photo: sketchbook from 2018 - my sketchbooks have been neglected in recent weeks but I look forward to spending time with them again soon.
Hello Everyone,
It’s early in the morning and I can hear people arriving and setting up for today’s big Christmas market in town. Just downstairs from me is a pop-up Santa’s grotto. It arrived yesterday, in the rain. I was concerned about this yesterday evening and kept looking out the window to see if it had blown away in the windy weather. Still here. It’s calmer today. I could not have imagined a year ago, nursing my broken foot, I would be here in town, looking forward to a day of bustle and people watching.
I hope you have been keeping well over the past few weeks. I had to take a break from writing last Sunday as it had been such a busy time. It’s continued to be super-busy, as it often is at this time of year and I am not for a moment complaining. I am extremely grateful to be busy and am humbled, in a deep and joyful way, to have my work appreciated.
This evening I will update my shop with a selection of tiny paintings and this will be my final pre-Christmas collection (update is at 7pm UK time).
To complete the year I will be having a special archive sale on December 27th - a sale of artworks from the past and a few other ‘random’ things, different from the usual, one-offs and so on. But I will remind you of this later.
I was pleased to be able to show and sell (thank you) a final collection of embroidery pieces this past Wednesday. In particular, I was happy to make time to stitch a piece with a Christmas mood - though it is, I hope, more generally wintry than absolutely Christmassy - I would like to think this piece may be enjoyed year round, of course.
Photo: The Holly Tree - embroidery artwork (2023)
The Holly Tree is inspired by the San Day carol, or Holly Tree carol, which I believe originated as a folk song in Cornwall.
Now the holly bears a berry as white as the milk,
And Mary bore Jesus, all wrapped up in silk,
And Mary bore Jesus Christ our Saviour for to be,
And the first tree in the greenwood, it was the holly.
Holly! Holly!
And the first tree in the greenwood, it was the holly!
Goes the first verse…. You might wonder why the berry is white - surely holly berries are red? I believe this refers to the cycle of the berry as it grows. There is blossom, green berry, red and then black as the berry withers - though the carol mixes the cycle up so that the berry is white, then green, then black then red. Correct me if I am wrong in all of this!
Anyway, I enjoyed stitching this piece very much. It continues a tradition for me (just as the carol is a song of long tradition and not just for Christmas). I must have started stitching tiny whole figures with a folk-like appearance at least twelve years ago. I’ve been looking back but cannot honestly remember the first one. All I know is I was keen to stitch a full figure and one less grand than the many regal or ethereal portraits I often create. I wanted to draw ordinary yet extraordinary folk, inspired by painters like Bruegel, storybook illustrations, old manuscripts and cross stitch samplers. All of these influences have somehow come together over time to allow me to create my own folk.
Photo: a smaller folk figure piece made in 2014
photo: a spring-themed piece I stitched in 2016 - this has a more abbreviated quality which I quite like - look closely to see the tiny faces in pale blue on the right-hand skirt - that must have been tricky on the eyes!
Photo: a piece titled Evergreen from 2018 - this composition of two figures by a tree is something I have reinvented several times. Of course, the most obvious root to this idea would be Adam and Eve by the tree of life as seen in many old samplers and drawings. Here I use the idea but make it into a woman’s world of storytelling. I really like the trees and tiny supporting cast behind the figures in this piece.
I look forward to creating a variety of embroidery pieces in the new year. I am keeping an open mind as to what or who will emerge in the tiny stitches. Quite possibly I will continue on my thread of folk-inspired as well as regal portraits….
**
A few small stories
You’re branching out, a man’s voice says and I turn my head to see. I am stood in a supermarket queue with a tote bag of twigs on my shoulder - I had forgotten for a moment about the twigs. I apologise for any annoyance caused. The man smiles at me, just my little joke he says - branching out - just my little joke…. Truth is, walking around shops with a bag of twigs on your shoulder is a good move, so I have discovered. People give you room, or else they might get snagged. At this time of year it seems people can get a little too close, pushing around others. So yes my suggestion is, of course, carry a bag of twigs on your shoulder. But remember this will limit how much shopping you can do - maybe not such a bad thing?
And why was I carrying a bag of twigs? I had gone for a walk in the park and had suffered a sudden urge to gather. It happens to us all, I am sure. I had not intended to collect branches or make any particular twig pilgrimage. It just came over me, seeing them there in the sunshine and knowing I might need them for decorating. For any reason, none exactly. I found my bag quickly full and then remembered I needed to buy groceries. But the young woman who was pushing a pram gave me such a lovely smile as she saw me beneath the beech trees, choosing twigs, I could not have found the heart to empty my bag. All these small gatherings happen for good reasons.
**
In the church yard a group of young people are making a small drama. There’s a camera on a tripod and a young man in a tailed coat stepping about between grave stones. Several people are directing, it seems, but it’s not clear to me what they are performing, just some student short film, of a kind never to be seen except by peers. I note the homemade top hat on the principle character and give extra marks for such effort. It can’t be easy to find a top hat just waiting in a charity shop so making one out of black card seems the next best thing.
Meanwhile, two men get out of a white van and ask me for directions to the church. I pause, wondering how it is possible they have not seen the huge stone Anglo Saxon church just behind us. It turns out they are looking not for the church itself but someone in charge of the church. I want to say: Well he’s always at home just go inside - but I don’t think my glib comment would help these gentlemen who really just want to unload a van full of Christmas trees.
**
Thanks always for reading here, for your kind comments (always read - I need to catch up with replies). If you would like to support my writing by purchasing a coffee that would be very welcome - and thanks to everyone for your past support, it really does help.
Always such beautiful stitching. So close and delicate. I hope they sell for you.
Wishing you a very happy Christmas in your new home Cathy.
Your little embroidery folk figures are exquisite, I particularly love the the dress detail in your Evergreen piece, so beautiful . x