{"product_id":"shaped-by-the-wind","title":"Shaped by the Wind","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eShaped by the Wind\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eOil and Paper 2025. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e210 × 297 mm\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis painting is part of a series I made back on the Isle of Man, returning to drawing and painting after a long period of illness. The landscapes are the ones I grew up in: wild, wind-shaped trees, open highlands, Celtic stones, and the colours of the island that stay with me no matter where I go.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI painted outdoors and finished the works indoors, trying to capture the ghostly, windswept feeling of these highlands.  Places where I used to forage plants for dyeing my textiles. Cronk ny Arrey Laa, with its ancient cairn, was a particular inspiration. I am drawn to its bleak, open space and the sense of movement within the landscape.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhen a curator asked me from the Bethlem Gallery, why there was so much movement in the works, I didn’t really understand it at the time. Looking back, I think I was drawn to spaces that were exposed, windblown and open because I was trying to capture the wind itself, something unseen, but deeply felt.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI now recognise that this movement was also connected to my experience of invisible disability. During the most severe period of my illness, I was unable to leave my bed and certainly unable to make work. Returning to painting became a way of reconnecting with the landscape and with myself, but the work also became a kind of ghostly reflection of that experience: a memory of something I had lived through, expressed indirectly through movement, atmosphere and the landscape.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn that sense, the wind in these paintings is both physical and metaphorical, something that cannot be seen, but whose presence can be felt.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e20% of the proceeds will be donated to Bethlem Gallery. These artworks were developed in collaboration with the gallery for the exhibition, This Wild Achingly Beautiful Place. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bethany Williams","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49637141217435,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0488\/4686\/4539\/files\/FRT_Gallery_84.jpg?v=1786549129","url":"https:\/\/bethany-williams.com\/products\/shaped-by-the-wind","provider":"Bethany Williams","version":"1.0","type":"link"}