Crafty winter trees of hope
Visitors to Standen House and Garden can enjoy a bright and colourful display of crafty Winter Trees in the courtyard, symbolising hope and community spirit.
National Trust spokeswoman Alice Johnson said: “These contemporary art installations have been lovingly created by the Standen lockdown community of crafters, made up of hundreds of volunteers from across the country.
“Uniting in this project throughout lockdown, visitors can admire the result of the crafters’ hard work in the form of the Winter Trees of Hope until Sunday, January 3 2021 from 10am-4pm.
“Each year the Winter Tree at Standen, The National Trust’s Arts and Crafts house and garden in West Sussex, is created by an artist whose work takes inspiration from the Arts & Crafts movement.
“Past Winter Tree designers have included internationally acclaimed artists from Zandra Rhodes to Kaffe Fassett. However, with 2020 being a year like no other, the art installations this festive season have been made by a community of crafting volunteers, with the activity of creating a handmade decoration for the tree a positive, joyful project to focus on during the unknown of this year’s lockdowns.
“With a variety of patterns available for all skill sets, anyone could take part in the project, and in total over 1,500 hand-made decorations of joy make up the installation. These include crochet granny squares to hand-stitched hearts and baubles, and each decoration harbours a personal message of hope thoughtfully written by crafters young and old.”