Thank you or thanks…….., such an English thing, and often
used or overused much like sorry. If we give our thanks at every possible
opportunity this might be taken as good manners or it might just be seen as
dulling down the sense of being truly grateful. I would say thank you to someone
who had saved my life but perhaps not to my brother for having cooked us a
meal. In that case the thanks would be taken as read and need not be heard. My
brother cooks a meal while I cut the beech hedge, all part of the working day each
has his job and when all is working well within a close team there is no need
for thanks.
So with that in mind I would now like to thank all those who
have taken time out over the past two months to visit my exhibition at the
Victoria Gallery in Bath. There have been many who have travelled a
considerable distance to spend time to stand in awe of the intricate stitching
and marvel at my dogged persistence over the past three years to have produced
such extra ordinary pieces of work. In recognition of this two magazines have
chosen to run articles which appear in this month’s issues of Selvedge and the
Embroiderer’s Guild magazine.
The sale of work has been good considering that there is a
42% in commission for the gallery. We must accept that in any form of retailing
there will be such mark ups. During time
spent in the gallery the staff have been charming and helpful at every possible
opportunity. I have been faced with an almost constant round of questions and
comments from visitors. “You must have tremendous patients” is amongst the most
common but in truth I have very little, what I do have is a tremendous
curiosity to discover just what I am capable of creating. The excitement is
continually present as I stitch to see just what change a few minutes with
thread and needle will produce.
On show as work in progress has been a stump work casket
which has been perhaps the star attraction. My line of research for this took
me almost immediately to the Victoria and Albert Museum and the most
exquisitely fine work done by Martha Edlin at the age of 11 years old in 1668.
The casket which I had no intention of trying to reproduce is in perfect order
and seems to have miraculously retained its original colours. I decided to stay
clear of the human form but to concentrate on birds and butterflies in order to
incorporate the widest range of colours from my stock of yarn. The box itself
had been made over in Brittany by my friend Simon who in his retirement enjoys
the challenge of something small scale rather than oak framed windows and
doors. The bank of seven small interior draws I veneered in choice woods and
turned up minute boxwood handles as well as lining the interiors with some old
floral material discovered when recovering a Victorian easy chair. I had just
enough old linen left to act as the support material and started by trawling
through my Audubon’s bird book for ideas. On the lower half I kept to marshland
and wading birds, and on the sloped section I turned to birds perched in the
trees while the lid was reserved for birds in flight. Having drawn out my rough
sketches I then turned to stitching on white cotton all the birds that would
appear as raised work.
Starting with the two small doors then front slope and sides
I spent the next three months over winter in Brittany and Cornwall stitching in
the backgrounds. The result when fixed to the box was a riot of sumptuous
colour, packed full of intense detail, a real feast for the eyes. However that
was not the end of it as there remained the top and the entire back panel which
owing to my attention being taken up with the exhibition in Bath looked like
another three month project. The top came together reasonably quickly as the
birds had already been stitched into place. I finished this off during the
first week in Bath but then discovered it to be slightly too small length-ways
so when fixing the embroidery I was obliged to cut each piece separately and
even add a little more stitching at either end.
I've been working on this 17 th century style casket for close on six months and the final
back panel is nearing completion. Thanks to the best part of a day spent at the
V&A Museum I have now settled on how I will construct the braid to finish
all the outer edges. I am not a great fan of touchy feely museum experiences
but the chance to have a go at making a short length of braid as used in the 17th
century enabled me to log and retain the technic just to the point where I
could have a go using some tweed wool yarn.
The alternating mix of colours
should be a perfect way to frame the work.
There is a certain degree of selfishness involved in launching
into such creative works in that I always consider the finished item will be
for myself which more or less counts out any idea of taking on commissions. I
had hoped to organise the continued exhibition of the six biblical works but
this has proved to be too difficult for a man with my limited experience of
modern day communication. So I will be taking them back to the Isle of Lewis
where the idea of stitching using Harris Tweed yarn first bore fruit and either
display them at home in New Tolsta or look for a suitable Hebridean exhibition
venue. I am very conscious that I should have already been cutting peat by now and
that it will be later on in May before I can attempt that if my back will stand
it. There is so much to return to since this year I move my studio from the
depths of Central Finistere to the splendid isolation of New Tolsta. To at last
have a real studio with space to wield a brush and stand back from a larger
canvas will be such a treat. I have plans to paint that have been brewing on
the side for almost three years during my period of stitching. I can’t imagine
throwing in the needle just yet but my creative output will I’m sure diversify
once more.
