Artistically Based

Our Branch exhibition will be held in October. The title of the exhibition is Artistically Based. Exhibits can be based on the work of any artist, famous, unknown, living or dead or even your own artwork. I’ve known about the exhibition for months and known all along what I would like to do. It is a project that I had in mind since January 2008 when I saw an exhibition of Seventeenth-century Dutch portraits at Mauritshuis in The Hague. It was a stunning exhibition of paintings including many by Rembrandt and Frans Hals.

We had time to view some of the permanent collection and there was one painting I was particularly keen to see. I have always thought Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring to be hauntingly beautiful. The way she glances over her shoulder as if you have just walked into the room and surprised her is very engaging, as is the expression in her eyes. Her mouth is beautiful, even sensual. I have read that Vermeer is a master of light and this is evident no more so than in that splendid pearl and the reflection of her collar on its underside. I’ve seen many, many prints of this painting but as I have found with other works of art, they pale into insignificance compared to the original.

I did buy a print from the gallery’s gift shop and I have often thought that I would like to do my own Girl with a Pearl Earring in embroidery. Now I know that it will not come close to Vermeer’s masterpiece and would not dare to imagine I could do an exact copy but I want to make it as like the original as I possibly can. I’ve thought and worried over how to go about it, how much detail to include and what technique to use. I considered a Japanese embroidery technique called short stitch holding but I have not reached this phase yet and only know in theory how it is done. I thought about long and short stitch. This is a tried and tested method for stitching faces but I’m not very skilled at it. The one time I used it, on my Flutterbies, it took three attempts to obtain a standard I was satisfied with and that was a much simpler design. I really want to do this but fear of failure has prevented me from starting! Now I fear that I have not got enough time to actually complete it, I’ve decided I must at least try. I will probably never believe that I can do a good enough job, so if I don’t take the plunge it will never get done. It may not be perfect, I may not finish it in time for the exhibition but I AM going to try!

On Sunday I prepared my fabric, framed up and stitch transferred the design. I’ve taken the first step.


6 hours

Happy New Year

I would not normally post twice in the same day, but this topic is completely unrelated to my earlier post.

I love this time of year. I enjoy all the seasons and which ever we are in becomes my current favourite but I think that an Indian summer, such as we are enjoying now, is definitely the best of British weather. I always feel a tingle of excitement when autumn is approaching but it has only recently occurred to why that is.

In England, the school year begins in September. We never moved house, my parents never divorced and no one close to me died (one Grandfather died before I was born, the other died when I was 5 and I barely remember him) so a new school year, a new teacher or moving to a different school were ‘big’ events in my life and they all took place in September. In my hometown the annual funfair is held on the first Monday and Tuesday after the first Sunday after the 1st of September. During the day we would go shopping for new clothes and school supplies; in the evening we would go to the fair. The last few days of the summer holiday were very exciting and spilled over into the first day of the new year.

After leaving education I worked for 15 years at a school examinations board. Our work was completely tied in with the academic year. The work was very cyclical and the cycle began in September. Every year I would work hard at the beginning of the month typesetting a report on that years examinations, then take a holiday during a brief period of calm before launching into a fresh year.

September is also my birth month. I feel a small thrill of excitement on the equinoxes and the solstices, and never more so than when the autumnal equinox falls on my birthday as it does today.

The new year may begin on January 1 according to the Gregorian calendar but on my personal calendar this is New Years Day.

I’ve got two new projects to start my new year and some exciting things planned, starting with a Japanese Beading Class this weekend.

Happy Equinox. Happy New Year.

A Needle in a Haystack

Over the weekend I did the finishing on Calm Flow as described before.

I don’t know if is was because of the different stitching techniques employed, or because I was more aware of the thread twisting but I had far fewer loops to secure than on Phase I. Clam Flow has been the most enjoyable project. I really like couching techniques and found couching the rows of beads very relaxing. Overcrowding my stitches, or in this case beads, remains a fault in my technique. I still try to squeeze in as many as will fit, rather than giving them space to breath. This applies equally to the couched lines and the random stitched beads.


