----Original message---- >From : lizl...@bigpond.com Subject : [lace] Colour in Lace.
Texture or colour? One does seem to override the other. Yes I agree. Catherine, I worked your Strawberries â and learned Such a Lot while working the pieces â flowers wired, leaves with wired veins, and a double layer of stitching to make the strawberries. It was such fun to do, - and a belated big Thank You for the pattern â and in fact, the whole book!! However when I put that piece in my Proficiency exam, it was written, by the examiners, as Stumpwork ............. - >From : catherinebarley@btinternet. Subject : Re: [lace] Colour in Lace. Hi Liz I know I said my previous posting on the subject would be my last but I couldn't be ill mannered and ignore your email to me, so as I'm writing it anyway, thought I might as well include Arachne too! Yes Alex did hit the nail on the head and I recall explaining to you some time ago when asked, how to achieve density/tonal values when working monochrome laces. A lot more thought needs to be used in the variation of thread weights to achieve this, rather than simply choosing the correct shade/colour of thread. For example my 'Henley Bridge' where I had to differentiate the blue sky from the blue/grey water and also the tarmac road, is an example. I wondered how I could do this without the use of colour and felt it required more than just a variation of the filling stitches. Different gauges of white thread was the answer and of the old Point de Gaze samples is where this idea came from. I was also invited by the Lace Guild here in the UK (along with others) to design and work a piece of needlelace using a Winifred Millar bobbin lace pricking as our source of inspiration. I thought I'd design/work a piece of Point de Gaze to go on the front of the 'spare' ivory satin wedding shoe from my book which I had intended to work it in a gold coloured thread, thinking it would compliment the ivory satin. Like most lacemakers no doubt, I have drawers full of threads that wlll probably never see the light of day, but did I have several gauges of the same coloured/shade of gold thread to work my Point de Gaze? - No I didn't, so it was back to white for me, of which I had every gauge I might possibly need. Of course the white wouldn't show up against the ivory satin, so I mounted my white Point de Gaze onto a gold coloured silk background and framed it instead of using the ivory coloured satin shoe! If you're sufficiently interested you can see this on my website und! er 'Lace Guild Challenge', also 'Henley Bridge' and right at the bottom of the list you can see an example of Argentan Ground under 'Chopin's Nocturne' I do not classify the 3-D strawberries as Stumpwork/Raised Embroidery as they are not worked onto a fabric background! They are a contemporary use of traditional needlelace stitches incorporated into a 3-Dimensional arrangement of strawberries. Stumpwork is another term for 'Raised Embroider' and to embroider something one needs a background fabric on which to embroider/embellish this fabric! One does set one's self up as an 'Aunt Sally' when writing a book/catalogue and has to be very sure of one's facts before doing so, as there is always someone out there who know better! Once something goes down in print it is frequently quoted by future generations and we have learned through experience over the years, that it is not always correct, as further evidence comes to light over the years to substatiate this. The inspiration for these strawberries came for a Grinling Gibbons wood carving depicting a variety of flora and fauna, also fruit, birds, musical instruments etc an! d I thought that if someone could create something so beautiful/realistic out of a solid piece of wood, surely I could do something similar with my knowledge of needlelace! I recall being allowed into the room when the assessor came to mark our work at Windsor & Maidenhead College for the C & G two year Creative Textile Course. I had been asked to take some Rhododendron flowers from my garden to display along with the student's work, and took them in before the assessor started on her rounds, and Nenia was showing her a copy of her very first book published by Batsford entitled 'Needlepoint Lace' published 1980. As I was leaving the room I overheard the examiner ask Nenia "Is this all Needlepoint Lace"? My heart sank, as we all had to make a piece of needlelace as one of our assessments and clearly our examiner didn't even know what it was! This Creative textiles course was the beginning of the revival of this beautiful but sadly neglected form of lace and Nenia Lovesey was the driving force behind it, as was Barbara Hirst the driving force behind the revival of Stumpwork/Raised Embroidery here in the UK. Coincidentally, both Nenia and Barbara were students on the same C & G Embroidery Course at Windsor and Maidenhead college some years earlier! Catherrine Barley Catherine Barley Needlelace www.catherinebarley.com - - 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/
