insideKENT Magazine Issue 82 - January 2019 | Page 36

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
CAS HOLMES CONT.
“HER WORK OFTEN CONTAINS SNIPPETS OF TEXT OR DISCARDED MATERIALS THAT HAVE ASSOCIATIONS OR CONJURE
UP MEMORIES. THERE IS ALWAYS A DIALOGUE WITH THE MATERIALS SHE USES; THEY BRING THEIR OWN HISTORY
WHICH IS WOVEN INTO THE WORK. THESE COLLECTIONS OF EPHEMERA MIGHT SEEM MEANINGLESS, BUT THEIR
APPARENT BANALITY IS OPEN-ENDED. THEY ARE AVAILABLE TO STIMULATE THE IMAGINATION THROUGH THE POETRY
OF ORDINARINESS. EVERYTHING HAS A CONNECTION AND EACH VIEWER MAKES THEIR OWN CONNECTIONS.”
– MOIRA VINCENTELLI (FROM AN ESSAY FOR THE EXHIBITION REFLECTIONS)
What is it about Kent that
inspires you?
I grew up in Norfolk and see Kent as
my ‘adopted county’. It is a landscape
where I have worked and lived for
over thirty years and it has seeped into
my bones. I love the diversity of
landscape from the tall poplar and
rolling hills of the North Downs seen
from my house overlooking the lovely
Mote Park in Maidstone to the
marshes and rivers of North Kent.
The diversity of art, artists and things
to do reflect the nature of this thriving
landscape.
Where can we see your work?
I will be exhibiting Painting with
Cloth at the Rochester Gallery and
Showcase from 1st March to 19th
May 2019. ‘Tea Flora Tales’ will be
coming home to the Medway towns
at the same time for its final showing
locally (place of exhibition to be
confirmed). I am also exhibiting with
the Kent Wildlife Trust (date to be
confirmed). My website is the best
place to see current news.
You have a number of books out;
can you tell us about them?
I am extremely proud to be a writer
for Batsford Publications and have
written four books with them; all have
36
been reprinted several times. The most recent, Textile Landscape
(2018) and Stitch Stories (2015), refer specifically to the nature of
story, place and landscape in our lives and how we can harness
that relationship to develop our own work.
What is coming up for you in 2019?
After spending a long time focussed on my writing, I want to get
back to the studio more. I am planning to do some work with
Age UK as part of my exhibition in Rochester and am currently
working on a trip to the USA in the autumn. I am also working
in France over the summer and running a summer school with
West Dean College near Chichester.
www.casholmes.co.uk
www.casholmes.blogspot.co.uk (for exhibition and workshops)