Thursday, April 1, 2010

Woodlawn 2010: Silk Ribbon Embroidery





Since there is so much Woodlawn Plantation information this year and even photos of ribbon winners, I'm not going to write one large article about the 2010 exhibit.  Instead, I'll just mention things I noticed over several blog postings.  I don't want to repeat what you've already read or seen elsewhere, after all.

I saw a great piece of silk ribbon embroidery at Woodlawn. It didn't win a ribbon so it's not in the photo album Woodlawn Plantation folks posted online. I'll have to describe it for you:  It is a tall and narrow piece, probably almost three feet tall and perhaps a foot wide, framed in a plain glossy black frame. The design is of bamboo, a large round upright stalk and a smaller curved stalk making a sort of backwards D shape. Both stalks were covered with tiny branching stems and bamboo leaves. 

The piece was 100% ribbon embroidery. The bamboo stems and leaves were in 5-6 shades of green, ranging from a very dark, almost black, green to pale green for the smallest and newest bamboo leaves. The background was done in upright straight stitches using cream silk ribbon. The stitches varied randomly in length but the overall effect was of either handmade paper or a fabric either painted or stitched in the Japanese style. It was very effective. 

I think the size helped make this a wonderful piece. The amount of background helped give the silk ribbon embroidery room so that it didn't look crowded and the overall size of the piece helped make the silk ribbon look natural from a distance.  This really did give the impression of a Japanese painting on rice paper.

The stitcher's name was Lynn Krysicki Bayer and I think that the canvas was labeled Commercial, meaning it was a painted canvas.

I browsed all the great silk ribbon embroidery shown on the River Silks website and found this Terry Dryden piece to show you a vaguely similar background.  

This piece opened my eyes to what silk ribbon embroidery can do for a background.  Thank you, Lynn Bayer!


Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

3 comments:

Sara Leigh said...

I thought this piece was stunning!

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

I'm glad someone else liked it as much as I did. I'll never think of silk ribbon embroidery in the same way after seeing it.

Lynn Krynicki Bayer said...

Thank you very much for your compliments and the attention to this important piece!! This was very special piece for me to stitch. The canvas was a wedding gift from the designer, Keri Duke of Keri Designs. I used 39 spools (5 meters each) of 100 percent silk ribbon from River Silks, a wonderful company that my Parents started in 2003. This is the only kind of ribbon that will withstand this kind of stitching abuse.
Since I have been asked about this piece and have had Stitchers interested in stitching it, River Silks will be adding this piece to their arsenal of Kits To Go. Your favorite fiber arts store can order it for you.
For more inspiration and ideas for stitching with ribbon, please visit the riversilks.com and click on "Finished Projects" You will be able to see a wide variety of pieces stitched with River Silks ribbon from First-Timers to Professionals! Can you guess which one is which? After that, please explore the website and learn more about our fabulous ribbons!

Thank you again, please don't hesitate to contact me with questions regarding this piece.

Happy Stitching!
Lynn Krynicki Bayer
"Green Bamboo" stitcher
lynn@riversilks.com
River Silks LTD
(NO MINIMUMS)