Catherine writes: Is there no one out there who makes beautiful fine white needlelace and who can pass on these techniques for the benefit of future generations? I have done my level best over several decades, travelling many thousands of miles both here in the UK and overseas to pass on my skills, but all I hear is "I couldn't possibly see to do such fine work" but I see beautiful fine white Honiton lace still being made, along with gorgeous Binche, Bucks etc so why is it so difficult to find a tutor to teach 'Traditional Needlelace" I wonder?
In the US, Carolyn Wetzel is investing a tremendous amount of time, effort and money to become a needle lace teacher with expertise in Aemelia Ars, Alencon and Frisado de Valladolid. She is a real asset in perpetuating needle lace. I think it is imperative to give some recognition to, and to exhibit, youngish needle lace artists. With no encouragement, they will stop doing needle lace art and go on to do something that is better understood and appreciated. My exhibit Lace, not Lace: Contemporary Fiber Art from Lacemaking Techniques has several young(ish) needle lacemakers in it. One is Penny Nickels. She has a blogspot called Donkeywolf http://donkeywolf.blogspot.com/ where you can see two works that will be in the show. One is The Jersey Devil, the other is Just Girly Things. She employed some gros point techniques in Just Girly Things. If you continue to scroll down, and go to another page with older posts you will see The Endurance, about the Shackleton Expedition. I love the way that she varies the stitch densities in the snow. While Catherine does not know about Penny, Penny knows about Catherine because we have discussed Catherineâs snow oriented work. Penny is not afraid to spend a lot of time working on her art. She is largely self-taught, which is amazing. Maggie Hensel-Brown will also be shown. She is an Australian who works in Punto in Aria technique. Also, E.J. Parkes, who has made a life size arm in very fine needle lace stitches, showing the musculature and bones, etc. I think I see the signs of an upcoming lace revival. Devon Sent from Mail for Windows 10 - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
