Hexe: Needlepainting
Dr. Brat
have you seen these kits? http://www.berlinembroidery.com/kitofthemonth.htm
I know that Tanja's stuff was discussed here, because this is where I
got the link. I just recently purchased a modern Jacobean kit from her
and am very pleased with the quality of the materials and with the
service. I can't speak to the instructions yet, as I haven't tried it.
Anyhow, I tried to send this to Hexe in email, but it bounced, even
though I thought I had it right, so the rest of you get to see it too!
(at least it's on topic *grin*)
Elizabeth (working on a small crewel kit from The Sampler at the moment)
--
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~living well is the best revenge~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The most important thing one woman can do for another is to illuminate
and expand her sense of actual possibilities. --Adrienne Rich
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*barnacle-encrusted bitch~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lucretia Borgia
> Hey,
>
> have you seen these kits? http://www.berlinembroidery.com/kitofthemonth.htm
>
> I know that Tanja's stuff was discussed here, because this is where I
> got the link. I just recently purchased a modern Jacobean kit from her
> and am very pleased with the quality of the materials and with the
> service. I can't speak to the instructions yet, as I haven't tried it.
>
> Anyhow, I tried to send this to Hexe in email, but it bounced, even
> though I thought I had it right, so the rest of you get to see it too!
> (at least it's on topic *grin*)
>
> Elizabeth (working on a small crewel kit from The Sampler at the moment)
Tanja's directions are pretty good I find. I have the kit for doing
the field mouse, though when I shall do it I am not sure. Which
Jacobean did you get? When we did the course with her here, it was a
choice between the one with the bird and the one with the dragon fly.
The class split pretty evenly on that.
Sheena
Dianne Lewandowski
attention. <big grin>
I got a flyer in last week end's USAToday, for a magazine entitled "The
Economist." It sounds wonderful, but before I bite on the offer, I'd
like to know if anyone is familiar with it.
I'm still waiting for the library to let me know if they can get the
German history book.
Dianne
Dr. Brat
> I didn't change the subject so that Elizabeth and others would pay
> attention. <big grin>
All ya had to do was yell! *grin*
> I got a flyer in last week end's USAToday, for a magazine entitled "The
> Economist." It sounds wonderful, but before I bite on the offer, I'd
> like to know if anyone is familiar with it.
I used to read it weekly when my department had a subscription to it and
I still pick it up in airports. It's a great news magazine. It has a
very European and somewhat conservative point of view, but it does a
wonderful job of covering world news. There are sections on Asia,
Africa, Latin America, as well as comprehensive coverage of European
news. I'd definitely recommend it. The other publication that I used
to get that I really miss is the New York Review of Books. Either will
give you a different view on what's going on in the world than your
local newspaper or USAToday.
> I'm still waiting for the library to let me know if they can get the
> German history book.
I'll send you my copy for a few months if you'd like. I don't expect to
need it soon and I certainly wouldn't need it over the summer. Whether
I need it in the fall depends on what kind of independent study topics I
get, since I won't be teaching Europe this year.
Dr. Brat
> Tanja's directions are pretty good I find. I have the kit for doing
> the field mouse, though when I shall do it I am not sure. Which
> Jacobean did you get? When we did the course with her here, it was a
> choice between the one with the bird and the one with the dragon fly.
> The class split pretty evenly on that.
I got the dragonfly. I had been drooling over it for a while and
decided that I was being silly not to just go ahead and get it. When
I'll get it started is another question entirely.
Elizabeth
Ellice
> Dianne Lewandowski wrote:
>> I didn't change the subject so that Elizabeth and others would pay
>> attention. <big grin>
>
> All ya had to do was yell! *grin*
>
>> I got a flyer in last week end's USAToday, for a magazine entitled "The
>> Economist." It sounds wonderful, but before I bite on the offer, I'd
>> like to know if anyone is familiar with it.
>
> I used to read it weekly when my department had a subscription to it and
> I still pick it up in airports. It's a great news magazine. It has a
> very European and somewhat conservative point of view, but it does a
> wonderful job of covering world news. There are sections on Asia,
> Africa, Latin America, as well as comprehensive coverage of European
> news. I'd definitely recommend it. The other publication that I used
*snip*
Ditto, it's kind of the conservative European version of Newsweek. Good
articles. You might look into the Atlantic Monthly, for a similar American
type magazine.
ellice
Lucretia Borgia
> Lucretia Borgia wrote:
>
>> Tanja's directions are pretty good I find. I have the kit for doing
>> the field mouse, though when I shall do it I am not sure. Which
>> Jacobean did you get? When we did the course with her here, it was a
>> choice between the one with the bird and the one with the dragon fly.