Another 'difficulty' I had with this project was working with black beads on black back ground. It doesn’t seem to matter what medium you are working with, black on black is very difficult to see. In poor light you can’t see what you are doing but bright light just bounces off the beads creating glare.

In this picture I have pushed a pin through from the underside to mark the position of a thread loop. I have also pushed the needle up from the underside. They are near impossible to see against the black beads. Most of the time I know where I am expecting the needle to emerge but sometimes my spatial awareness is rather off and I had to locate the needle by carefully running my hand over the surface.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

I will make this up into a folio but I want to show it to my tutor before I do the finishing.

Happy Stitching

Calm Flow, finished

I only had a very short time for stitching this morning but I was determined to finish Calm Flow today and finish it I did.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Usually I savour the final few stitches, linger over them. This morning I didn't have time to linger. If I was going to finish Calm Flow today, I needed to get on with it. So I got on with it.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

As I was driving to work, I felt very dissatisfied. When I have spent time with a project and enjoyed it, as I have this one, the final stitches are special. This was different. I did not feel that I had honoured our final moments together. All the beads were stitched in place but I felt that I had deprived myself of something special.

Oh how weird, earlier this evening I heard someone quote a line from a film. Whilst I was typing this post the film 'Enter the Dragon' is on the television and I heard the same line "It is like a finger pointing at the moon. Don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory." I concentrated on the finger. I missed the heavenly glory.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Fortunately the moon will rise again. Tomorrow I will spend my 'stitching time' savouring the beauty of Calm Flow and the time we have spent together.

Happy Stitching

15 Minutes and 24 Beads

This week Mary blogged about 15 Minutes and Three More Stitches. Mary is trying to stick to a rigid schedule of 15 minutes stitching a day where as I have set myself a more flexible target of doing 'some' stitching each morning before I leave for work. Mary is using a timer and stops stitching when the alarm sounds, even if there are only 3 stitches remaining. I am not the disciplined, I am always tempted to add one more bead and then one more!

Making time for a little stitching every morning is really moving this project along and the end is so close I can taste it.

When the clock told me it was time to stop stitching this morning this was all that was left to do.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

If I had only three stitches remaining, I could not have brought myself to stop. I estimate there are 24 more beads needed to complete this.
will I finish tomorrow?

Happy Stitching

What Lies Beneath

In the days leading up to the wedding I tried to maintain my schedule of doing a little stitching before leaving for work. On one level, it keeps my current stitching project moving along but more importantly, stitching time is me time. It sounds terribly indulgent, but it has become very important for me to take a little time each day that is purely about what I want to be doing.

With Jon leaving early for work I was able to fit in an hour stitching some mornings and made good progress. When I finally packed away my frame in the big clean up before the wedding I had completed the couching. Things like this are important to me. I would have been uncomfortable putting my stitching away if I had not reached a satisfactory break point.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

It was more than a week before I set up my frame again but for once I didn't miss it too much ;-)

The spaces between the couched lines are filled with Tataki-ume - one or two beads placed at different angles without space between the them. RANDOM!

My brain is not wired for random; when faced with random it tries to establish a method.

My first 'method' involved stitching 2 beads into the center, then stitching two more beads at an angle (not quite 90 degrees) to the first two beads. I continued to stitch 2 beads at an angle to the previous beads when ever possible and in filling with single beads where two would not fit. This method seemed to work well, although I ended up stitching with 1 bead, rather than 2, more often than not.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

My second 'method' was to stitch six beads around a single central bead to form a hexagon, then to stitch more 'hexagons' around the original. This began well but I very soon found it difficult to work out where the next hexagon should be and could see regular rows developing.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

My third 'method' was not really a method at all. While stitching, I envisaged my beads floating along in a stream. In many places the stream flows smoothly and the beads align themselves with the flow; orderly, regular and calm. In other places there are rocks below the surface that alter the coarse of the stream creating eddies and ripples. In this disturbed water the beads struggle to maintain their order, occasionally new patterns emerge and then disintegrating back into chaos. This is random. I thought these thoughts and stitched the beads were I felt they needed to be. Very zen, don't you think.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Well, I think that it worked! Maybe, finally I'm beginning to understand random.

