[lace] Contemporary Needle lace
Dear Catherine, I am truly grateful for the time you have spent on this. Be assured I am asking the artists for their statements about the works. It was the superficial and often misinformed treatment of lace by the mainstream press that made me wonder what it would be like if someone who actually knew about lace was to design a contemporary lace show. Having started lacemaking in the early 1970s I thought I might have a go at describing what each lace artist was doing. I donât find that there is a lot of critical commentary on lace art for me to read and absorb, so I am trying to analyze it as best I can, and to put it into a historical context of lace in the 20th and 21st centuries. I find that this is an era that tends to be skipped over in favor of highly romantic descriptions of 17th century lacemakers, or quaint cottagers at their pillows in front of rose covered dwellings. Another issue that I find I encounter when I am reading articles that have appeared about the artists in the show, in the past, is that the mere fact that they are using lacemaking technique overshadows everything else as the writer expounds on what lace is supposed to be, frilly, delicate, ultra feminine, and how this artist is at odds with that description. But almost never does the non-lace press talk about the special way the artist may be using the techniques that make it interesting. For instance I was examining Daniela Banatovaâs work the other day and noticed that she often uses a different colored worker than the passives, to create sort of a blending. Sometimes she uses a finer thread for some of the fillings to make them more faint. She uses long twisted sewings in the manner of Czech modern lace to create voids. In the early twentieth century if one wanted to have a discussion about what Picasso and Matisse were doing with their painting, one would go down to the Deux Magots and buy a cup of coffee and talk to the other people who were interested in painting. If I want to talk about lace, the place to go is Arachne. It gives me a chance to float any theories I may have and find out if they are crack pot theories before they actually appear in print. So, I am grateful for people who want to explore these topics and point out the flaws in my arguments and share ideas I havenât thought of. Devon Sent from Mail for Windows 10 - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
Re: RE: [lace] contemporary needle lace
Original message from Devon Subject : RE: [lace] contemporary needle lace I have been fortunate to convince Ros Hills to loan to the exhibit two works. One is I am woman, which can be seen on p. 120 of the book Merehurst Embroidery Skills Needlelace, by Pat Earnshaw. Devon Dear Spiders I should like to dispel any misconception that some might have about my aversion to coloured Contemporary needlelace, as opposed to fine white Traditional needelace. If you have a copy of my book 'Needlelce Designs & Techniques Classic & CONTEMPORARY' on your bookshelves or can borrow one from somewhere, the very first piece of my work you will see is the COLOURED 3-D strawberries on the front cover, which was designed and worked by me in 1989, not a piece of fine white Traditional needlelace. These strawberries also appear in Jill Nordford Clark's book 'Needlelace Techniques & Inspiration published a decade later in 1999. Then there are the 3-D Pea Pods with admittedly a fine white 3-D butterfly on page 143 - also in the same book by Pat Earnshaw, as Ros Hills' 'I Am Woman' pub by Merehurst as part of their EMBROIDERY SKILLS series. Ros herself says and I quote 'The actual working of the needlace fabric I find tedious and exacting, but to take a single thread and create with it a fabric, will always fascinate me ..' She does not describe this work as LACE but uses the word FABRIC twice in her description. In that very same book on page 109 you will see 'Garden Gate' by Nenia Lovesey (whch I am the proud owner of), page 110 'Pea Pods' by Catherine Barley, 'Brighton Pavilion' by Ann Collier, page 114 'Samurai Two' by Barbara Hirst, and page 120 'I Am Woman' by Ros Hills and all are worked using needlelace techniques but I would not classify them as 'LACE' in the strict sense of the word as I understand - I include myself of course in my observations, but would describe them as being worked in a Contemporary STYLE rather than a Traditional LACE. On page 59 of Virginia Churchill Bath's book 'LACE' is the wonderful 'Judgement of Solomon' panel from the V & A - now that is needlelace in all it's glory! I saw this panel at the V & A way back in the early 80's when one didn't need to make an appointment for a 1 hour slot and inform them of the pieces you would like to see, but in the days w! here all the lace was in a