On Nov 2, 2005, at 16:47, Avril wrote:
Marcela Hovadova had an inspiring display of her lace from the Czech Republic and her newest technique is Tiffany lace, with the lace being mounted in little lead windows. Imagine a church window of lace!
Even though most of my own lace designs are "somewhat modern" (I use colour often, and now I also use wire), I have a "Libra-ish attitude" to modern lace - not entirely welcoming - I suppose I'm too moderate altogether :)
But, during my trip to OIDFA/Prague last year, one of the two examples of modern lace that really caught my attention was "church windows"... The entire shape of the lace piece was a ghotic window shape, with Mechlin's "ice ground" (adjusted) forming the divisions between the "glass panes"... Even when using 2-3, very "tempered" colours (off-white, black, beige), the effect was stunning. I can only imagine how much more impressive a "Tiffany" efect is likely to be...
I also noticed that, in the Czech Republic, the idea of the "church window" is not as allien as it is in US. Here, most of the frames one can buy - for photos or crafts - are square, rectangular or circular; even finding an oval frame (my favourite shape) is difficult. But, in Prague (at the un-authorised-by-OIDFA fair for textile workers), there was a great variety of frames available - both wood and wire - and, in addition to several proportions of oval shapes, there were some frames which were "church window" shaped (I bought one in wood and one in wire). Also, quite a variety of patterns for sale were shaped to fit that particular overall shape (one short, horizontal line. Two, long, parallel, vertical lines. Two arched lines extending from the uprights and meeting at the top. A plumb hung from the tip of the arch would indicate the middle of the horizzontal line at the bottom). It'll take a while for me to design lace to fit those frames because the lace has to fit "just so", but I think it'll be worth the effort.
The gothic "church window" shape is one of the most graceful and all-encompassing ones, with a mix of short and long lines at right angles and arched ones on top; it's a shape that's not only visually satisfying, but philosophically and politically as well :)
-- Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/ Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
