Embroidery Design by Mabel B Keighley

Illustration: Mabel B Keighley. Applique embroidery panel, 1899.

In 1899 the National Competition of Schools of Art, an annual competition was held at the South Kensington Museum, the future Victoria and Albert Museum. It was held every summer and was a means in which many regional art colleges and schools could introduce their students work to the London public. It served a number of purposes including much needed publicity for the individual colleges concerned as well as the chance for students to gain a mention in specific publications such as The Studio magazine, which covered the event every year. However, perhaps more importantly, there was always the possibility of a commission or assignment with a company, which could well start a potentially long and fruitful career.

The first illustration for this article shows an applique embroidery by Mabel B Keighley which was shown at the summer exhibition for the last year of the nineteenth century. Keighley was a student at Plymouth Technical School, which had been accepting students since 1892. Her entry was thought striking enough to get a mention in The Studio magazine and therefore a welcome publicity coupe for both Plymouth and Keighley.

Although being very much a late nineteenth century design with elements of ornamental Art Nouveau styling, particularly in the woman's costume, the subject matter owes its allegiance and origin to William Morris. Keighley used a quote from Morris collection of poems under the title The Defence of Guenevere in which Guenevere admits to and then analyses her guilt. The quote which was used as a banner of sorts across the top of Keighley's embroidery, read as

Under the may she stoop'd to the crown, 

All was gold, there was nothing of brown;

And the horns blew up in the hall at noon,

Two red roses across the moon.

Guenevere and Lancelot obviously share a moment of pleasure and guilt, but this is perhaps not the crux of the decorative piece. It has much more to do with decoration, pattern and accomplishment. Unfortunately, it cannot be seen in colour although The Studio magazine does assure us that the embroidery was both 'rich and luminous in colour'.

Fortunately, for both Keighley and Plymouth, this was not the only moment that The Studio magazine found to praise the work of Keighley. Four years later The National Competition of Schools of Art came around again and Keighley's embroidered entry, which is the second illustration in this article, was praised by the magazine despite the fact that it considered entries in the needlework genre to be particularly bad, or at least nondescript for 1903.

Illustration: Mabel B Keighley. Applique embroidery hanging, 1903.

Although The Studio considered Keighley's 1903 applique embroidery entry, of which there were two, to be ambitious, which often denotes a less than satisfactory outcome, it also called her work 'praiseworthy' and therefore it can be considered that her work was both liked and admired by the magazine. This 1903 embroidered piece does show a progression in Keighley's creative journey with her work, appearing much paired down to the 1899 example, even appearing to have a distinct contemporary graphic quality. Although this was present in her earlier Guenevere example, particularly when considering the body of both Lancelot and his horse, the 1903 entry, although still inspired by the medieval and to some extent possibly even Morris, though not overtly so, the composition apart from the hem of the woman's dress, is bereft of any obvious decoration or ornament. Much of the piece is made up of simple lines and this makes all the more effective, particularly when considering some of the more interesting contemporary developments in the decorative arts of 1903.

Unfortunately, I have no further word of Keighley after 1903. I don't know if she carried on with her embroidery work after she left college, it would be a shame if she didn't as she showed true promise and was developing creatively into an accomplished and potentially experimental artist that could well have taken the medium of embroidery along an interesting and diverse path. If anyone does have information as to the life of Mabel B Keighley, I would love to hear from them.

Further reading links:

Hand Appliqué with Embroidery

The Art of Elegant Hand Embroidery, Embellishment and Applique

Sophisticated Stitches: Designs for Quilting, Applique, Sashiko & Embroidery
Embroidered Flora & Fauna: Three-Dimensional Textured Embroidery
ART NOUVEAU EMBROIDERY
The Rise & Fall of Art Needlework  
Drawn to Stitch: Line, Drawing, and Mark-Making in Textile Art
The Art of Manipulating Fabric
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEEDLEWORK (Fully Illustrated)
Zen And the Art of Needlecraft Exploring the Links Between Needlecraft, Spirituality, And Creativity
The Art of Embroidery: Inspirational Stitches, Textures, and Surfaces
The Fine Art of Kimono Embroidery
The Art of Needle-Work, From the Earliest Ages, 3rd Ed. Including Some Notices of the Ancient Historical Tapestries
Royal School of Needlework Embroidery Techniques
Embellishing with Anything: Fiber Art Techniques for Quilts--ATCs, Postcards, Wallhangings & More
Exploring Elizabethan Embroidery (Elizabethan needlework)
In Praise of the Needlewoman: Embroiderers, Knitters, Lacemakers and Weavers in Art

The Enduring Antarctic Adventure of Clare Plug

 Illustration: Clare Plug. Ice Crack 2, 2008.

