ANG Seminar Exhibit 2014: Arlene's Rhododendrons

Because one of this year's ANG Exhibit winners is a friend of mine, I persuaded her to write a bit about the silk gauze piece she submitted which won not only a first place ribbon but the Small Masterpieces Award!  Arlene Cohen generously wrote about her award winner at ANG, and also let me know she won Piecework's contest this year for the needlework category.  Plus she has been to Winterthur with an exhibit she thinks some of Blog's readers might enjoy.  Thanks, Arlene!  We can't wait to see what you stitch and exhibit next year.

Let me turn Blog over to Arlene....

Rhododendrons, By Arlene Cohen

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"Some pictures are attached for my piece that I submitted to the ANG exhibit this year. I've also sent the statement I wrote; I know these are not required for non-original pieces, but I loved the opportunity to simply write out the background and inspiration for doing this piece. Two years ago, when Seminar was in Philadelphia, I was able to drive down for a few hours to see the Exhibit (and bookstore and such). I LOVED that artist statements were sitting out by the pieces and for any piece, I could pick up the paper and read through the background. I don't know if this is a regular practice at Seminar Exhibits (I hope it is!), but I so wish more of those words could be/would be published as part of the December issue of NeedlePointers. Frankly, what I REALLY wish is that everything, pictures of pieces and artist statements were available online, at the same time that folks are able to see them in person, during Seminar week, but I know that will never happen. Anyway, feel free to use these pictures and words in anyway you wish.

Artist Statement:   Rhododendrons

Perhaps it was the very long winter. Perhaps it was the endless snow shoveling to dig out my car again and again. Perhaps it was the frustration of plans constantly changing, constantly relying on their “snow date” options. But, more so than ever, I was anxious for spring and for the bloom of flowers and the signs of renewal.

During the late winter/early spring months, as snow was finally melting, but the landscape was barren, my eyes lit on an issue of a cross stitch magazine in a store. On the front cover was a picture of a delightful design called “Rhododendrons.” These blue-violet flowers were in just the palette of colors that most attracts my eye. And the image of flowers, of spring, were exactly right for the moment. Putting aside plans for what was to be my next project, I decided this design was exactly what was needed.

Designed by Lesley Teare in the UK, this pattern was published in Cross Stitch Gold issue #41 (US version; UK versions of the magazine are numbered differently as I have learned). It was designed for 14 or 18 count cross stitch on fabric. But, my desire was to do it a little differently, to preserve the delicate feelings as we marched closer and closer to spring and flowers in bloom, by working this design on a small scale. I chose 40 count silk gauze as my ground material and used tent stitches instead of cross stitches. Since the palette of colors is what first drew me to the design, I did not change any of the called for DMC floss colors.

I will be glad to have these bouquet of flowers in view when next winter comes around.

Next, I wanted to share another little win in my world. Piecework Magazine runs a contest, seemingly every other year. The theme this year was Words in Needlework (I think inspired by a pair of old knitted gloves with Bible verse in them, featured in an issue in the past year or so). I won first place for the Needlework category with a piece I created featuring the poem by John Taylor from 1637 titled "In Praise of the Needle." The five first place winners are featured in the Sept/Oct 2014 issue, likely available right about now in stores (I know I can pick it up in my local Barnes and Noble) and can be seen here:

http://www.interweave.com/needle/piecework_magazine/contests/2014-words-in-needlework-winners.asp

Last, perhaps to share with readers sometime soon: yesterday, I traveled down to the Winterthur in Deleware. The big publicity from them in the past months has been the exhibit of costumes from Downton Abby (perhaps you mentioned this on your blog? don't remember, saw it in so many places). But, opening just last week was an exhibit on needlework, titled 'The Diligent Needle: Instrument of Profit, Pleasure, and Ornament.'   Lovely pieces, interesting background, and the ability to purchase a booklet of the entire exhibit (pictures of pieces and all signage) for $8 - not bad! I liked the organization of the exhibit into four areas: Diligence, Profit, Pleasure, and Ornament.

The introduction sets up the whole exhibit: 'For centuries, instruction in needlework was an important part of the a young woman's education. Both plain sewing and fancy embroidery required considerable time and effort to learn. As a result, women took great pride in their work. Needlework skills might be used to earn a living, to embellish clothing and household furnishings, or to simply create objects of beauty.'

There is a needlework symposium in October, part of what appears to be a three year cycle of both exhibits and symposiums focused on needlework. I was lucky enough to attend in 2008, but dates in this year simply don't work for my real life."

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright September 14, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Arlene at Woodlawn 2011

Arlene's Lace and Original Pieces

Despite the lack of a Flickr album of Woodlawn award winners this year, I do have some Woodlawn photographs for you to see of Arlene's three entries.  Look carefully, for each piece is a riff (using a different form of needlework) on a piece of lace Arlene made. Unfortunately, Woodlawn doesn't take lace in the exhibit so Arlene didn't send the original inspiration piece, just the three designs inspired by it.  However, she graciously agreed to share the original lace design with us here on Blog.

Arlene writes:

"For the effort that I put into writing artistic statements (which I never have before because I've never submitted an original piece before), it is sort of a shame that visitors can't read more of what stitchers were thinking about their pieces. Even commercial designs - sometimes I just want to know what inspired a person to stitch a particular piece.

