Effie Galletly
landscape artist
quilt maker
Lazy Beds and Machair
The focus for 2015 has been the shape and form of the lazy beds in Lewis and the dazzle of the machair when it blooms. Lazy beds are marks of cultivation in the land from centuries past. No one really knows quite how long ago the people who lived here used these. And it is probably the case that those lines found higher on hills, as in Harris, are likely to also have been lines for drainage. One way or another the lines are still, even now, very evident in the landscape, very green in the summer and sometimes lined with machair (wild flower). They are wonderfully sculptural.
The machair is profuse in fields behind sandy shores, where the sand thrown up on the peaty fields makes an ideal medium for the extraordinary mix of wild flowers.
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Hebridean House by the River
2015 has seen the launch of Effie's new book, Patterns in Landscape. Part of the book is given over to a project, which describes in detail how the work is done. This piece is the project made up.
32 x 46 cm (13 x 18 inches) SOLD -
Skye Hill Shapes
Not a lazy bed, but some of the wonderful shapes to be found in the Skye hills.
80 x 49 cm (31 x 19 inches) SOLD -
Harris Hills from the Pentland Road, November
The Harris Hills can be viewed from so many different aspects on Lewis. Crisp and clear in the summer light, they can also be a magnificent outline against a November sky. This piece is made of all specially hand dyed fabrics, is machine pieced and hand quilted.
A section of this piece can also be found in the gallery, which gives a chance to give it a closer look.
156 x 27 cm (61 x 11 inches) SOLD -
Harris Hills from the Pentland Road, November (detail)
This is a detail of the main work as shown in this gallery.
156 x 27 cm (61 x 11 inches) SOLD -
Machair by the Sea
Looking out to sea the machair sparkles in the view. The sea on a bright day can easily achieve a deep royal colour right out to the horizon.
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Tracks in the Machair
These kinds of tracks are seen everywhere in the fields of machair in the summer. There can be everything from the everyday daisy and buttercup to the most exotic orchid, all gloriously nestled together in the sunshine.
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Lazy Beds 2
The second of the pair concentrating on the shape and form of the lines of the lazy beds of Lewis.
82 x 58 cm (32 x 23 inches) NFS -
Lazy Beds 1
One of two pieces looking into the iconic shapes of the lazy beds on Lewis, using fabric piecing to identify line and form.
85 x 58 cm (33 x 23 inches) NFS
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