎟️ Register here: https://forms.gle/qzkFuMBmQER2A7YP7

🖼️ **Glimpses of Our Bay**
📍 Farfield Mill, Sedbergh
📅 15 July – 13 September 2026

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Unit 3, Lyne Riggs Estate, Lancaster Road
Carnforth
LA59EA

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Tuesday 1pm - 5pm
Wednesday 1pm - 5pm

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