I was asked recently if I would put up some pictures of my past embroideries -- and I plan on it, though my life is still in boxes due to having moved to much smaller digs over the last two years. (I still long for that studio where I can spread out every thing -- the floor loom, a wall of wools, linen threads, the collected fabrics, the inherited pieces of embroidered linens, petticoats, blouses, the damask table cloths, niddy noddy, warping board, the containers of shuttles, lease sticks, and warping reeds. One day...). I shall be excavating boxes this weekend and hopefully I can find my stored pieces -- various birds, a unicorn, samplers, and I think I still have the samurais, and some needle lace trials.
In the meantime -- I so want to create an embroidery piece based on these lovely illustrations by Guatemalan artist Carlos Merida, who died in 1984. This was children's book, The Bird, written by Janette Lowrey and published in 1947. You can see all of these charming illustrations here at 50Watts. I love the robust and cheerful colors, and the way these larger illustrations remind me of the embroidery on Mexican dresses with richly patterned birds and flowers.