>> The class split pretty evenly on that.
>
>
> I got the dragonfly. I had been drooling over it for a while and
> decided that I was being silly not to just go ahead and get it. When
> I'll get it started is another question entirely.
>
> Elizabeth
I am doing the bird but I loved the needlelace wings on the dragonfly,
that is the perfect way to do them.
Sheena
Lucretia Borgia
> On Tue, 03 Jun 2003 14:23:10 -0300, Lucretia Borgia
> <Lucreti...@florence.it> wrote:
>
>
>
>>Tanja's directions are pretty good I find. I have the kit for doing
>>the field mouse, though when I shall do it I am not sure. Which
>>Jacobean did you get? When we did the course with her here, it was a
>>choice between the one with the bird and the one with the dragon fly.
>>The class split pretty evenly on that.
>>
>>Sheena
>
>
> needlepainting as my attempts look splotchy. which do you think would
> give me the better learning experience for attempting a custom pet
> painting, the "Blue Flax" or one of those beautiful birds. the kit of
> the month doesn't look as if it would allow for too much blending of
> threads.
>
> --
> Hexe
> : use Hexxe to respond
>
> : Thought for the journey:
> - "What're quantum mechanics?" - "I don't know. People who repair quantums, I suppose." -- (Terry Pratchett, Eric)
We saw samples of her work, plus she had the photos she had worked from
(for the pets) and just as with human portraiture, the likeness to the
particular cat/dog was evident. I feel the needlepainting itself is
difficult enough, it is going to require lots of practice to get a good
finish.
On that basis, I would not attempt doing a likeness of my dog or cat as
you would have a double difficulty range. I would wait until the
technique is pretty well perfected and I could concentrate more on
getting the likeness in.
From what I could see it was long and short stitch, with a single
strand and masses of colours and blending and it ain't gonna be easy!!
When I looked at the pieces she had done, you felt as if you could run
your fingers through the animals fur it was so lifelike! The nose on
one of the dogs, well you just knew if you touched it that it would feel
wet and cold!
I believe Ruby Scott took a Blue Flax, it is pretty when done. I will
ask her. I liked the birds myself, particularly the chickadee on the
moss. There was something extra to needlepainting animals as opposed to
plants - in my opinion - but I could be biased because I love birds etc.
Be sure to report back on what you decide to do and how it goes. I know
I shall not start my field mouse until the fall at the earliest.
Sheena
FKBABB
Economist." It sounds wonderful, but before I bite on the offer, I'd
like to know if anyone is familiar with it.
>>
Why don't you try the free online version first:
Annie
Dianne Lewandowski
issues to decide. I know this can be a hassle, but the brochure made it
sound good, and I'm sick and tired of not knowing what's going on - or
only getting the U.S. perspective. I guess I just really wanted to know
if it was "good reporting", "balanced reporting", or an "agenda". I
know, every mag has an "agenda", but good ones usually mix it up a bit.
Ellice and Elizabeth seem to think it's a worthwhile read. I may
stick my toe in the water. :-)
Dianne
Dianne Lewandowski
know that Tanja is teaching and getting people to try this artform.
Kudos to her. A lovely lady. Hope to meet her one day.
Second, having fiddled with needlepainting, I would stick to a simple
one for the first attempt. One without a lot of tedious shading.
In the first place, it takes awhile to learn to do long/short (plumaria)
directionally - as on a flower petal. As opposed to block shading which
is a "square". There's a trick to knowing how long to make the
stitches. And you need to adjust this depending upon the amount of
shading and the "size" of the object you're shading.
Tanja teaches it the "strict" way. And that's GOOD! Email her and ask
her which would be a "very first" project. She'll steer you to a good
design. Once you get the hang of it - and it's not "simple", you can
stretch yourself to a more ambitious project.
Needlepainting the likes of Tanja is really ART. To do the likeness, as
she does, and make it appear as if the object was real, takes a talent
that I don't possess. Few of us do. But we can get good enough to come
close. :-)
Dianne
Hexe wrote:
> On Tue, 03 Jun 2003 14:23:10 -0300, Lucretia Borgia
> <Lucreti...@florence.it> wrote:
>
>
>
>>Tanja's directions are pretty good I find. I have the kit for doing
>>the field mouse, though when I shall do it I am not sure. Which
>>Jacobean did you get? When we did the course with her here, it was a
>>choice between the one with the bird and the one with the dragon fly.
>>The class split pretty evenly on that.
>>
>>Sheena
>
>
FKBABB
There's currently in print a wonderful ART book called "Threads of Light,"
needlepaintings from the Suzhou Embroidery Institute based on the work of an
American landscape photographer. In print, the needlework looks more real than
the photographs; the experience in person must be even more astonishing. A
while back I saw a traveling exhibition that included some early 20th century
Japanese needle paintings made for the European market, including some
seascapes that looked so real, and had so much motion to them because of the
changing play of light on the silk threads, that viewing them was like looking
at real waves through a window.
You're right, Dianne, this isn't an easily learned technique though Tanya is a
good teacher (I've done several of her kits for other techniques). To someone
wanting to learn, I would think a good text on oil or acrylic painting would be
useful, particularly for the type of shading required. Students at the Suzhou
institute study -- and do --painting as well as embroidery techniques.
Annie
Lucretia Borgia
I am sure you have but just in case, have you seen Helen Stevens books?
She used silk thread but on seeing Tanja's done with floss, the
difference is imperceptible.
Sheena
Lucretia Borgia
> On Tue, 03 Jun 2003 17:41:05 -0500, Dianne Lewandowski
> <dia...@heritageshoppe.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>>In the first place, it takes awhile to learn to do long/short (plumaria)
>>directionally - as on a flower petal. As opposed to block shading which
>>is a "square". There's a trick to knowing how long to make the
>>stitches. And you need to adjust this depending upon the amount of
>>shading and the "size" of the object you're shading.
I have to echo Dianne here - when I first started doing crewel I thought
I would never get the hang of long and short. I picked pieces that
had less long and short. Finally I took a class, one day thing, purely
long and short and then I got it. After that, it really was a question
of practice, practice, practice. Now I quite like doing long and short
and that is why I bought the field mouse, it seemed such an interesting,
attractive variation on long and short!
Sheena
>
>
> this is where i have problems. i'm not good with the long/short stitch
> unless i luckily manage to align the warp/weft of the fabric with the
> pattern, then with the use of a magnifying glass i enter along the same
> *lines* to keep my stitches straight.
>
>
>>Tanja teaches it the "strict" way. And that's GOOD! Email her and ask
>>her which would be a "very first" project. She'll steer you to a good
>>design. Once you get the hang of it - and it's not "simple", you can
>>stretch yourself to a more ambitious project.
>
>
> good idea. i'm not a patient person and i don't like fiddly work but i
> would like to learn needlepainting properly. maybe it will teach me
> patience.
>
>
>>Needlepainting the likes of Tanja is really ART. To do the likeness, as
>>she does, and make it appear as if the object was real, takes a talent
>>that I don't possess. Few of us do. But we can get good enough to come
>>close. :-)
>>
>>Dianne
>>
>
>
> and i don't know that Kobold is a good candidate for needlepainting. he
> is a half Persian/Rex blue tabby and the variations in his fur are only
> distinguishable in certain light and in certain poses. i'm afraid my
> attempt would look like a gray blotch and not capture his personality.
> i've bookmarked a website that will do a cross stitch or tapestry chart
> of a pet but i don't think these would work either. maybe i need a new
> pet.
>
> --
> Hexe
> : use Hexxe to respond
>
> : Thought for the journey:
> I do not fear Satan half so much as I fear those who fear him. - Theresa of Avila
Dianne Lewandowski
> this is where i have problems. i'm not good with the long/short stitch
> unless i luckily manage to align the warp/weft of the fabric with the
> pattern, then with the use of a magnifying glass i enter along the same
> *lines* to keep my stitches straight.
While block shading requires warp/weft to be "square" in the frame,
directional shading does not.
Lee from Classic Stitches sent me some silk threads for the Study Box
and also a magazine which shows the Sozhou embroidery. This embroidery,
according to the text, is not done in the same way, but is actually
cross stitching - albeit a different "type". The embroiderers are so
well trained, as Annie mentioned. The pictures in the magazine are
astounding, as is the art.
The trick to "directional" shading is learning when to put in the little
stitches to get around curves.
This artform isn't THAT hard to do, and I don't want to scare anyone
off. It requires some thinking, planning. And, of course, a bit of
practise. But, so does every other needlework we do. Our first pieces
in any technique aren't great, nor should we expect them to be. I've
seen some silk shading down by beginners that was downright lovely. By
beginner, I mean someone who has never embroidered before, but fell in
love and wanted to do it.
The only thing I wanted to point up was twofold: 1. Don't expect
perfection the first time, so choose something less difficult for a
first project; 2. Don't expect results to look like Rembrandt, for
that takes a talent beyond most of us, including me. :-)
Last: DO expect that the results will be "wow!" once you get the hang
of it - which won't take that long to muster.
Dianne