2002
National Exhibit, Albuquerque, NM
by Mary D. Shipp
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Each of the stitchers whose work accompanies this discussion was asked to provide more information about his or her needlepoint. Click on the thumbnail picture to see the stitcher's commentary. Needlepoint is art! A careful look at the award winners from the 2002 National Seminar Exhibit in Albuquerque should set any doubt about that to rest. So it is from the artistic point of view that I would like to discuss the pieces shown here. These 2002 Award Winners definitely define needlepoint at its very best. Creating art is all about making choices. The designer/stitcher must, like any other artist, decide what to include in the work of art, and by the same token, also decide what not to include. This need to choose appears at the very beginning of the artistic process and continues to the very end. Early decisions include the subject of the work, the point of view, the style, and the size of the project. How much detail will be included, and if there is to be a message expressed by the artwork, what is it to be? Next come decisions about colors, materials and stitches. With the wide variety of materials available to today's stitchers, some of these decisions are tremendously difficult to make. But in every case, what is chosen helps to determine the final look of the piece. Sometimes what is left out of a composition is just as important as what is included. Even though it is tempting, we can't include everything we see. This is all part of the decision-making process that continues as a piece of needleart is conceived, designed and completed. When it all works, the various elements in the design -- the threads, the colors, the textures and the stitches -- come together to create an artistic principle called "unity." Unity is hard to define but easy to show. Just look at these award winners from the 2002 National Exhibit in Albuquerque to see unity at work. Let's first look at a group of pieces where the designer or stitcher limited the colors used, in order to emphasize thread and stitch texture. Two of these designs have traditional holiday color schemes, which are self-limiting by their very nature. In the other two pieces, the decision to limit color was made by the piece's designer or stitcher. |
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"Help -- I've Fallen In..." was stitched by Becky L. Worsham. There is no mistaking that this is a Halloween witch, because of the overall color scheme of the goodie bag. Even though the delightful socks don't fit the traditional holiday colors, we get such a strong impression of orange and black that we know right away that this is a Halloween accessory. And oh, those shoes! As an added bonus, this piece has humor, a trait that always draws the viewer.
In "Santa Climbing Down the Chimney" Nancy Smiegowski's color scheme begins with the traditional Christmas red, green and white, with black accents. The only additional colors are the blue of the sky and some metallic accents on Santa's pack. These limitations allow plenty of room for texture achieved by the variety of stitches Nancy used. Can't you hear the "Ho, ho, ho" from this portrayal of St. Nick?
 Exhibit #5012P Medieval Lady Kneeling at Lectern |
 Exhibit #406NP Midori |
Notice how refined and elegant "Medieval Lady Kneeling at Lectern" is, and how easy it is to focus on the young lady. Your eye is drawn right to her face, which is where the designer wanted you to look first. This would not have happened without the circular orb in the background to silhouette her features. Now see how few colors are used; just three, counting the background. There is no need for more, is there? Of course, the meticulous work of Ann Strite-Kurz, the stitcher, contributes a great deal to the piece.
Vicky De Angelis submitted "Midori." It's interesting to compare this figure of a woman with the medieval kneeling lady; there are similarities and differences. In both cases, the woman is not interacting with us; her attention is somewhere else. Both pieces have a limited color scheme. Though "Midori" has a few more colors than "Medieval Lady," it is still elegant and simple. In both works, stitches and pattern are allowed to dominate, while the color, even though it plays a large part, is restrained. Both pieces are restful, and a delight to view. In design terms, these pieces have unity -- that most elusive design factor that makes us want to come back to the piece again and again.
Here are two more pieces which are superficially similar in terms of subject matter, yet are handled very differently. In each case, the type of thread used has the potential for great impact, so thread color and stitch variety are somewhat restrained.
