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Best in Stitch Award Dundee and East of Scotland Meet the Tutors and Talk to Them About Friendly

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Best in Stitch Award Dundee and East of Scotland Meet the Tutors and Talk to Them About Friendly CONTACTmonthly 12/2020 Best in Stitch Award Dundee and East of Scotland meet the tutors and talk to them about friendly. Using a skeleton leaf which she what we could do to promote stitch, found in Dundee’s Botanic Gardens – a it was agreed that we would visit each metaphor for a body decomposing, she place annually and talk to their students drew and painted patterns which she about the Guild as well as making an then translated into embroidery designs. award to the person judged to be Best She chose natural fibre fabrics such as in Stitch. The judging takes place prior linen, silk and organdie and made to the degree show and is by a panel natural dyes with which to dye them. from the branch. We laid out criteria for Francesca has a keen interest in the award and offered the winner the gardening so to test that plants could opportunity to give a presentation to grow through the fabrics as they decom- the branch for a fee of £50. We also give posed, she planted bean seeds on top of the winners a one year’s membership to a piece of her dyed Irish linen and later the Guild and the opportunity to come in the summer was able to crop beans to a Day School and a workshop for free. from the plants sown. Despite the restrictions we are continu- They may join in on other day schools or Some of the fabric was made into ing to meet using Zoom. On Sunday, 22 workshops for half what the members samples of Jogakbo, a style of Korean November we had a presentation from would pay. The award winners patchwork and other smaller pieces Francesca Rea who was the 2020 winner appreciate that people from outside were appliqued to look like plants of our ‘Best in Stitch Award’ for their institutions have judged their work. and moss. Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art Francesca based her final project on Our members were unanimous in and Design. research into burial customs and ways saying that her work is stunning. Five years ago, the then Chair of the of celebrating life and death in different Francesca shows that using mainly branch realised that, despite there being countries following a discussion with a running stitch and couching, superb two establishments in Dundee that family member. She developed an designs can be made. Francesca’s work offered courses in textile arts – DJCAD as interest in trying to create burial can be viewed at: a degree course and Dundee and Angus garments that would decompose into https://www.francescareatextiles.com/ the soil along with the body which College as an HND – we had very little Elizabeth Robb contact with them. Following a visit to would add to the soil and be eco- BRODERERS’ TEXTILE LECTURE Decoding and Recoding Tradition – New materials and methods for Textiles By Anne Toomey, Head of Programme, Textiles and Reader in Smart Textiles, Royal College of Art The virtual lecture that was held on the 12th November is now up on the Company website and can be viewed for free at: https://broderers.co.uk/article/broderers-textile-lecture-12th-november-2020-0 It will be available until 11 February 2021. A Stitch in Time: Reconstructing the Arnolfini Gown Last month Birmingham Branch had a fascinating Zoom talk from the historical costumier Ninya Mikahila. The presentation offered insights into the process of researching and reconstructing the gown worn by the wife of Giovanni Arnolfini, as depicted in the painting of 1434 by Jan Van Eyck, now in The National Gallery. The gown was made in 2017 for a BBC television series entitled ‘A Stitch in Time’ and the aim was to create as faithful a reconstruction as possible, using hand sewing methods and period appropriate tools and materials. In her talk Ninya shared many of the research and making processes that weren’t included in the television programme. Ninya was an excellent speaker and members thoroughly enjoyed her talk and having the opportunity to ask questions about the gown and more generally about her other work. Ninya can be contacted via her website: https://ninyamikhaila.com or email [email protected] Beginners’ Guide to Zoom A Guide for Branches of the Embroiderers’ Guild Prepared by Isla Ross, EG Digital Marketing Isla Ross, the Guild’s Digital Marketer, has created a comprehensive guide to Zoom meetings for our members and branches. Divided into two, the first part offers guidelines for meeting hosts and the second is for meeting attendees – everything you need to know about organising and attending successful online meetings. The whole document