Jane Learns She is Chinese

Once my Squiggee canvas of the Three Women and the Peach arrived, I spent a lot of time looking at it and thinking about how to stitch it. Gail Hendrix, the designer, told me this piece was based on Japanese art, hence the white makeup, the brown background to mimic the rice paper such pieces are often painted on, etc.

At first I thought these ladies might be Chinese so I consulted with a friend who is an Asian scholar to make sure I had their nationality right (Japanese) and to ask about the symbolism and clothing of the ladies. She answered:

"The lady with a peach is highest ranking. A peach symbolizes longevity in both Chinese and Japanese cultures. This kimono would be of silk. Her hair ornaments are gold and silver. She is wearing the traditional geisha wig. The woman with the head wrap is a servant. Her yukata would be of cotton. The other woman is probably the lady's maid. Her yukata looks like it is also cotton but most likely a better quality. Her hair ornaments are most likely lacquer and there appears to be a bow of some type that is probably cotton."

This tells me this piece is all about texture. I'll need to choose the right type of thread to make the clothing of each woman appropriate to her rank. And I decided I wanted an open background stitch in the same brown color (it is exactly DMC #612 for those who are interested) as the canvas itself so that I'd get the correct rice paper effect. When I started testing background stitches, I discovered that the open space above the heads of the middle and right woman bothered me a lot. I wanted to put something there to fill the space, perhaps a window, or maybe a tree branch with pretty Japanese maple leaves, something.

My urge to fill in the negative space amused my friend the Asian scholar greatly. I got a short lesson on Japanese art, their use of emptiness to emphasize what is there and how my urge to cover everything was most like Chinese art.

She wrote, "Westerners are uncomfortable with negative space, whereas Japanese are not only comfortable with negative space, they exult in it. All that negative space is what makes Japanese art so soothing, unlike the wild, tumultuous crowded Chinese art that makes you jumpy. If you are concerned about space, just use the character for woman. Make it blend into the background, which I would do in a linen thread. I love it and it will look a lot like the matsor screens in Japan. You could embroider the character(s) OVER the finished background - just make sure character(s) and background are the same color."

She found the Chinese characters for "three" and "women" (which the Japanese use) and I will embroider those on top of the background on the left side near the arm of the woman with the head wrap. So I'll have a bit of extra in the background without ruining the Japanese feel of the piece that Gail Hendrix so faithfully copied!

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow