Mudlarkings by Blair Hobbs

October 3 - November 2

Opening Reception:

Thursday, October 10, 5 - 8 PM

Shortly before my husband and I traveled to England in May of 2024, I discovered the word mudlark. A mudlark is a person who hunts treasures along banks and shorelines, most notably along the River Thames. I loved the word and decided that “Mudlarkings” would make a fun title and direct my brain into literal and metaphorical treasure hunting.

The most literal mudlarking piece of the show is “Frozen Charlotte.” A few items scavenged along the Thames are fairly common: crinoids, clay pipes, pottery shards, beads, and frozen Charlotte dolls. This collage unfolds the cautionary Victorian tale of poor Charlotte, who is too vain to wear a cape on her way to a winter’s ball and arrives at the party as a frozen corpse.  The collage is grounded by a mudlarked 14th Centruy Papal stamp we came upon in a Cotswolds weavers compound.

I came home from that trip with images of scarlet Ibises, stuffed hummingbirds, a dovecot, lambs, and wood pigeons. All inspired canvases. So did my viewing of Lucien Freud’s “Girl with a Kitten."

When we returned home to Mississippi, I continued looking for jewels buried in the mundane and often turned to mud for discovery. I drew mud puppies, things that grow from mud, and I enjoyed wallowing in all kinds of metaphorical mud for this show.