 Exhibit #512NP Golden Dogwood |
 Exhibit #514NP Asian Spring |
Becky L. Worsham's "Golden Dogwood" is a classically elegant and simple design of just one dogwood blossom on a branch. In this case, "all that glitters" is both gold and silver thread. Because the design itself is so direct the metal threads are allowed to predominate. The light and airy border and the classic finishing add the final touch.
Esther Helweg's class project, "Asian Spring" uses realistic colors to show us a branch of cherry blossoms. It differs from "Golden Dogwood" in that it has multiple blossoms, yet there is a feeling of openness here as well. But in this piece also, the thread texture, especially in the blossoms, is what stands out. They do not look real; they are better than real because of the glistening silk, and the softer leaves provide an excellent foil. We can almost hear the breeze rustling these attached blossom petals.
 Exhibit #1032P Stephen Quiller's Winter Evening, Creede |
When artist Stephen Quiller set out to paint "Winter Evening, Creede" he made choices about how he would interpret what he saw. When Iris Lochner adapted the painting to needlework, she made choices as well about what she would include and what she would omit. While this may at first seem obvious, these choices are what make both the painting and the adaptation succeed as works of art. Working in just one stitch, tent stitch, Iris was able to emphasize careful shading to capture Quiller's watercolor work. While her stitched interpretation, titled "Stephen Quiller's Winter Evening, Creede" differs from the watercolor to some slight extent, the difference is a matter of degree. To those who know the painting, this is an instantly recognizable adaptation of that work.
In painting, the term would be "Impressionist." The next five pieces are impressionistic, giving us the artist's take on something, rather than a realistic picture of it. Coincidentally, all were entered in the category Creative Needleart, which means that they are original works designed by the stitcher. For this reason, all the decisions and choices involved in each piece were solely the responsibility of the needle artist.
 Exhibit #1011P Early Morning Mist |
 Exhibit #1007P Garden Shed |
 Exhibit #1003P Embers |
 Exhibit #105NP The City Park |
 Exhibit #1025P Soaring Spirit |
The first example is "Early Morning Mist" by Nanette Costa. Nanette used a limited number of simple stitches and plenty of open space to convey her impression of a misty lane in the country. Note especially the soft colors, which add to the mood she wanted to achieve. We may never have visited the place Nanette shows us, but we understand what she saw in her mind's eye.
Karon K. Killian is aware of two great truths in artistic composition. The first is "small is good" -- this is a top for a tiny wooden box. The second truth is that "you don't need to show it all." Karon gives us her impression of a "Garden Shed" -- part of the facade of the building, a window and half of the door and some ribbon-embroidery hollyhocks. Nothing else is needed to convey the impression of a garden shed and the artist wisely didn't add anything unnecessary. It is, indeed, a small masterpiece.
Ayelet Lindenstrauss Larsen's impressionistic "Embers" is a powerful statement of the aftermath of the Word Trade Center disaster in 2001. Ayelet tells us that the vertical lines in the background are meant to suggest both the memory of the towers and also the buildings around them, which "in contrast to the burning rubble, still stand, and will be places in which life can go on." By reducing the number of pictorial elements, Ayelet lets us interpret her piece as we will, and form our own impressions.
Heavily textured stitches are the predominant feature in "The City Park" by designer/stitcher Nancy Lammers. Notice how few details there actually are, and yet how perfectly the dense and raised stitch shapes used for trees and shrubs contrast with the flat shapes used to suggest the ground and the buildings in the distance. Contrast is a key word in any type of art; it needs to be handled carefully, as do all the other elements that contribute to unity in design.
In "Soaring Spirit" by Meredith Barnhill we have the artist's impression of a fish, as opposed to a realistic fish. The background canvas was dyed (by Jacqui Clarkson) to suggest the subdued light under the sea, and Meredith has barely indicated water and plants by using a minimum of stitching -- just enough to add texture in these areas. This minimal background draws all the viewer's attention to the fish, executed in gold kid, paillettes, and real metal thread of various types. He is truly a fantastic fish in the sense of being part of a fantasy impression of undersea life.
