About

Irish born and now living in the Yorkshire Dales for nearly 50 years, Judy Metcalfe is a textile artist who is inspired by nature and her cottage garden. She is a keen gardener who grows many different plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables. 

In her practice, she creates eco printed art pieces and scarves. Eco printing is a technique using the leaves and flowers from various plants which leave their mark on fabric using heat. Most of the leaves and flowers used come from her garden and the surrounding countryside, including a nearby railway embankment which teams with overhanging plants and ferns.

Judy uses a large variety of plants that include Rose, Geranium, Strawberry, wild Raspberry and Eucalyptus. Surrounding trees also provide many leaves for her work, Oak, Acer, Beech and Sycamore are just a few. She uses different types of silks and wool fabrics in her work. To embellish she hand stitches or machines with silk and cotton threads.

She also likes to experiment with Cyanotype. To simplify the cyanotype process, solutions of potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium citrate are mixed together. The liquid  is then painted onto paper or cloth and left to dry in a dark room. The various plants, dried or fresh, are arranged onto the treated paper or cloth, where a piece of glass is pressed down and a source of ultra violet light (such as sunlight) and a contact print is produced. The exposure times vary widely, from a few seconds to 10-20 minute exposures on a dull day. The resulting print on paper or cloth is developed by washing in cold running water. This is what gives the print its typical blue colour. The blue darkens upon drying.

Judy has always been interested in textiles. Over the years, she has attended several courses at the local college and in 2018 completed a HNC Diploma in Fashion and Textiles/Contemporary Constructed Textiles at Bradford College of Art as a mature student.

Exhibitions and Featured Work

Sunny Bank Mills, Leeds 2021

Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate (online exhibition)
2020

Yarndale Festival, Skipton
2019

Embroidery Magazine (publication)
2018

The Knitting and Stitching Show, Harrogate (With Bradford School of Art)
2017

Gargrave Annual Exhibition
2021 (cancelled)
2020 (cancelled)
2019
2018
2015
2014

North Yorkshire Open Studios 
2022
2021 (cancelled)
2020 (cancelled)