Picture: WHC Trustee Jean Mackarness, WHC Manager Sarah Moss, Mike Wallace PACS artist on the day Flying Free was hung.

The first item, created by a PACS member, has been hung in the Winton House meeting room/Pop In tea rooms. A large textile hanging entitled “Flying Free” and created by Mike Wallace, was installed in early February, and will be displayed for up to 6 months.

Mike Wallace, the artist, commented on this work:

One of the simple pleasures, living in Petersfield, is the sight of many birds flying over the square and town centre, sometimes under stormy skies, and this provided the inspiration for this piece. Fortunate timing created the opportunity to hang it at Winton House.

Having “Flying Free” hung in Petersfield was real serendipity. As luck would have it, I had a piece near to completion when the first approach came from Winton House. This was 1.95m wide x 1.1m tall, depicting birds flying freely in front of a stormy sky – reminiscent of the swifts and house martins that are frequently seem over the town, so it could fit the brief. I added stylised outline roofs and St Peter’s church.

Flying Free was created on a recycled bedspread, dyed, and then some of the dye removed (a process call “discharge”). Screen printing and collage followed to create the birds followed by layering with wadding and backing, and then finishing with machine quilting and machine stitching. Adding the building outlines using machine sewing on a piece that size and thickness was a real challenge with my domestic sewing machine.

How this came about

PACS member Jo Berryman initiated the contact between PACS and Sarah Moss, Manager at Winton House, to explore and discuss their needs and requirements in relation to a possible textile artwork. Sarah felt the room (the cafe) is somewhat echoey and was exploring a number of ways of alleviating this, including acoustic panels etc. One of her ideas was a large textile artwork hanging on what used to be the chimney breast. Sarah hoped the work would ideally relate in some way to Petersfield.