Bobbin Lace

I've attached 5 pictures. One picture is my four pieces together, and then a separate picture of each of them. (The lace wasn't shown at Woodlawn - they don't take bobbin lace.) Copied below was what I wrote for my artistic statements. The first two paragraphs I repeated on each piece and then there was a separate paragraph about the specific piece. "

Artistic Statements sent to Woodlawn 

"As I imagine to be true of many who exhibit at Woodlawn, my interest in the needle arts is not limited to one particular type. Moreover, that interest extends beyond work with needles to the art of bobbin lace – making lace the way it was made before machines. A couple of years ago, I picked up a French bobbin lace pattern book titled La Dentelle Torchon by Martine Piveteau and was immediately struck by one particular pattern – a geometric design so beautiful that I was determined to create it. As my bobbins weaved back and forth over the months, I began to envision this exquisite design in different needlework techniques. That is to say, what could my needle create?

Good old-fashioned graph paper, pencil, ruler, and a little bit of math helped me deconstruct the original design. I wanted to size my needlework interpretations to be nearly identical to the original lace piece, and I pictured the final pieces together on the wall with the effect of connection, interpretation, balance, and structure. Eliminating the idea of 'color' was simple; the threads of these pieces would range from white (bobbin lace) to light grey (pulled thread) to dark grey (canvaswork) to black (blackwork).

For this blackwork piece, I wanted to preserve the lacy effect of the bobbin lace while turning the colors inside out, so to speak – black on white, instead of white on black. I knew that the straight stitches of blackwork could have allowed me almost literally to reproduce the thread patterns of bobbin lace, but I found myself wanting to make the piece its own creation. Instead of following the exact lines and twists of bobbin lace thread, I played around with many blackwork patterns, in books and in my imagination, to find combinations of density and openness that would recreate the look and feel of the lace without mimicking it literally. This decision allowed me to realize the goal of interpreting a piece of art through a different thread technique.

Blackwork

After lots of trial and error with various threads and shades of grey, I realized that this canvaswork interpretation of the bobbin lace needed to focus on one deep shade, with metallic accents conveying the lightness of the open spaces as well as emphasizing the overall geometric structure. The dense areas of the lace were created with different stitches on the canvas to make solid areas and the open lacy parts were created with the lightness and airiness of a fine metallic thread. As is true with all three of the pieces I am submitting to Woodlawn this year, my goal was to recreate the look and feel of the bobbin lace without mimicking it literally. This project helped me to understand how it is possible to interpret a piece of art through different thread techniques.

Counted Canvaswork

I originally planned this light grey pulled thread piece to be a Hardanger design. That is to say, the open lacy areas of the original bobbin lace design were going to become Kloster blocks with decorative filling stitches. I worked the dense areas in satin stitch, but then I found myself stuck when it came time to cut threads. The math worked out on paper, but I realized the look of thread on fabric would be all wrong. Wisely, I decided to set this piece aside – allowing my mind to work through the technical problems before I did any cutting of threads.

Pulled Thread 

Eventually, I came to realize that there would be no effective solution using the traditional count of Hardanger stitches if I wanted the overall dimensions to be the same as the bobbin lace. It finally dawned on me that I needed to change my thinking if I was to find a way to reproduce the airy open areas of the lace with light grey thread on light grey fabric. The stitches of pulled thread embroidery made this possible – a technique related to Hardanger but one that would allow a little more flexibility with the math. I learned an important lesson from this piece – the need in any needlework project to keep an open mind in the design phase because many factors can drive the final solution."

Arlene is starting her next large project--Jean Hilton’s ScottLee. I expect we’ll have more wonderful stitching from her to see at Woodlawn 2012!

Arlene, thanks for all the work you did pulling this together for me to publish.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Stars: Gregory Peck Finished (with a Treat)

Gregory Peck Block Finished

Yesterday's scan of Stars made me realize that I needed to add a few more beads to the center star, this time at the sides where the star touched the terracotta lozenges.  Photographs and scans are really useful when it comes to pointing out problems that your eye just doesn't see.  For example, there is a white hair stuck to the top leg of the star in the photo above, courtesy of Watson (looking guilty below.)  I didn't see it until I looked at the scan.

The culprit

I used black beads this time.  In order to keep the bead sizes the same whether I was using black or violet beads, I used Mill Hill's Magnifica beads.  These are faceted beads, roughly size 11 (or 11/0, depending on how the size is written).  Using the same brand and type helped me keep the bead sizes the same.  Sometimes you will want to do this, sometimes different sized beads will look better.

Gregory Peck's on the right, middle row

Once the beads were added, I finished the sashing that surrounds Gregory Peck.  I'll put Stars away now until I finish Temple of 1000 Cranes and its stitch guide, then I'll move on to the Ava Gardner block on Stars after I work on Luna a little.

Progress to Date

Here's my progress on the total design to date.  As a special treat, I have a photo of another finished Stars.

Arlene's Pink and Blue Baby Stars

This photo was contributed by Arlene.   It is notable because this is the only pastel Stars I've seen.  Arlene stitched this as a baby gift for a close friend so she used pink and blue as the main colors and alternated pink and blue as the highlights in each square.  It was exhibited at Woodlawn a couple of years ago where I saw it.  Note the variation on the border which squares it off and makes it easier to frame.  This piece and my experiences while stitching my version of Stars make me want to see it done in ecru and beige with red and gold accents or all in grays or white and silver.

Thank you for sharing this with us, Arlene.  It's beautiful.

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