Member of Parliament for Clywd South, Simon Baynes MP, visited Chirk Library on Friday 12th May, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary this month. As part of these celebrations, the library is hosting an exhibition by local artist Trish Sheil whom Simon Baynes MP had the pleasure of meeting on Friday.
During his visit, Simon Baynes MP also met the team of people who make Chirk Library so successful including Library Assistants Carolyn Meredith and Liz Jones, who have been working there for nearly 25 years and 20 years respectively.
Chirk Library’s exhibition features Trish Sheil’s beautiful British wildlife prints of her watercolour paintings, which will be on display at the library until the end of June. Trish was born in Chirk and had a very successful career as Education Manager for the Cambridge Film Consortium. She recently moved back to the area to live in Llangollen and decided to pursue her passion for painting. She explained that her father, a bird-lover and miner from Chirk, inspired her love of wildlife.
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Chirk Library had a week of special activities, including visits from children's author and textile poet Rachel Harris and crafter Emily Ashworth. Chirk Library also offers computers and iPads for use and lends out jigsaw puzzles, a first for any Library in Wales.
Local artist Trish Sheil commented:
“In my paintings I want to inspire wonder and delight in the smallest details of our wildlife and birds, like encountering or glimpsing each one individually, so that we feel protective of them.
“I also really value the opportunity to exhibit and sell my pictures at Chirk Library; this enables us, as local artists, to share our art-work with the community and to gain a much broader perspective of our paintings when they are displayed all together.”
Speaking about his visit to the exhibition at the library, Simon Baynes MP said:
“It was a great pleasure to visit Chirk Library as it celebrates its 50th anniversary. I was very pleased to see Trish Sheil’s artwork in person.”
“The inspiration that Trish finds from wildlife around Llangollen is evident, and her attention to detail and commitment to capturing the beauty of nature in her watercolour paintings is truly impressive. I wish her and the team at Chirk Library the best of luck with the exhibition and for the future.”
