Or nue flower

I don't often go on classes in the UK, but in 2017 I did take the opportunity of a class on Or Nue, at the  Scottish National Portrait Gallery. The class was taught by Helen McCook, a Royal School of Needlework graduate.

The design is based on a detail from the painted wall decorations on the pillars of the upper gallery. If you have the opportunity, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery is worth a visit just for the architecture and decoration. Of course, it's also full of portraits!

For some obscure reason I did not record the notes and timings I usually keep on pieces. No idea why. The gold is Japanese Gold #2, the flosses are DMC stranded cotton using one strand, stitched on blue satin. The design is only about 5 inches across. Helen taught us various types of fillings and explained how they could be used to emphasis shape and depth.

It was a fun class, with lots of interaction and lots of discussion about influences, from Arts & Crafts, back through Restoration and Jacobean to the Eastern influences brought in by the arrival of Indian and Japanese fabrics and embroidery.

This was never meant to be one of those pieces I would hang on the wall, but once finished it needed protected. I didn't want to place it under glass or just put away in a drawer and forgotten about, and I did want it to be portable but safe. I found the perfect storage for it, an I-Phone box.

Philadelphia Story

Not starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn or James Stewart.

The American Needlepoint Guild 40th Anniversary Seminar was held in Philadelphia. We couldn't not go, and I knew I had to come up with something appropriate.

What I came up with in the end was "Democratic Evolutions".

"Democratic Evolutions" is best explained by the artist's statement I submitted with the piece. It went as follows:
Democratic Evolutions was inspired by the knowledge that I was coming to Philadelphia. To millions, Philadelphia and The Declaration of Independence are synonymous, but The Declaration of Independence did not spring fully formed from the mind of Thomas Jefferson. It had a predecessor and template in The Declaration of Arbroath, which announced itself as being written by the "barons and freeholders and the whole community of the realm of Scotland". In the perception of their times, little different from the statement "We, therefore, …. in the name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be Free and Independent States".
I chose to go for a circular design with the coloured stripes offset in each ban to indicate movement in time and our understanding of what democracy means. My pairing the dates, places and Declarations in their own circles I wanted to highlight the eternal quest for self-determination and the fundamental truth that our ideas of what democracy is evolves. The text is deliberately broken up, and legible only by moving ones head. This reminds us that democracy is fragile.
To lighten the mood and add a touch of humour, the motifs in the outer band are Philadelphia's most famous icon, the Liberty Bell, and the Arbroath Smokie, wood smoked fish (not to be confused with kippers), that town's best known export.
I elected for congress cloth and an Or-nue style because it seemed appropriate as the colours were selected from heraldry, the coat of arms of Arbroath being red and gold, and the flag of Philadelphia containing blue and gold.
Only Kreinik metallic and Au-ver-a-Soie "Soi d'alger" silks were used.

Another link, but not mentioned in my artist's statement, is that one of the drafters and signatories of the Declaration of Independence was John Witherspoon, a Scottish Presbyterian Minister, and one of the founding fathers of Princeton. I knew a little about him, but it was only after our return from seminar, when I took the piece to show to my parents, that my father commented that John Knox Witherspoon (can you get a much more Presbyterian name) was the brother of one of his umpteenth great grandparents. I've not been able to trace that far back, but he may be right, the family on that side comes from the same town.

It took me 211 hours to design and stitch Democratic Evolutions, with many returns to the doodle cloth. It took me six attempts to get the lettering the way I wanted!

In what the media and politicians in this country are calling "Unprecedented Times", it would be stupid to ignore the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Mysterious Mr, G, previously referred to in this blog, blamed it on crows until he realised it was not Corvid-19.
We are all hopefully practicing 'Social Distancing' as the UK government calls it, and JB and I are leaving the house as little as possible. It will pass, but it will take time. For those of us who don't work in the vital services, who are hunkering down for the duration, I leave you with this thought.

Stay home, stay safe, stitch! You are doing your bit to save the world!