As promised, here are a few pictures I took at the Artists’ Network Bedfordshire’s exhibition last weekend. This was the first time I’ve ever shown any of my stitched tapestries to anyone ‘outside‘.
You’ll no doubt remember my problems with getting anything from the ‘stitched‘ state, to the ‘showable‘ state over the years. The brilliant thing about having the opportunity to show at this exhibition, was being gently forced to face up to the issue and find a solution.
Thanks to Kathy (Of Gardens, Grandmothers and Gleanings), blogging about the The Eye of The Needle exhibition at the Ashmolean, I went over to Oxford and saw how the Feller Collection had mounted some of their fragments of needlework, using calico stretched over a canvas frame, with the needlework stitched to the calico. Ta Dah! At last, a way to do it that seemed sympathetic with my pieces and achievable without too much difficulty.
Here’s my table with Firmament, Hedonism and Brian.
So what did I learn over the weekend?
I discovered how good it feels to be part of a group of like minded people. Making art in many forms is a largely solitary existence, so getting together with other people was a wonderfully uplifting experience. It’s wonderful to find kindred spirits out there! And as you can see, they’re a talented and versatile lot around here.
I also learned that people are very interested in how we make our pieces. I hadn’t anticipated how chatty visitors would be, and it was quite an eye-opener to realise that complete strangers might actually want to know more about the process and the inspiration behind our work. I also discovered how much I enjoy talking about my stitching (I do hope I didn’t bore for England, but once I got going, I found I loved explaining all about it).
So my first foray into the real world was a very happy experience, and now I know that I can do it, I’m sure I’ll be doing it again.
❤
Dreaming In Stitches 
Yay! Congratulations on a sucessful show! Your work looks beautiful, displayed like that.
Thank you! It seemed to go down well with the other artists and the visitors, so I’m feeling pretty pleased with it. I was so lucky to see how the museum had dealt with a similar issue, I came out of the Ashmolean and the first thing I said to my husband was ‘I’ve got an idea’. All I need to do now, is work through my stash and mount a few more. 🙂
I just went and read up on the Eye of the Needle exhibit. Not surprised you were inspired! Looks like its a wonderful exhibit. I look forward to hearing about the mounting of your other buried treasures 😉
Stashes of completed needlwork are funny. I just found some pieces I stitched and then put aside in the 1990’s. I’m not totally sure how I feel about them. The texture brings back the memories of doing the work, but I feel like such a different person, almost 20 years later.
How wonderful – brilliant to see you exhibiting. You’ve got me inspired all over again 🙂
Oh Jill, it would be lovely to see you in action again!
That’s fantastic Anny, so glad it went well! I love the colours in the middle piece.
Thank you. I hadn’t had Firmament out of the pile for ages and I was still pleased with it, although I definitely prefer working on scrim to hessian.
Oh well done you Anny, how brilliant to get all that feedback from people seeing your work too. They look lovely set out together don’t they, very much work from the same hand. You must be feeling really pleased to have been part of all that, it looks as though it was a really interesting exhibition, full of good things. So glad my recommendation of the Ashmolean gave you inspiration as well, the web is such a great place for exchanging ideas isn’t it.
Thank you so much Kathy. That visit to the Ashmolean was really inspirational and I’d never have spotted it if you hadn’t mentioned it! You’re right, the web is fabulous in so many ways.
Well done, Anny! Your pieces look lovely – it looks to be just the perfect exhibition for you. I hope this is the first of many!
Jo thank you – I really enjoyed myself, it was surprisingly good to actually talk to people about it. I do hope to do it again soon.
Brava! It must be very satisfying to see your work in public and get all that feedback. Very pleased to hear that you have found an easy to use way of framing your work. I may have to look into this. Your three pieces looked wonderful. Well done!
Thanks Alister, it certainly took me a long time to get there didn’t it! It seems to work well and it means that the pieces could still be traditionally framed if required or the originals could be removed quite easily too, so a good all round compromise I felt – why not give it a go, I’m sure it could work for you too.
Your work looked fabulous
Thank you! x
A bit late I know – but well done you – your work looks great displayed on the canvases – how I wish I could have been there it looks so inspiring – what a lot of talent all in one room.
Thanks Viv, it was a great experience – I’m beginning to get some more pieces mounted now that I’ve found a way that works for me.
Really impressed – your work is amazing. So glad that you were able to share it and chat about it.
Thank you. I do feel much happier to have ‘gone public’, now I just have to try and do it more often.
Fabulous – congratulations. The work looks wonderful! x
Thank you so much x
Belated congratulations Anny, your work looked stunning and although I’m pretty sure you work to please yourself initially, but it must feel gratifying that others admire it too. Best wishes x
Theresa, so sorry to be so late replying – life and all that! Yes I must say, it felt lovely to talk to other people about it, somehow it makes it feel more real.