The New Zealand textile artist Clare Plug has spent the last few years of her career developing a fascinating body of work that entails intimately observed details along with wider conceptions and observations of the most rarely visited of all the planets continents.

In 2006 Plug was lucky enough to visit the continent of Antarctica as part of a fellowship, staying with the official government Antarctica NZ at Scott Base in the vicinity of the Ross Ice Shelf. It is no small exaggeration to say that this experience fundamentally changed her views and the entire aspect of her work, so much so that much of the textile art work that she produces to this day is haunted by this most spectacular and hauntingly beautiful continent.

Illustration: Clare Plug. Ice Crack 2 (detail), 2008.

The three works shown here are examples of Plug's Antarctica Series which explores a number of aspects of the continent from the fragile and relatively recent human experience, to the much older and grander sweep of geological and climatic history that has become so pressingly relevant in our own contemporary world.

Through discharge dyeing, applique and quilting techniques, Plug has been able to not only detail her own experiences along with those of others past and present, but perhaps more importantly to focus our attention on the emotional ambience of the landscape and the sense of harsh beauty that it entails. Through her sensitive use of textural colour and stitching, the artist can help us to identify the strange combination of a climate that is so harsh that it can kill most life forms, while at the same time being supremely fragile, delicate and sensitive and so easily prone to destruction by outside forces.

Illustration: Clare Plug. Midnight at the Barne Glacier, 2008.

These moody and sometimes even ethereal textile pieces are in many regards emotionally observed landscapes. Admittedly, they can only give us an indication as to the multiple experiences that would be observed on the continent itself. However, Plugs work has such a defined ambient compositional quality to it that although most of us will probably never visit the continent itself, we can at least share some of the wonder and sheer magnetism of this most intriguing and other-worldly part of the planet.

Through her landscapes, both climatically and geographically based, humans seem to make only the barest and most tenuous of impressions. No more obvious an example of this underlying feeling is Out on the Barrier which seems to give a hint of a hauntingly indistinct portrayal of a possible human symbol, or not. To show our lack of domination of one continent out of seven, everything in Antarctica seems transient, misleading, even misdirected seeming at times to be playing tricks on our senses and our preconceptions. The physical and emotional scale of the experience seems well beyond the human scale in which to focus, catalogue and identify. This often featureless and unimaginably empty continent challenges us to imagine a world where the human species cannot automatically deem themselves dominant, and for our own sanity that feeling of inadequacy mixed with awe, can only be for the betterment of us all.

Illustration: Clare Plug. Out on the Barrier, 2008.

A wide range of Plug's textile art pieces were part of the Look South exhibition held at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch New Zealand. This exhibition was due to continue until the end of September. However, due to the major earthquake experienced by South Island, the exhibition has had to disappointingly close early, though I am sure Plugs hauntingly beautiful textile work will be seen at many more venues in the near future.

Clare Plug has a web presence where much more of her work can be seen. She has exhibited in New Zealand, the US and Europe as well as being featured in a number of publications. Another interesting site listed is that of Antarctica NZ which gives details of New Zealand's official work in Antarctica as well as information on Scott Base where Plug stayed in 2006. On the site there is a webcam of the base which updates every 15 minutes. Both sites can be found in the Reference links section below.

Illustration: Clare Plug. Out on the Barrier (detail), 2008.

All images were used with the kind persmission of the artist.

Reference links:
Clare Plug website
Antarctica New Zealand

Tatar Leatherwork

Illustration: Examples Of Tatar leatherwork, 1925.

In 1925 the then Soviet Union held, amongst its various exhibitions at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, a large display that highlighted the ethnic diversity of the Union as seen through various traditional craft skills. Amongst these displays was some Tatar leatherwork. The catalogue produced for the exhibition highlighted one page dedicated to the Tatar craft skill of leatherwork. The example shown here was merely named Tartar, but we can probably be certain enough to say that the items originated with the Volga Tatars of Kazan.

As well as there being Siberian, Crimean and Volga Tatars, there are also sizeable minorities of Tatars within Central Asia, the Baltic States, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and across the Russian Federation. The total Tatar world population is presently thought to be about ten million. This broad and extensive Tatar homeland says much about the history of the Tatar people and particularly their links with their early nomadic lifestyle.

