Skip to main content

Book Review: The Art of Embroidery

Staying on the theme of embroidery, I thought that I would share two of my current favourite books.

The first time that I heard about Annemieke Mein was when I discovered her book, "The Art of Annemieke Mein: Wildlife Artist in Textiles", first published in 1992 by Penguin Books Australia, Ltd.. An Australian of Dutch descent, Annemieke is an artist who uses textiles as her medium to portray her passion for the Australian wildlife. To create her realistic, sculptural wildlife tapestries, she uses an exciting combination and variety of fabrics,  paints, threads, beads, etc..

Cover of "The Art of Annemieke Mein: Wildlife Artist in Textiles".

Her work is amazing in it's realistic portrayal of elements of nature. Her skill with a fine tuned needle and thread is extraordinary.
Here you can see how she combines sculptural relief with hand applique, machine threadwork and painting.
Aside from providing some serious inspiration and an exploration of the possibilities of needle and thread, the book is a beautiful coffee table book that provides an exciting excursion into a gallery of fibre art, which is in fact, art, whose medium happens to be fibre instead of canvas and paint.

*****

The other book that is currently on my "favourite things" list, is "The Art & Embroidery of Jane Hall." published in 2007 by Search Press Limited, Turnbridge Wells, Kent,  UK.  Jane is another needlework artist whose passion for nature and wildlife expresses itself through needle and thread.

Her work is a little more ethereal and has a lighter touch then that of Annemieke Mein. Silks, organza's, gold and gossamer threads play a strong role in her work and bring a graceful, delicate beauty to her pieces. Her work, also sculptural, focuses on detailed and intricate embroidery. Her accompanying narrative to the work is thoughtful, almost poetic and lyrical. A lovely read anytime you need a little inspirational lift.
Cover of "The Art & Embroidery of Jane Hall."

Remember those cicadas that I wrote about in my last blog? Maybe it's time to take them up a notch into the world of sculptural relief!

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 25, 2014 at 7:30 PM

    Thanks for sharing the Annemieke Mein book. I haven't seen that one. It looks lovely! I too, have the Jane Hall book. It's exquisite! Happy Spring (even if Spring hasn't come to Chicago yet)!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Seams FrenchMarch 26, 2014 at 7:06 PM

    I'm not sure if the Annemieke Mein book is still in print, but if you can find it, it would be worth getting. One of my favourite quilting/stitching books ever. Happy spring to Chicago!

    ReplyDelete
  3. monika@mysweetprairie.caApril 1, 2014 at 10:13 PM

    mmmm hmmm LOVE them. I do see the A.M. book in bookstores! Reflections of nature looks lovely. SO nice. : )

    p.s. thanks for saying hi : )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Seams FrenchApril 3, 2014 at 3:07 PM

      Thanks for letting me know that the Annemieke Mein book is still available. Her technique is well worth studying. Hope spring arrives very soon in the prairies. Thanks for the visit.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Boutis: Traditional French Needlework

" Piqûre de Marseilles" or "Boutis" is a traditional French hand stitched and corded needlework technique, which uses embroidery stitches to create intricate channels that will later be stuffed with yarn, thereby creating a raised design with three layers. It's origins, and it's name, can be traced to the port of Marseilles in southern France to the 15th century. Traditional boutis was a technique invented to embellish otherwise plain white cotton with intricately patterned channels that would later be stuffed with a plump white yarn to give it relief. The resulting corded whitework created an elegant, embossed textile that was much sought after. Not only was it aesthetically appealing, but it also provided warmth and absorbency, so could be used for bed coverings, toilette linens (like towels), clothing items, home decor, etc. The first two photos below are from the collection of Mme. Monique Alphand, a well known French expert and collector of antique t...
3 comments
Read more

The Tristan Quilt at the V & A

On our recent visit to London, one of our first stops was at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Established in 1852 and named for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who were strong supporters of it's founding, the museum is a facility that is both educational and cultural, and open to everyone. It is here, in the "Medieval and Renaissance Gallery" that I finally saw the "Tristan Quilt", one of the earliest surviving quilts showing stuffed, corded whitework (known as "Boutis" in France). A Chihuly chandelier hangs in the grand lobby of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Medieval needlework was often a medium for storytelling. It told of wars and conquests, heros and warriors, love won and love lost, etc. Myths and legends were recorded for future generations through the nimble fingers of the artisans. Through the intricately depicted figures stitched into the Tristan Quilt, this classic Norman legend follows Tristan into battle...
6 comments
Read more

Blocking and Squaring Boutis

The door of her cage has been opened. She is free to fly off and find her destiny. After many months of hand stitching and then many more months of cording, my little "colibri" is ready to set off on her own. As this was my first attempt at designing so large a boutis piece, it was a learning curve. All of the tight swirls, curls and circles are a great deal more difficult and time consuming to cord then are the longer more gentle channels. Maintaining an even tension is absolutely necessary throughout the process, so patience comes in very handy when doing the cording. The process of stitching and cording a work of boutis subjects the fabric to a lot of handling and manipulation that can distort the design. For this reason, once all of the stitching and cording is complete, the boutis must be washed, blocked and squared.  The first step of washing is to remove all traces of the marking pencil as well as any soil that may have collected over the many months of working w...
17 comments
Read more