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

Happy Stitching

I Would Like to Thank ...

This may sound a little like an Oscar’s speech, but in my final post about the wedding and honeymoon, I would like to acknowledge and thank those who contributed so much to making the whole occasion so special for Jon and I. (My next post will be stitch related, I promise.)

Hair by Euphoric about Hair
Many years ago, Laura told me she “just loves being a hairdresser” and it is apparent that that is still true today. Add to that her skill and knowledge and it is obvious she has earned her status as one of Oxford's top hairdressers and Master Craftsman.


Nails by Forever Young
Elena did so much more than my manicure and not just for the wedding itself. Regular pampering with Elena began as an occasional treat to myself but has become a regular indulgence that I would be loath to give up.


I felt beautiful on my wedding day and I would particularly like to thank Laura and Elena for helping me to feel that way about myself.

Wardrobe by The Bridal Box
I expected choosing my outfit to be a long and difficult process. Dusanka was recommended to me and her boutique was the first place I tried. As I didn't know what I wanted to wear we chatted about what I didn’t want before Dusanka collected together a selection of gowns. I tried on several very beautiful dresses but liked none more than the very first dress she had suggested. Shopping for clothes is not one of my favourite pass times but with Dusanka’s guiding me, choosing my dress and shoes was pure pleasure.


Stationary by White Fire Brides
Choosing the invitations was a long and difficult process. Jon had very definite ideas about what he wanted and it was not to be found in any High Street stationers. Eventually I contacted the Oxford Calligraphers Society, who put me in touch with Lynn. Lynn came up with a designed for hand made stationary completely satisfied Jon’s requirement for something simple but with a personal touch.



Flowers by Faith in Flowers
I'd searched online for a local florist. After viewing dozens of uninspiring websites, I finally found one that seemed to offer something more personal. From our first meeting, I was confident that Melanie was the right choice. We came up with a design for the table floral arrangements at that first meeting, but when we met at the venue to finalise arrangements it was apparent that they were not right. Completely unfazed, Melanie quickly assessed the room and came up with stunning new ideas.



Transport by Nostalgia Travel
We saw a vintage bus in town one day. I said to Jon, “I think we should hire that for the wedding.” Jon said, “I agree.” We don’t usually make decisions that easily! The bus is beautifully maintained, the driver was friendly and professional and travelling to the wedding with our guests was so much fun.


Catering by The Chequers Inn
We wanted the reception to be in the village so that we could walk home after the meal and continue the celebrations in the garden. We also wanted to support the village restaurant but more than this, we knew that Andy is an exceptional chef and would prepare a wedding feast to remember. He and his staff exceeded our expectations.





Cake by My Aunty Ann
I was delighted when Ann offered to make our wedding cake; her cakes are delicious. Ann designed the cake and I was so pleased when I saw how pretty it was. Thank you very much Ann.


The cake stand and vase are the same ones used at my parents wedding. They belonged to my Grandfather who was a master baker. Like Jon and I, Mum and Dad had a simple wedding but Granddad made them wedding cake that could have been the centerpiece of any society wedding. Four tiers, iced in the latest fashion on his silver-plated, mirror topped stand and topped with a vase of carnations and cascading fronds of asparagus fern. It must have looked spectacular. I believe it was the last wedding cake he made, as he died just a few weeks after their wedding.

The fact our wedding day was so perfect is down to these wonderful people. They didn’t simply do what was necessary; they each went that extra mile. It wasn’t their wedding day, they had no vested interest but because they care so passionately about what they do, they wanted to do their very best for us. Thank you all so much.