Illustration: Satellite map of the Volga River.

Leatherwork was often an important component of nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples and Volga Tatars were no different. They were extremely proficient at all levels of the craft from processing the hides to detailed cutting, dying and applique work. Whether the Tatar penchant for leatherwork really has anything to do with their nomadic past is uncertain. However, what is certain is that Volga Tatars were well known across Russia for their craft skills including ceramics, metalwork, jewellery and leatherwork. Tatars of the region were also great traders with the Volga being a great natural trade route. This helped to spread their leatherwork goods and reputation well beyond their own communities.

The decorative design on the leatherwork shown in this illustration has definite links with other Tatar groups in Europe and Asia and shows significant similarities to decorative pattern work that stretches back into Asia as far as Mongolia. Therefore, although the work shown may well have derived from Kazan, the larger Tartar community that stretches across two continents should also be considered as the greater origin of the decorative leatherwork that was shown by the Soviets at the 1925 Paris exhibition.

Illustration: Official flag of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Although Tatars are still scattered across a large geographical area and many find themselves ethnic minorities within various states and nations, the Republic of Tartarstan now within the boundaries of the Russian Federation, with its capital at Kazan, is a central focus of the Tatar culture, crafts and lifestyle. 

There are a number of online sites dealing with different aspects of Tatar culture and crafts, some of which are listed below in the Further reading links section, along with a list of relevant book titles.

Further reading links:
Official website of the Republic of Tatarstan
About Kazan
Go To Kazan
The Peremech Lounge blog
Volga Tatars: Ural Mountains, Tatars, Tatarstan, Kerä?en Tatars, Na?aybäk, Tatar Language
Kazan: Russian language, Tatar language, Types of inhabited localities in Russia, Tatarstan, Russia, Tatars, Confluence, Volga River, Kazanka, Kazan Kremlin, World Heritage Site
The Volga Tatars in Central Asia, 18th-20th centuries: From diaspora to hegemony?
Tatar Cuisine
Tatar manual: Descriptive grammar and texts with a Tatar-English glossary (Indiana University Publications. Uralic and Altaic series)

The Embroidery of Crete

Illustration: Traditional Cretan embroidery.

The embroidery work produced on the island of Crete has many influences as designated by its strategic trading and cultural position in the eastern Mediterranean, situated as it is between the Asian, African and European mainlands. Particularly significant and important influences within Cretan decorative and craft arts are those of Byzantium, Italy and Turkey.

The traditional richly embroidered work of the Byzantine Empire has been much overlaid by significant innovations from the Italian trading city of Venice, which colonised the island for a considerable period before Crete's eventual incorporation into the Turkish Empire. It was the Turkish domination of the island that helped to bring in fresh new decorative influences and ideas from across the Turkish Empire, but particularly that of India as disseminated through Persia.

Much Cretan embroidery was produced in thick bands, mostly for costume, less so for domestic accessories, though a certain amount of embroidery for the home has always been produced on the island. Often these embroidered bands, which usually bordered the traditional thick and long dresses worn by women, were able to survive for generations as they were sometimes separated from the original costume they were made for, when that costume wore out. These embroidered bands could then be incorporated and integrated into the next generations' costumes. This meant that embroidery was being carefully preserved for future generations, while at the same time new embroidery was being created and innovated with changes and additions being made by each new generation. This tandem effect has made Cretan embroidery all the more richer and diverse over succeeding generations of women and girls.

Illustration: Traditional Cretan embroidery.

The two illustrations shown in this article are both rooted in the same compositional style. They both show a complex scene of various flora and fauna with numerous flowers, leaves and birds. Although one version seems more naturally based while the other is much more geometrically based, it can be seen how relatively close the two design pieces are to each other. It also goes to show how powerful the compositional narrative of flora and fauna is to the embroidered arts on Crete, so that abstract pattern work can still closely follow the same markers produced through a more natural style.

The theme of flowers, trees and birdlife is typical of much Cretan embroidery work and this relatively formal representation, including an almost symmetrical mirror-like effect on much of the pattern work, reflects the elaborate and formal embroidery work produced during the Byzantine period. However, there are also strong links with Persian work and the wider, more florid range of decorative arts that was traditionally part of the Venetian decorative arts. These three examples produce a good analogy as to the complex and constantly overlaid influences that have made up such a significant amount of the decorative arts of Crete.