has been emailed to branches but can also be found in Members’ Documents on the Members’ side of the Embroiderers Guild website and Branch Documents (for branch officers). Follow the link https://embroiderersguild.com/index.php?page_no=454&page_menu=members-documents 2 POSITIVITY and PERSEVERANCE in Bolton In 2019 Bolton branch began a challenge to involve members who were willing to take part. However, after we had begun the project Sue Chisnall-Sumner, the North- west Chair, issued her challenge for the 2020 Regional Day called ‘Positivity’. Unfortunately due to Coronavirus the Regional Day was postponed but I thought this would provide the boost our branch needed to get the challenge finished. I initially found an image of a group of flowers in vases which reminded me of a traditional Dutch painting. It has been a challenge to get the project completed due to being unable to meet but I prepared kits and posted them to members who were willing to make squares that were missing. These sections were then created in fabric and stitch using any technique or method members chose to use. Our committee members did extra sections in order to complete it and posted them to me so that I could assemble them together. I must say I found the stitching together of the squares the biggest challenge as sizes did tend to vary! However, it is now complete and although nobody has actually seen it in the flesh I have posted images on our Facebook page and it has featured in one of our regular Zoom Branch meetings. I actually think it should be called ‘Perseverance’ due to the challenges we have faced! I would like to thank everyone who took part and I think that when our members do actually see it they will be quite impressed. Brenda Brown The Story of the Embroiderers’ Guild Collection: Part 3 Image ©Angela Thompson Image ©Helen Johnstone For this third part of our story we revisit the Embroiderers’ Guild exhibition ‘The Beautiful Stitch’, which was on display in Bucks County Museum in 2017. This particular exhibition represented the variety and scope of the Collection, including textiles from the 16th Century to the present day with examples of techniques from many countries. This e-book gives you the opportunity to examine and admire the stitching of many of the pieces on display as though you were standing right there in front of them! Our special thanks go to the Teme Valley Branch and in particular Angela Thompson who, with her fellow branch members Sonia Jackson, Helen Johnstone and Charlotte Gardiner captured the images of The Beautiful Stitch on a branch outing to the Beryl Dean Gallery at Bucks County Museum. Angela has very kindly allowed us to use the powerpoint presentation she made after the visit to create the e-book. To view the e-book, click on the link https://www.flipsnack.com/Embroiderersguild/story-of-collection-pt-3.html 3 IN MEMORY OF Audrey Walker 1928 – 2020 I first met Audrey in 1966. I was teaching in the Art Depart- and we are so indebted for the wonderful list of textile artists ment of Whitelands College (now Roehampton University) that evolved during her time – Nicola Henley, Liz Tarr, Louise and she joined us as Principal Lecturer in Painting. It was the Baldwin, Alice Kettle, Matthew Harris, to name but a few. beginning of a special friendship. She also had good support and friendship from Eirian and Previously, Audrey had stitched a set of stylised figures in Denys Short, Roz Hawksley and Michael Brennen Wood during a range of techniques while attending an ILEA evening class that period. taught by Margaret Nicholson at the Embroiderers’ Guild then Audrey retired in 1988 and had moved to Wales. It was not housed in Wimpole Street in London. easy to meet so often but we kept in touch and for many I, with great trepidation took over Margaret’s class In the summers, our daughter, Tor, looked after her house and her September that Audrey started at Whitelands. You all have to cat, Birdie while she was in Greece. envisage me then, thin, young and the thought of taking over After Audrey left Goldsmiths, she had more time and from such a well-known teacher was extremely daunting. produced a great deal of work, much was figurative, strong Audrey continued in my class for a year and it was great images beautifully stitched. traveling into London together. I’m not sure that she gained Already well documented, Audrey’s work has been seen anything from my classes other that all students were allowed in exhibitions of the 62 Group, the Crafts Council, Art of the to create their own designs and possibly I encouraged the Stitch, the Knitting and Stitching shows as well as other stitch marks to be a little freer. At the end of that first year, she exhibitions in the USA and UK.
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