andrew hemingway

Hemingway was brought up in west Yorkshire, the "Mecca" of textiles. He was born in the high Pennine hills where water was in abundance. Soft water which he was assured of as a child, was critical for the textile industry. The children learned early of the provision of nature to supply the vital millstone grit for the softening of that water. No one could doubt that it was God given. All this and more framed the backdrop of his early creativity. Woollen mills were everywhere with great spinning and weaving sheds. His parents even had stints of working in them. These textile mills poured out extraordinary lengths of cloth which were sent to the four corners of the world. He was witness to it all. The images of his childhood remain as vivid today as the sight of them in the 1960's. To turn to the use of wool and threads has come as the greatest revelation to him. He says he could never have expected to discover what he has found in making his first textile tapestries.

 

Considerable in size (1.8m x 1.8m). This first series is called "squaring the circle" and they find their genesis in his small acrylic abstracts which explore space through colour. The surface of this major work is tantalizing. The tactility of oil paint applied thickly has always turned him off but the tactility of wool and thread has clearly turned him on. He has now found what he thinks is truly special in this medium which ironically surrounded his young life. He hopes his discovery has not come too late.