embroidery – Page 2 – Dreaming In Stitches

Ta Dah…

Well thanks to a productive weekend, it’s done! Thank you so much to everyone who commented with ideas on a name for the latest piece. Something nearly always suggests itself to me while I’m working on a canvas, but this time although I’ve really enjoyed stitching it, there was a deafening radio silence as far as names were concerned, so it was really helpful to hear your thoughts.

There was considerable consensus on a title that spoke about flow, movement and nature. Something about it evidently evokes a Jacobean feeling, and the colours are distinctly autumnal.

As I’ve been stitching during the last week or so, I’ve been mulling over all your comments, playing around with word associations and combinations, waiting for the name that felt right to emerge.

Now when I tell you what happened, you’ll have to remember I am a true child of the ’60s, certain experiences molded me at an early age. So when Alister at The Bargellist mentioned in his comment being able to see snails, it triggered a chain reaction in my head. First I had a little giggle, because although not designed as snails, I could see precisely what he meant, I’m forever drawing spirals, they crop up in lots of things I make, and yes, there is a distinct snailiness about this piece.

The obvious thing was to call it snails, but…

…the trouble is, I am of the The Magic Roundabout generation, for me all snails have but one name, and so, although I tried hard to think of it as something a trifle more elegant, in the end I give you…

… Brian

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You might be interested to know that in Christian art, snails symbolise laziness or the deadly sin of sloth…

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Thank you to Catherine at Knotted Cotton for introducing me to A Scientific Romance – I’ve just bought a copy and will add it to the reading for the ‘A Year in Books’ project.

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If you want to indulge in a little Magic Roundabout nostalgia, click here.

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Time for bed

Give me luminous…

slow stitching

I’m not normally in on Wednesday evenings, but last night was an exception.

While I stitched away, I watched two programmes on BBC Four; Guilty Pleasures, about luxury in medieval England, and Fabric of Britain, featuring early medieval opus anglicanum embroideries.

The trouble with stitching and watching TV at the same time, is that I don’t really see very much, although I hear most of it. Last night, the two programmes seemed to fuse in my mind – they appeared to meld into a single exploration of luxury and colour in medieval times.

Seeing the crisp bright colours of the Lindisfarne Gospels and the intricate, sensual textures of the opus anglicanum vestments, twanged something deep inside. We tend to think of our early ancestors living a bland existence, but these programmes proved the opposite – they loved colour, they loved pattern and they loved glitz.

And I have to admit I think I retain some of those medieval genes – I might prefer to live in a more neutral colour scheme, but in my art, colour and especially a need for luminosity always seems to come through.

Time and time again, I find myself drawn to stained glass – it sums up so much of what I feel.

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The picture above is a detail from a stained glass window at St John Baptist, Claines, Worcestershire. If you’d like to see more of the windows there, hop over to my history junkie blog, Mists of TIme – I’ve just put up a new post about our recent visit.

Happy Anniversary Battle Of Hastings

heritage hunting

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings – you know the one where Harold got the arrow in his eye – or maybe he didn’t. Anyway, he didn’t win, so we got to be ruled by the Normans instead.

I can’t say I’m all that hot on early Norman history, although I do love their castles, but you’ve got to have a tiny bit of respect for a victorious class who celebrate their conquest with an embroidery.

I’ve never seen the real thing, but the Bayeux Tapestry must be up there in the Top 10 of all time needlework greats.

I’d love to know how the commissioning happened. Just imagine William the Conqueror’s half-brother, Bishop Odo thinking, ‘I really should commemorate William’s amazing victory over the Saxons. I wonder what my fierce, warrior brother would like most? Umm, I know, I’ll get him an embroidery’.

Strange to say, but when I’m trying to think of ideas for my next piece of needlework, I don’t very often consider recent battles as suitable subjects. But there you are, maybe I’m missing a trick.