{"id":256,"date":"2015-05-22T14:07:56","date_gmt":"2015-05-22T14:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.emmafrith.co.uk\/blog\/?p=256"},"modified":"2015-05-22T18:10:39","modified_gmt":"2015-05-22T18:10:39","slug":"introducing-dunstanburgh-view-rsn-canvas-stitches-piece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.emmafrith.co.uk\/blog\/?p=256","title":{"rendered":"Introducing “Dunstanburgh view”: RSN Canvas stitches piece"},"content":{"rendered":"

Time and tide wait for no man. \u00a0My RSN certificate course progresses, and the next module is canvas stitches. \u00a0At this point in the syllabus, I technically get a choice between canvas stitches or black work. \u00a0But I fully intend to carry on after my certificate to do the\u00a0diploma, and whichever module I choose at this stage I have to do the other as part of the diploma, so it doesn’t matter hugely. \u00a0And anyway, I was intrigued by the idea of using colours and textures to recreate a picture, and it was a technique I had never tried before. \u00a0My experience of canvas work is limited. \u00a0Really, up to this point, my idea of ‘canvas work’ fell into two categories: tent stitch hassocks (those solid rectangular kneeler cushions that hang from the pew in front in church, decorated all over in little diagonal stitches in tapestry wool by dedicated parishioners at some point over the last few decades) and modern bold, expressive textile art, loosely based on a theme and stitched with mildly frightening vigour in myriad colours of somewhat\u00a0baffling threads, adorning the covers of 1970s books on the subject. \u00a0Neither of those two images particulary infused\u00a0me with joy about the technique – prim and predictable, versus wildly exuberent and somewhat outdated. But the RSN brief asks us to steer a course through the middle way. \u00a0We are asked to choose a picture, and then interpret it in a variety of canvas stitches. So I was intrigued, and (I admit it) slightly sceptical.<\/p>\n

\"Colour<\/a>
Colour plates from Erica Wilson’s Embroidery Book (top, Faber 1973) and Mary Rhodes Needlepoint – the art of canvas embroidery (bottom, 1974 Octopus Books)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Hassocks<\/a>
Hassocks in churches all over the land are adorned with a simple form of canvas work (“Salisbury Cathedral, Hassocks” by Gaius Cornelius, Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons – http:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Salisbury_Cathedral,_Hassocks.jpg#\/media\/File:Salisbury_Cathedral,_Hassocks.jpg)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Canvas stitches range from the simple small diagonal tent stitch (like a half cross stitch) through various versions of repeated diagonal or crossed stitches, finishing up with some quite involved or highly textured stitches that are arguably more like repeating motifs than a textured filling stitch. \u00a0The stitches are typically worked in wool, but stranded cotton, cotton a broder, silks, shiny rayon threads or mixtures of different threads work well. \u00a0The patterns or motifs are worked into open weave stiff canvas, which essentially forms a grid that you work into, counting warp and weft threads in order to form the shapes and patterns of the stitches. \u00a0The different stitch patterns all have exotic sounding names – ‘Algerian eye’, ‘Maltese cross’, ‘pineapple half drop’, ‘oblique Slav’ – not forgetting the endearingly enigmatic ‘John’. \u00a0They are recorded in various books, a lot of which are out of print and hard to find. \u00a0Although the RSN and various embroidery authors have published more recent works, I had a general sense\u00a0that canvas work is a dwindling art. \u00a0That probably has a lot to do with today’s\u00a0embroiderers\u00a0having similar prejudices to myself, that is, that\u00a0canvas work\u00a0is either dull, or somewhat unfathomable and stuck in the 1970s,<\/p>\n

\"One<\/a>
One of the ways to work a simple tent stitch for canvas work (“Basketweavestitch” by Velvet-Glove at English Wikipedia – Transferred from\u00a0en.wikipedia\u00a0to Commons.. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons – http:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Basketweavestitch.png#\/media\/File:Basketweavestitch.png)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So it was that I came to the first challenge – to find a design to interpret in canvas stitches. \u00a0Having invested in the RSN stitch guide, I had a slightly more up to date idea of the sorts of pictures that could be rendered in canvas stitches, and it was more varied than I had imagined. \u00a0The module brief was wide open – it just had to be an interpretation of an image. \u00a0They did say that having water in the picture usually gave good results, but that was about it for guidance! \u00a0I had an idea to use one of my holiday snaps from last year. \u00a0the Frith family is totally in love with the Northumberland coast, and\u00a0it is our favourite holiday destination. \u00a0The big skies, vast sandy beaches and seabird-encrusted islands tick every box. \u00a0a friendly welcome, a place to get close to nature, a castle on every horizon, a place of pilgrimage, and unlimited beaches and rock pools.\u00a0It is a place where we instantly feel happy, all three of us. \u00a0In particular, we love to pick a day with good weather and head off to Dunstanburgh Castle. \u00a0This is the place:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Frithlet and me on the grassy approach to Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is a mile-long grassy approach that slopes gently up to the castle gate, which is mostly manageable with my power-assist wheelchair wheels, with the revd dr helping. \u00a0A few places at the final approach are a little steep and rocky for a wheelchair, which requires me to bail out and scramble as best I can on crutches while the Revd Dr takes the chair up and the spry little Frithlet capers round like an excitable mountain goat. \u00a0By the time we get up to the castle, we are all flushed with windblown excitement and achievement. \u00a0Once inside, there are ruins to explore and a gorgeous wild flower meadow. \u00a0There are rock pipits dashing about, skylarks overhead, butterflies everywhere. \u00a0if you exit through one of the breaks in the curtain wall, you find yourself out on the cliffs of the headland. \u00a0at the right time of year, there is thrift and rock samphire, and the sound of nesting kittiwakes. \u00a0There is a particular spot, right on the very tip of the headland, that we make a bee-line for. \u00a0We call in the Frith family secret picnic spot, though it isn’t actually a secret (well, not any more!). \u00a0Here we can sit and eat our picnic surrounded by sea and castle and view. \u00a0It is high on the cliff to, and down below you can see razorbills bobbing on the sparkling sea, puffins flying past, kittiwakes everywhere. \u00a0to the left, you get a view of the pristine sands of embleton bay. \u00a0We last visited ‘our’\u00a0picnic spot almost exactly a year ago, \u00a0a truly beautiful sunny day in late May. \u00a0The pinks (sea thrift) were out and I set about trying to capture it all with my camera. \u00a0At the time, I was right in the middle of my Jacobean crewel work module down at Hampton Court, and I knew that the genie was out of the bottle, an that embroidery was going to be a big part of my life. \u00a0I had a strong feeling that I might one day want to try capture the essence of this place in embroidery, so I set about taking detailed photographs of colours and textures:<\/p>\n