separate section with doors that could be locked when necessary and open every day of the week, to browse through the pull out panels at leisure and stay as long as one liked, just drooling over all the wonderful laces. Going back to my own book you will see on pages 114/115 the stumpwork wedding scene where all the clothing is worked in coloured needlelace, but of course the bride's dress, as one would expect, is fine white 'lacey' needlelace, all worked in 1989. Page 27 shows an adaptation of a Dover design, worked in Venetian Gros Point techniques, and this was worked in 1983 - 35years ago! I too took some criticism for having dared to introduce a small amount of pink coloured silk thread into my interpretation! If you go to my website and scroll down to 'Venetian Gros Point' you will see a black chiffon jacket with COLOURED needlelace petals (beads too!) applied to the painted flowers on the fabric, also an evening bag worked in various shades of pink/ecru, again worked over 30 years ago in the 1980's. Take a look also at the stumpwork 3-D section where you will see quite a few projects worked in coloured thread and solid corded Brussels. Move on to the bobbin Lace section and see the 3-D Bobbin lace detachable pockets worked in gold metallic thread and worked in the late 1970's - almost 40 years ago, when I knew absolutely nothing about Needlelce! I think I hardly fit the description of 'living in the past'! When commissioned by Batsford to write my book, I gave a great deal of thought as to it's content and didn't want it to be full of the work of others, but something different. Some may feel that Venetian Gros Point would be far too difficult as a first project, but corded Brussels is by far the easiest/most simple stitch to work, as it has a cord to support it, whereas the more open 'lacey' stitches are far more difficult to control, as no doubt many of you will have discovered for yourselves. This book is progressive with each new project reinforcing techniques mastered in the previous one, whilst progressing to a new technique in addition. Finally, having learnt the traditional techniques with the TWISTED buttonhole stitch in Hollie Point, then the more open filling stiches and grid fillings in Point de Gaze, the book moves on to the CONTEMPORARY projects that utilise the TR
RE: [lace] contemporary needle lace
Lorelei says that â As for lace being white and having holes in it - my personal definition has to do with transparency or partial transparency and white just doesn't matter. (Although white or a solid color focuses the attention on the transparency aspect.)â I have been fortunate to convince Ros Hills to loan to the exhibit two works. One is I am woman, which can be seen on p. 120 of the book Merehurst Embroidery Skills Needlelace, by Pat Earnshaw. Also she is lending Purse 2, which was made at the same time and resembles the purse that was bought by the Victoria and Albert Museum as an example of contemporary needle lace. The pieces are a riot of color and for those who like gros point, you can really see wild and over the top use of the built up embellishments that characterize that lace. But, the pieces are actually quite dense. They are not very transparent at all, and those people who will see them will be asking, not without justification, âwhere is the lace?â This is one of the contradictions that I am dealing with. The pieces are a cloth made of buttonhole stitches, with no underlying fabric. Is that lace? If not, what is it? Devon - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] contemporary needle lace
Elena A very interesting perspective. Personally I value needle laces in all 3 categories: those exhibiting all the characteristics of the antique laces in both scale and technique and design. Those using the best techniques of antique laces, but with modern design Those enlarged in scale and perhaps simplified in technique That is why I started needlelacetalk. I wanted to foster all those kinds, and support the work of living lace artists with our enthusiasm. I personally don't think any one of those is superior to the others. I will never be able to contribute to the first group myself. My eyesight prevents it, and my skill just doesn't reach that level. I want to learn those "best techniques of antique laces", but probably will never reach the level of Catherine Barley or some of our needlelacetalk members. My own needle lace will therefore fall into the 3rd category. I make no apology for that. As for lace being white and having holes in it - my personal definition has to do with transparency or partial transparency and white just doesn't matter. (Although white or a solid color focuses the attention on the transparency aspect.) Lorelei - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