It is no exaggeration to say that the embroidery work produced over generations by the women of Crete, is a living example and constant reminder of the wealth of decorative art that spans millennia of numerous Mediterranean empires and powerful trading cities. However, this was always linked to the work of generations of anonymous Cretan girls and women who have constantly been adding small, but significant details to the history of an evolving decorative craft that reflects the complex and diverse cultural and political history of this particular Greek island. The influence of these generations of embroiderers should not be seen as insignificant in comparison to the great decorative themes of history. After all, there would have been no embroidery at all if it were not for the generations of patient and skilled workers.

Further reading links:
Completely Crete website
Traditions of Crete
Arolithos - traditional Cretan village
Crete, Dodecanese, Cyclades Embroideries
Greek Islands Embroideries: The Northern Sporades, Epirus and the Ionian Islands, the Cyclades, the Dodecanese, Crete
Crete, Dodecanese, Cyclades Embroideries
Embroideries from Cretan weavings
Embroidery: Traditional Designs, Techniques, and Patterns from All over the World
Embroidered Textiles: A World Guide to Traditional Patterns

Sandra Woock and the Function of Movement

Illustration: Sandra Woock. Backspin.

The textile artwork produced by Sandra Woock is very much open-ended as far as experience and interpretation are concerned. The artist seems intent on both personal observation and understanding originating within the individual, rather than that of the artist.

Although much of the creative interpretation and analysis of artwork is subjective, many artists do try to limit, or at least set some forms of parameter around the interpretation and explanation of their work. Woock however, has decided to rely instead upon the freedom of the individual to evaluate her work as a personal experience. She seems more than happy for the individual to internalise specific feelings, ideas and conclusions that have been arrived at separately by each individual viewer of her work.

Illustration: Sandra Woock. Retro II.

However, there are some universal elements that help to explain some of the factors that link Woock's work. One of those factors is the overpowering imagery that portrays movement and a dynamic energy that seems so much a part of much of her work

The five textile pieces that I have chosen to illustrate this article with clearly show an almost industrial reaction to movement. The expressionist interpretation of the swirling cogs and gears of massive machinery play out their pre-designated pathways, producing nothing tangible or material in itself, but instead function purely for the process of movement itself.

Illustration: Sandra Woock. Spinout.

There is a technical balance found in these pieces that is rare in both fine art painting and more particularly that of textile art. Each textile fragment seems to have found its optimum place within the greater composition, adding its uniqueness to that of the whole. Just as in mechanical machinery, each cog will have its specific task and place within the greater machine, producing efficiency and harmony, so too with Woock's compositions.

There is almost a tangible feeling that there really is some form of physical momentum in the work along with the repetitive lullaby of the relentless but unfailingly constant exercise of the machine.

Illustration: Sandra Woock. Unchained.

These exercises in expressionist composition and styling are effortless in their message, but are equally incredibly complex in both format and composition. They may well give the impression of the internal workings of a giant complex and multi-pieced machine, but they are also the result of a complex and multi-creative artist.

Sandra Woock has exhibited her unique and distinctive style of textile work across the US. She has a comprehensive website where a much larger portfolio of her work can be seen. The link to her website can be found in the reference links section below.

Illustration: Sandra Woock. Pipedreams.

All images were provided with the kind permission of the artist.

Reference links:

Sandra Woock website

Wen Redmond and the Complex Nature of Observation

Illustration: Wen Redmond. Trees Seen, Forest Remembered, 2008.

Of all the images and work produced by textile artist Wen Redmond, I have chosen a sequence of work produced by her over a couple of years. An observational and emotional tie to the theme of the tree links the images together, but it is perhaps her wide ranging and varied working methods that make the link all the more apparent.

Redmond is an artist that has strived to incorporate some particularly personal elements into her work. Photography seems to loom large, but it is the personal nature of observation and an emotional link with the subject that has guided the artist. An artist with a camera is a powerful combination. They tend not to randomly choose subjects that may prove useful at some point in the future, but are guided more to that of  individual elements within the environment, elements that are not always explainable individually, but become segments of a composition that may well be built up over a fairly considerable time period, or could well fit into place at an early stage of the creative process.

Illustration: Wen Redmond. Tree Forms, 2006.

By taking her own photographs and then printing them onto various textile formats, Redmond is able to control a much wider aspect of the emotional attraction that her work instils in the observer. Although only part of the process, it is an intrinsically important one. The layers of painting, dyeing, and stitching overlap the initial observation, helping to guide and support the composition so that many more aspects of Redmond's bond with the subject matter, becomes apparent.

