Anyone who gets into an email conversation with me runs the risk of being interviewed for Blog. Last spring when I discovered the Door canvases Ridgewood Needlepoint offers I asked Eileen Aird the shop owner to let me know when all the models were stitched so I could update the information here. She was kind enough to send me photos of each of the seven doors and then submit to an interview about them, her shop and how she got into needlepoint.
At the same time I was busily pestering the Needlepoint Broad for an interview since I've fallen hard for her nostalgic state vacation postcard designs. Imagine my surprise when Elizabeth Hess, the owner of Needlepoint Broad, said she'd be happy to be interviewed but she had company right now--her twin sister Eileen of Ridgewood Needlepoint was visiting!
So we have two interviews in back-to-back weeks with identical twins operating on the business side of needlepoint. [Eileen's interview was last Sunday, July 26.] Elizabeth tells me they are not the only twins, though. She has heard that the owner of Cooper Oaks has twin daughters. One daughter helps with the Cooper Oaks business and the other owns Birds of a Feather. Twins galore!
What got you interested in designing painted canvases?Sometimes when I would go into a needlepoint store, I couldn’t find anything I liked. I just found the canvases too cutsey. I found an image in a Macy’s ad that I thought would make a great needlepoint. Once I got the licensing rights, Eileen suggested I go with her to a TNNA show. I had moved to Arizona in 2003 and so I found that the time I spent with Eileen at the show was a nice space of time without other interruptions.
Do you have an art school or advertising background? No. I am very interested in art as a hobby, mostly museum visiting and learning about different artists. My training is as a lawyer.
How long have you been in the business? The first TNNA show I was in was June 1976. Has anything changed that you've noticed during your career? Are shops and customers more sophisticated or do you see a demand for canvases that will appeal to younger, less traditional stitchers? I believe my canvases appeal to a younger group of individuals.
Looking at your site, I see that your designs fall roughly into the normal categories of floral designs, Christmas, portraits of women, funny sayings, etc., but your vintage postcard designs, the baseball park patterns and the fireworks designs are different than what one usually finds. The state postcards especially really speak to me. How did you get interested in doing them? The postcards got started because one of the artists I was using had several of the designs and I thought they would translate well. Then I worked with the artist I use and we talked about different motifs for different states. It was fun to see what different people thought represented their state. Sometimes they would ask for the motif from another state.
Did you use source material for inspiration or were you one of the kids like me whose parents took us on a week's vacation at the beach each summer? I think the beach designs are pretty universal. The state postcards are really a result of what different people thought would be a good icon for their state, the artist’s ideas and discussions with others.
What got you into designs of ball parks and fireworks displays? The first stadium design was Eileen’s idea. She just thought it could be an expansion of the firework motif. The first stadium was Yankee stadium. Then came ones that were popular in the east…Red Sox and Mets. After the White Sox won the World Series, we quickly got a White Sox canvas ready. It didn’t really sell that well. It turns out you need rabid fans. Now that we have the Chicago Cubs doing so well, the White Sox stadium does better. The stadiums also seem to be popular because it is a needlepoint that one can give to a spouse or male relative and yet they are nice enough that they wouldn’t take away from your décor in a family room. We are introducing brick covers for baseball teams as well. So far we have the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies. I would imagine they will be followed by the Chicago Cubs and perhaps one of the Texas teams.
The newest stadiums (with the exception of the new Mets Citifield) are being done in a slightly smaller size so they can fit into the Sterling totes. We now have the Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, the new Yankee stadium, the new Mets stadium and both the old and new Philadelphia Phillies. Nice! A fan could carry a tote bag to the game showcasing their team spirit and carrying their stitching....
I particularly like the designs that are a bit unusual, like the Chinese New Year dragon or the Jersey Girls Don't Pump Gas signs or the College Bound Dog. Were these customer requests? Shop requests? Ridgewood Needlepoint came up with Jersey Girls Don’t Pump Gas. The Oregon version (you can’t pump your own gas in Oregon either) hasn’t done nearly as well, which just shows the geographic differences.
Do you offer custom designs for people? I can offer that to the stores I service. The Chinese New Year was the inspiration of the artist, Nancy Chapman and the College Bound Dog was a joint effort.
Do you offer all your designs in the 13 and 18 count sizes? I see both sizes on your website and wondered since some designers stick to 18 count and some offer both sizes in at least some of their designs. I have tried to do most of the designs in 13 because there is so much less available in it. If you see a canvas in 18, it is hard to get excited by the 13 so I try not to do a design in both meshes.
I want to thank both Eileen and Elizabeth for answering all my questions and pulling together all the photographs for me to present to my dear Blog readers. I hope you enjoy learning a bit about the professionals who run the shops and create the designs that enthrall us. Now, here's the slide show of the newest Needlepoint Broad designs. Enjoy!Do customers seem to gravitate toward Christmas canvases or do you find they have more divergent tastes if they come from the East Coast versus the West Coast? I can’t keep NJ Girls Don’t Pump Gas in stock, but I haven’t sold two Oregon Girls Don’t Pump Gas.
Do you go to the trade shows with your sister and share a booth and astound people who think they are seeing double instead of identical twins? People get us confused when they see us separately and of course if they don’t know there are two of us. Is there a real advantage in having a sibling also in the business? It was probably an advantage for me because Eileen had so many contacts. I think my having this business has helped her with The Doors Club and projects like that.
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
UPDATE: You can already order Erin's 1930s woman via Barbara Bergsten Designs. Contact information is here.