kantha stitching

A vase of Tulips

| janethaigh

The classic 17th century Dutch paintings of fabulous flowers, but this arrangement probably did not really exist. The modest bunch above, features early spring Daffodils, with mid to late spring Tulips and Irises, and yes they can all grow in the same season, but the give away is the fully formed damask rose seen only in mid summer. It demonstrates how the artists worked: each flower was a sample of horticultural expertise, painted when it came into season, then there was a wait for the next bloom to come to perfection.

So last year when I was commissioned to embroider ” a vase of colourful tulips” during my Hidcote exhibition, and I realised that tulips would not be in season in October when I could start working on it. I decided to find tulips within my own work and remembered a very old sketch book with a vase of drooping purple tulips ( circa 1980). Always keep your sketch books!

Above is the inspiration behind my latest commission. Below shows my studio wall with earlier flowers against stitched Kantha skies…with a sample of different fabrics to act as the background

Now I needed to choose some colourful tulips to put in a vase. I started with my sketch, below, of some striped tulips that I have used many times for different projects. It was at this point that I sent images of ideas and sampled fabrics to the buyer – for any feedback then with her agreement I went ahead and started on the actual panel. But with the stipulation of no other sighting until the piece is finished !!!!!!!!

Here is the drawing used again for the front cover of one of my embroidery books, and on a detail of Tulipomania now used for a print in my shop,

Below, designs for counted thread canvas work woollen embroideries – a good drawing goes a long way!

Now to flower arrangement – I am not good at arranging flowers and I really have to work hard at this aspect of my flower embroideries. I edited the tulips from the original early drawing as I did not have the time or space to stitch 10 flower heads in different colours and shapes. Below are 2 of many early drawings graphed for transference to the stitched ground.

And to colour, the tulips need to work with the sky, and the sky is all organised, tacked ready for quilting between stitching the tulips.

To enable me to gauge the placement of colours against the already glowing sky, I wrapped some silk ribbons to act as flower heads, found the silk threads to match them and took colour notifications – if only things work out so simply in reality – but I was starting this bouquet from scratch.

Drawing, redrawing, sampling and stitching one by one each tulip head is made,

Below show older drawings in my current sketch book; plus my friend Lizzie Butler’s birthday card to me – I just copied it straight onto silk organza – with her permission of course!

When enough heads are made I start to arrange them on the background….and then the leaves. I just love to draw tulip leaves and their colours are so soft and gentle. I start with cut linen shapes from my original drawing in order to stitch over them to give definition; getting there.

And last the vase – which is another story – believe me!

I truly enjoyed this work, creating spring flowers in the depth of winter, but it was a challenge as you can see. It is now safely framed and given straight into the hands of the son of the person who commissioned me; he had seen my work at the exhibition and talked about it…..and he has promised to send me a photo of the framed work in situ in the new house.

Rainbow Flowers – after winifred?

| janethaigh
Here I am on my birthday in July with the posy that would change my work

For several months, since March, I have been working on a new stitched sky – an image combining 2 photographs, the first of a wonderful brooding grey sky with different shades either side of the bow, and another of Denney Island in leaf in the middle of the Severn Estuary, they were made during different spring-times and are rare sights so I wanted to capture them.

  • unusual green spring growth on Denney Island
  • first rainbow photograph over salt marsh
  • fabrics layout 1
  • fabric layout 2

As usual I got going quickly and decided to work by drawing onto photographs of the emerging work using photoshop…well it partly worked – but really it is always better for me to work directly from my drawn ideas. Nevertheless I quickly layered fine silk chiffons onto the sky and sea areas adding several layers of shot cottons and a brilliant green silk georgette for the salt marsh – to enhance the curious green foliage on Denney Island

directional stitch sample + photo
phtoshopped image for stitching
secured silk layers – ready to start
silk ‘Kantha’ stitching the sky
and this is where I just stopped……. …….

I worked on the piece for several weeks, well 2 months an and off, putting in and pulling out the rainbow – it proved hard to get it to glow but not become a garish boring band of colours: I wanted this rainbow to be part of the sky, not sit on top of it.

I was working at the same time on my patchwork room so needed some distraction from the finishing -off chores. BUT I was getting no-where with this rainbow , so put it away and started reading instead.

my favourite read was “My Name is Red” by Orhan Pamuk, as it is at heart a treatise on how “Persian” book illustrations where developed by different studios of specialised artists, and how trade with the West, notably Venice, brought in the whole notion of realistic images using perspective and observation of the real people and landscapes. I found several books in my shelves and spent hours just enjoying the exuberance of the work: I was definitely on the side of the symbolic flat pattern making of the illustrators – I realised that I was too hung up showing what I saw in the natural world not what I see in my head. I decided to add some decorative fabrics to my work and searched for some symbolic

  • borders of flowers enhance the simple horse and rider
  • it needed something to pierce the horizon i drew out our wonky bird – feeders that do overlook the view!
  • I found my old studies of Irises – the symbol of the rainbow in Greek mythology…..
  • I tried my own fabric frames – the island no longer needed!

I stated to realise that I could rekindle the rainbow embroidery with extra patterned fabrics – my old silk fabrics were dragged out and I found my drawings of Iris for the Flora Embroideries, she was the messenger of the Greek gods and of course the rainbow……things started to feel interesting again.

THEN I received this lovely posy on my birthday from my friend and colleague Jane-Marie Mahy she had bought it at Court House Farm and I drew it.

My Birthday posy from Court House Farm with quick colour drawing

During my break from the stitched sky, I also bought a book about the wonderful paintings by Winifred Nicholson, “Liberation of Colour” – initially because of her interest in painting colour prisms, but it was the flowers and the looseness fo the paint that I admired most

Winifred Nicholson Flower Vase
Winifred Nicholson sea scape

and then it was so obvious what I had to do with the rainbow sky – embroider the posy and applique it onto the Kantha stitched sky….easy peasy – not!

developing the posy painted and dyed ground from Photograph of
posy painting in position against rainbow

above the initial embroidery coloured ground is painted onto a fine cotton fabric, checked for size before continuing to be stitched into position onto the stitched sky.

the half stitched flowers pinned for applique
considering more borders before final embroidery

And here it is – the finished work ” After Winifred” stretched and about to be bound with velvet ribbon and off to the printers to make an edition of giclee prints for sale in time for Court House Farm’s open garden event, Art in the Garden where I am exhibiting and talking about the making of the Kantha Stitched Skies for The Portishead Art Festival. www.portisheadartsfestival.co.uk.