Although abstract in nature, the narrative in each of these examples of Redmond's work is still very much linked to that of the real world around us. That the artist has chosen to show us much more and at a number of different levels, including colour, texture and dimension, allows us a glimpse at least of the thought processes, both analytical and emotional, that powered that initial photo opportunity, an opportunity that is at the root or foundation of the complex composition that has been built around and over that initial creative judgement.

Illustration: Wen Redmond. Winters Patience, 2008.

One of the most important aspects of Redmond's work is the question of observation. What is observation? How many aspects or plains of thought are involved when looking at a tree for example? By observing the complex nature of Redmond's work, we are made aware that what we observe around us contains a whole raft of layers full of meaning and context. We are aware that we are observing a tree, but so much more information is gathered at the same time. We are usually unaware of the depth of our understanding of one initial focus of our eyesight, but Redmond shows us through her work, the process that is continually being played out between observation and evaluation. Our eyes may well be open, but are we really seeing?

Illustration: Wen Redmond. Turn Around Tree, 2006.

This is one of the fundamental tools of any artist, allowing us to see what we really see. That Redmond has successfully achieved this aspect through the often difficult medium of textiles is doubly in need of praise. Her work will allow us to reach levels in which we can observe her understanding of observation.

Wen Redmond has exhibited her work since the mid-1980s and received various awards along the way. She has a comprehensive website where much more of her work can be seen and she also maintains a regular blog where those interested in her creative and thought processes, can follow her work.

Illustration: Wen Redmond. Root of the Matter. 2008.

All images provided with permission of the artist.

Reference links:

Wen Redmond website 

Wen Redmond blog

Carol Taylor and The Harmony of Nature

 Illustration: Carol Taylor. Bountiful quilt.

Carol Taylor is a quilter of international renown who has created nearly five hundred uniquely different quilts in her short career as an art quilter, which started in 1993. Taylor works in such a wide and varied theme and format, that choosing a small number of quilts in order to illustrate this article is very hard. However, I have decided to choose three quilts from her large body of work that I am both intrigued by and admire. These three quilts may well not be the first choice of many when considering the typical character of Taylor's work, but they do seem to highlight the balanced maturity that she has achieved with her departure from the traditional structure of the quilting medium.

Illustration: Carol Taylor. Bountiful quilt (detail).

The three quilts that I have chosen deal with the theme of nature in a semi-abstract manner. Using harmonious, balanced and sympathetic colour tones, along with the natural and effortless curve and sway that is such an intrinsic part of the world of the flora and fauna of the planet, Taylor has set an agenda whereby the marriage of the many elements that make up nature have come together in a frozen, magnified and personal moment in time. These are moments that revel in the many hues and tones of colour and texture that make up the natural world. However, although her colour and texture tones, as well as her choice of composition, are both bold and positive in their choices, there remains a definite element of fragility in the work, a fragility that is often lost when nature is observed and transposed using textiles as a medium, particularly when using the often rigid framework of the quilt.

Illustration: Carol Taylor. September Song quilt.

Much of the success of these three quilts lies with Taylor's ability to break out of the working framework of the quilt. Her sensitive interpretations of nature seem to delicately lie on top of the quilted background, as if they had been momentarily and spontaneously placed there, rather than stitched to the background. Because the foreground of each of these compositions is allowed to roam free, as if to find its own compositional harmony, the pieces are in no way forced or artificial and therefore cannot be contained within the usual heading of pattern or even decoration.

Illustration: Carol Taylor. September Song quilt (detail.

These quilt work pieces have been produced by an expert in the field. Someone who has a deep, intrinsic and sensitive outlook and understanding towards colour, tone and the harmony that can be achieved through composition, as well as a deep understanding of the quilting process itself. Taylor's work may well be considered to be studies in both colour and texture, but they are acute studies and that's what makes them work well beyond the remit of quilting, into the realms of fine art itself.

Illustration: Carol Taylor. Silhouettes quilt.

Carol Taylor's work has been seen in numerous exhibitions across the US and into Europe, we are lucky enough to have seen some of her work at exhibition in Birmingham here in the UK. She has gained numerous prizes and commendations, as well as many articles and features in publications for her outstanding contribution towards quilting, and indeed the creative process as a whole.

Illustration: Carol Taylor. Silhouettes quilt (detail).

Taylor has a very comprehensive website, which features much more of her work than I have shown here, and contains details about exhibitions and publications that also feature her work. There is also information concerning her teaching workshops, which she regularly holds. The website can be found here.

All images were used with the kind permission of the artist.

Reference links:
Carol Taylor Website