A picture with three needlepoint panels showing a landscape with a hill and two stylized faces.

A Common Thread

I have an embroidered picture in Textile Center’s member exhibition this year. I went to the opening reception, and there is an abundance of spectacular work. Twin Cities friends, please check it out!

I won’t issue a spoiler by displaying my picture here, but I will say that it’s part of a series I did as a tribute to self-taught Idaho artist James Castle. Some of his drawings made me think of needlework, and so I tried riffing on some of Castle’s shapes in this medium. The sketch above is one riff, and here’s another. Castle was fascinated by, and frequently made variations on, the letters in the alphabet, so I have some blackwork embroidery motifs pretending to be a writing system here.

An embroidered picture in sepia tones showing a mountain and a cryptic inscription.

4 Comments

  1. Debra
    August 10, 2023

    Ooooh, too cool. I want to see it! If only I could make it to the Twin Cities……… I love your creativity–the mixture of reflection and fun.

    Reply
    1. Anne
      August 10, 2023

      You can see it! It will still be on display when you are here.

      Reply
  2. Pei-Lin Yu
    September 10, 2023

    If James Castle had experimented with needlework would he have loved it? I think so! (Maybe he did try it but was discouraged, as men of rural Idaho in the early 1900s were not exactly encouraged to experiment with the ‘womanly’ arts.)

    Congrats on this wonderful, thought provoking and super creative exhibition!!

    Reply
    1. Anne
      September 10, 2023

      As I was working on these, I kept thinking what Castle could have done if he had access to materials with as many colors and textures as I did.

      Reply

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