TAVISTOCK felt maker Mary Toon is combing Plymouth and the surrounding area to find a suitable seaside exhibition venue for her unique series of 3D artworks on a 'green' beach combing theme.

Entirely hand-felted, the beach works mini- series — entitled 'Things That Wash up on the Beach' — began with a wall hanging of pebbles.

In the first piece, Mary added a felted wine bottle containing a message that can be removed and read. She decided to name the work 'Message in a Bottle' and the message, which is addressed to the Gulf Stream, relates to her concerns around global warming.

Since then she has made 'Troubled Waters', which focuses on the sinking off the Devon coast of the tanker MSC Napoli and 'Adapt and Survive', in which a crab inhabits an empty Coca Cola can.

'Low Tide' shows a collection of personal possessions washed up together. This work leaves the observer to work out the story behind the juxtaposition of objects abandoned on the beach.

In a partial nod to fantasy, but also to the plight of larger mammals, Mary's latest piece, named 'Net Loss', depicts a mermaid who has got caught in a fishing net and come to a sticky end. This continues the emphasis on taking better care of our seas and what lies within.

Mary also plans to add several more works to the series, as they are creating a lot of interest at Duchy Square Centre for Creativity in Princetown, where she is a resident artist and runs her own business, 'Felt Amazing'. 

Mary said:  'I toyed with the idea of putting the works flat on a table to display them and let people interact with them by playing with the pieces.

'But I decided as the original idea behind the pebbles was to startle the audience with a wall hanging of pebbles that didn't fall off, I would stick to that 'defying gravity' theme by making them all wall hangings.'

Mary makes her 2D and 3D works by shrinking fibres using a combination of both wet and dry felting. She combined the two methods to create the beachcomber series as well as other artworks, including illustrated poems, books and hats.

'In this series, I attach the finished felted objects to the canvas from behind. The only thing that would be difficult to create in felt is sand so I used real sand in the works and paint for the water,' said Mary.

'I have never had the opportunity to show these works altogether so it would be really great to find a venue close to a beach where I could put them all on display  for the first time where people can appreciate the issues they raise, as well as this original method of creating art.'

 If anyone can help Mary with a venue, contact her at Duchy Square on 01822 890828 at home on 01822 612297 or email her at [email protected]">[email protected]