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Jelly and Tea took place at Clayhidon Village Hall in September 2010. An open invitation to partake of delicacies and cups of tea fostered a sociable context in which to view a collection of jellies installed in the kitchen.
The jellies, made with unlikely plant material collected on outings in the Blackdown Hills, hoped to clarify the colours of the landscape. They asked
Have you ever hesitated to paint a picture or even take a photograph of the landscape wary, perhaps, of representing it in colours other than its own? Sometimes it is good to allow things to make their own marks. As the autumnal leaves turn on the trees, you may see that the landscape is quite capable of painting itself. The work's desire to ingest the landscape on its own terms - to be coloured by it - ran a close parallel to the current resurgence in good eating and green living that brings renewed relevance to domestic harvesting long practised in established communities. Jelly and Tea provided a chance to talk with - and be coloured by - a diverse range of people about the nature of our relationship with the environment, not least the difficulty of catching that unexpectedly elusive green.
With thanks to Clayhidon Friends for extending this project through the kind provision of home-made biscuits and jams on the day.
A Somerset Art Works/Neroche Scheme project. Funded by Arts Council England.
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