Reviewing the Harrow course... and work created

Katrina Williams and Katherine Eves are here today in Shepherds Bush. We're reviewing this spring's course in Harrow. It's gone well  - some really good work created. Fabulous colours.

Finishing up and starting exhibition pieces in Harrow

Photos from the latest class at Harrow.

Choosing materials for exhibition pieces

FInished Rose and Nightingale motif

Bina's completed work - finished beautifully with borders of her own design

Starting on exhibition pieces. Most people start with a pencil sketch on the calico to guide them.

Jacobean style patterns are proving popular

Bridging Arts' Katrina Williams with Lata

A visitor in Tooting and more on the romance of the nightingale

We have a visitor this week at the class in Tooting - am delighted to that Andy Pring has come along. He's from Wandsworth Council and is involved in a host of interfaith projects and youth work locally. I last saw Andy more than a year ago, when we had just finished the first round of workshops in Wandsworth. Things have moved on a long way...

Andy is a tremendous enthusiast and not only that - a fountain of information. We start to discuss the nightingale motif in our packs - the nightingale long a symbol of romance, and particularly in Iran where the 14th century poet Hafez of Shiraz wrote the lines we read in previous classes.

In the Garden at dawn, I sought for a rose
When a Nightingale's voice broke the peace with her prose....

In spirit, so like the Nightingale in Berkeley Square (we played the famous song again) written 700 years later.

And by one of the extraordinary coincidences so typical of this project - Andy not only had heard of Hafez of Shiraz but had visited his tomb when on holiday in Iran, quite recently. Even more romantic - it wasn't just a holiday, it was his honeymoon.

He said that Hafez of Shiraz was also known as Hafez al Koran, as he knew the Koran by heart (unusual for a Farsi speaker). 'Hafez' in this instance means 'Guardian' - Bushra and Amtul tell us.

It's our next to last class here - and these

classes have been unique in that they have picked up speed as the summer has passed. We started slowly - with some people finding it tough to get back into the swing of embroidery, and others learning stitches for the first time. Then the pace really changed. Some people, like Abigail (above, with Andy), have raced ahead and finished all the packs already. Others are moving forward at their own pace. 

We've been very lucky to have Royal School of Needlework tutors who have worked hard to ensure everyone can join in.  Here - Kate Farrer at work.

And our intern Katherine Eves is still working hard, threading needles and demonstrating. She has promised to bring her own work next week to show the group. Can't wait. I've seen it before.
And finally - I thought this wax was worth a photo. Goldwork needs wax: threads need to be coated with wax to strengthen them. Wax has many uses! e.g. waxing surf boards. But obviously not the same wax.

The fish, the rose and the nightingale - the class grows....

The class grows weekly at the Furzedown Project, Tooting, where we are running a six-week course with our new embroidery packs. The motifs were designed by our volunteer Hannah Walker and stitches worked by experts at Royal School of Needlework. Kate Farrer, who embroidered one of the packs, with a Rose and Nightingale motif, is here to teach today.  We have so many new people that we split into two groups. Some people are keen to stay with the fish - others have finished and want to move on to the Rose and Nightingale.

Abigail, who last week helped by recalling a host (or should I say shoal) of fish-related stories from the Bible, finished off her piece during the week at home. She was unsure whether the French knots around the tail should be visibly connected i.e. on the front of the fabric. But decided that in her case, they should be, as they looked like a net. It is very effective!

The finished piece.

Tea break is very important. This Rose and Nightingale motif lies idle for the time being.
Here is Kate's finished sample.

It is crewelwork i.e. in wool and we talk a bit about this and Jacobean pattern i.e. styles that flourished in the reign of King James 1 in the early 17th century. Traditional Jacobean patterns show fantastic distortions in leaves, plants and animals typical of traditional crewelwork.
Our nightingale in contrast is elegantly restrained - though it is a symbol of romantic passion. Hannah chose the rose and nightgale because of its strong links with Persian poetry and traditions but also its strong tradition in the west as a symbol of romance.  So many examples - from Keats, Oscar Wilde and Shelley to  A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square -  the 1940s song by Manning Sherwin and Eric Maschwitz, famously sung by Vera Lynn.
Hannah, when she first presented these packs in Battersea, read fabulous lines from a Persian poet 14th century poet Hafez of Shiraz. Sherwin and Maschwitz's lyrics seven hundred years later ....

That certain night,
The night we met,
There was magic abroad in the air.
There were angels dining at the Ritz,
And a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

I may be right, I may be wrong,
But I'm perfectly willing to swear
That when you turned and smiled at me,
A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

The moon that lingered over Londontown
Poor puzzled moon, he wore a frown.
How could he know that we two were so in love?
The whole darn world seemed upside down.

The streets of town were paved with stars,
It was such a romantic affair.
And as we kissed and said goodnight,
A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

Made famous by Vera Lynn...

Romance from Persia and exceptional effort

A grey day in Battersea.












We are studying a rose and nightingale motif. A 19th century ink drawing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art conjures up the mystic romance of Persia. As do lines from the 14th century poet Hafez of Shiraz.

In the garden at dawn I sought for a rose
When nightingale's voice broke the peace with her prose
Like me, she was mad for the love of a flower
And woke up the garden by trilling her woes.

Faisa Faran posed with her embroidery from last week.