Textile travels - in the UK and The Netherlands

The little rabbit sat at the door with her pillow on her knee, and the bobbins hanging down.

From Little Grey Rabbit Makes Lace by Alison Uttley, 1950

 

The Eastern Region Textile Forum members’ exhibition at the Courtyard Arts Gallery in Hertford made for an interesting trip out. A small but sweet gallery space with friendly attendant. Members had produced work on the theme of A Sense of Place with an exciting diversity of responses. It was fascinating to see the different techniques used as well as the variety in locations chosen. 

I particularly liked Lucy Sugden’s piece Jungle Rain inspired by time she spent living in Indonesia.

 

I had tried to get to Amsterdam before Christmas to see my son who is working out there. I’d jumped through all the COVID related hoops, just got my negative LFT result and was joining the check in queue when they cancelled the flight due to fog which was heartbreaking. I was therefore trying not to get my hopes up too much about the re-arranged trip at the beginning of this month but somewhat to my surprise everything went smoothly and I was transported from the station to my son's apartment on the parcel rack of his bike, in very Dutch style!

We had a lovely time mooching around the bookshops and fingering the yarns at Stephen and Penelope in the Old Centre. They have a fantastic range of natural fibres – I particularly loved the nettle and wool sock yarn by Danish firm Onion. Perhaps surprisingly, in view of the nettle content, it is beautifully soft and not itchy at all. They stock the locally dyed Undercover Otter yarns which come in mostly variegated colours with quirky names – the 100% superwash merino is wonderfully smooth and silky to touch. Of course I came away with a ‘souvenir stash’ of assorted yarns and a rather random unicorn.

 

Den Haag is just an hour away by train and so we went to visit the Mauritshuis as I wanted to see The Girl with the Pearl Earring. She is of course so beautiful and fascinating but I really fell in love with the unknown man painted by Estonia artist Michel Sittow. The girl with the pearl meets your eye from wherever in the room you are standing but Sittow’s man is so deep in thought that you could do star jumps in front of him and he would not notice. There was a good reminder of the beauty of lace to be seen in the portrait of Catharina Belgica by Jan Anthonisz van Ravesteyn from 1617. 

 

My son wanted to go to the Kunstmuseum to see the Paula Rego exhibition. It was interesting work but you do need to be feeling fairly robust to see it. I enjoyed their Grayson Perry exhibition more, especially his densely embroidered coat.

 

A final indulgence before flying home was a visit to McLennan’s Pure Silk shop. This is a fabulous treat for anyone who loves fabrics, with a really friendly and informative owner. It is always a pleasure to talk to someone who is knowledgeable about their stock and she was proud of her shop and talked about the person who had done the shop sign for her, with real gold lettering; a craftsmanship and attention to detail that is sadly lacking in most modern high streets. I was particularly fascinated by the Chinese mud silk she stocks from Guangdong Province. To make this the silk is first soaked in the juice of yam, dried in the sun then coated in mud from the subtropical river delta. The iron compounds in the mud react with the tannins from the yam juice producing a silk with a glossy black face to it. This is valued for its water resistant properties and durability. I only bought a small sample piece but it is a real joy to handle and one day I should love to go and see it being made.

 

I had forgotten how much I love Ely as recently I’ve only had occasional glimpses of the cathedral when passing through on the train, so it was good to be in the Cathedral Centre for a recent Royal School of Needlework whitework day. It was a fascinating day among congenial people. 

 

Whitework waterlily - Helen Jones

We took the opportunity at lunchtime to see the 12 panels of the Litany of Loreto embroideries designed by the Italian graphic designer Ezio Anichini which are fabulous examples of stitching to the very highest standards. I loved the way they were able to demonstrate the diaphanous nature of the virgin’s veil. 

 

The Litany of Loreto; Virgo Fidelis (Virgin most Faithful)

I also had a quick gallop round the stained glass museum and enjoyed the characterful bird in a medieval bird ‘quarry’ and his Victorian counterpart.

Bird carrying rosary, Unknown English artist bird quarry 15th century

 

 

 

 

Bird Quarry c. 1850 James Powell

 

 

 
They inspired some small embroidered versions of my own.

I enjoy Saima Kaur’s joyfully idiosyncratic embroideries that draw upon her Punjabi heritage and have a similar quirkiness,with that combination of the classic with the contemporary. I treated myself to one of her works 'Cloudbird' which is currently perched on my piano;

 

 

Bobbins for March;

This lovely pair of bobbins, like those I showed last month, are made by Chris Parsons of The Bobbin Shop.  These however are hand painted on a glossy black background which makes the white of the snowdrop and foxglove really stand out. The snowdrops in my garden are coming to an end now, until the autumn ones get going in September but while I am waiting for my foxgloves to come into flower I can at least continue to enjoy these carefully portrayed treasures.