For centuries women have used cloth as a tool of comfort and as an expression of beauty within their homes. Creating cloth for warmth, cloth for shelter, our female predecessors embellished these linens with hand stitch using laborious and time consuming techniques thereby enhancing the functional beauty of objects which enveloped and protected their families. Inspired by these women I hope my creations pay tribute to and recognise the devotion expressed in cloth by our female ancestors .







''the use of traditional often time consuming process alludes to the devotion of a mother''. c K. A. Ruane 2007







Thursday, March 29, 2012

portfolio in progress







My collection is taking shape in one sense, the organisation sense and growing in the other..... size. I have three mounted pieces now but I also have around three new ones....not a problem though, the more the merrier. I am also working on a final piece that will be more than a sample...it's nowhere near ready for public viewing yet but it is further proof if any were needed that all I do all day is embroider! I can show ''in progress'' pictures of that soon so don't fall asleep!
I have also done something very exciting...well I think it's exciting although I do need to get out more....I have started a new group on flickr! Nothing to do with any of my classes...totally independent of that and you can join too if you want.
As you know I occasionally embroider French Knots, sometimes with a Bullion thrown in too...well I searched flickr for a group for knots and there weren't any. Well I tell a lie, there were groups for fisherman's knots, camping knots, things like that which were far too manly and harsh for my delicate little French creations so I saw the need....if you want to join in just go here and request an invite...who knows we may morph into the biggest group ever seen! OK then probably not but we can dream....



9 comments:

Iceni UK said...

Love what you are doing with your portfolio pieces and the beautiful floaty pieces of scrim flowers look amazing framing the samples. Looking forward to seeing your pages completed.
I'm sure your new flickr group will be a worldwide success.....
Thank you for knotting us altogether in stitch. :)

ersimarina said...

Have you ever considered holding an exhibition of your mounted samples? They look gorgeous and deserve a category of their own.

Rachel said...

So many delicate threads and textures - lovely!

deanna7trees said...

wish there was a way to get e-mail notification when there is a new post on a flickr group. i tend to forget to go there and check unless it's an ongoing class, but i love the idea of this knot group.

Jane said...

these pages are really special

Suztats said...

Wow! Looking beautiful!

Jensters said...

Karen these are looking wonderful....i love the crispness of your work as im sure ive said before.... pure yummy :}

Tammie Lee said...

love love
love
each detail
~

Magpie's Mumblings said...

A perfect marriage between the stitching and paper, especially the piece in the second-to-last picture.