 Exhibit #3004P Big Buzz |
 Exhibit #5003P Shaded Kimonos |
As I mention above, impressionism is a matter of choices -- what to include and what to leave out. It is also a matter of degree; some pieces may have a realistic subject and an impressionistic background, for example. In "Big Buzz" entered by Meredith Barnhill, she presents us with a realistic bumblebee; you can almost hear the buzzzzz! The background, however, is just an impression of a honeycomb. Again, this minimal background lets the more realistic bee capture and hold the viewer's attention in a way that a complicated background would not.
Now let's turn to Victoria Nessel's "Shaded Kimonos." We have just a suggestion of the subject, as opposed to pictorial representation. The colors and patterns are delicate and ethereal, and the background structure provides good contrast and a means of anchoring the kimonos in space without overwhelming them. Because of the minimal detail, except on the kimonos, we are forced to complete the scene in our own imaginations, and this draws us into the artwork in a way that strict realism never does.
 Exhibit #311NP Texas Pride |
 Exhibit #106NP Firestorm |
When something is as powerful a part of a design as the use of metallic thread is in "Texas Pride" simplicity is needed in all the other elements. Here we have the Texas flag for design and color inspiration. Stitcher Sandra Johnson wisely chose to confine stitch variety to the border area and the star. Notice how the same stitch, in different sizes, is used in the areas worked in red, white and blue silk. Sometimes the most subtle variations are best.
"Firestorm" is a piece with a tremendous amount of energy and motion, and both make a design interesting. Everything in the design and its finishing contributes to the effect; there is nothing to distract. Notice also where the eye goes -- directly to the center -- attracted by the bright gold composite stitch. Designer/stitcher Karla Kellenberger placed all sorts of limits on herself in this piece. She used a very small number of stitches, threads, and colors. This lets the design itself do the work, and creates unity.
Two interdependent factors in good design are repetition and variation. When they exist in a design, the design has unity, which is the goal of all artistic composition.
 Exhibit #5010P Gaelic Gold
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 Exhibit #110NP Millennium Star |
 Exhibit #1037P The Heart Hath a Memory |
 Exhibit #2003P Japanese Fan on Black |
In "Gaelic Gold," stitched by Penny M. Boswinkle, repetition and variation are found in the blue areas, where four of the six areas contain blue and green intermingled with gold, and the remaining two contain only blue and gold. The green is repeated as part of the corner motifs, and blue alone is a part of the borders there. The red is used in two areas patterned with gold and repeats in the borders by itself. The interplay of color and pattern (texture) draws the eye from place to place in the design until it has looked at each of the areas. There is a large amount of pattern here, but because the colors are so skillfully distributed, it is not overwhelming, nor is it busy and distracting.
"Millennium Star" was designed and stitched by Connie Taylor. It is a design that comes close to being busy because there are a number of different stitches and colors used, but since the colors are so carefully chosen, it is not busy at all; it is unified instead. Part of the unified effect is created by the repetition of three borders, which enclose each other and the open, airy center filled with a composite motif. Another factor which makes the design work is the overall effect of delicate color, with occasional accents of stronger values.
Band samplers tend toward repetition because of the similarity in the shape of the bands. It is up to the designer/stitcher to provide enough variation to keep the design interesting to the viewer through the use of different stitches and stitch patterns, and sometimes through the use of color. Roberta Montgomery, in her sampler "The Heart Hath a Memory" depends almost exclusively on stitch patterns to engage our interest, and has done an excellent job of doing so. She limited the colors used in order to keep the design from becoming fragmented, but there is still subtle repetition and variation in the use of color here.
"Japanese Fan on Black" was stitched by Janis Loehr. The repetition here is chiefly in the colors and the way that they are distributed around the canvas. The variety is in the varied intensity of the colors and also in the stitches in which they are employed. Like "Millennium Star" mentioned above, the limitations and repetition of colors keep this piece from being overly busy; it is just rich enough in pattern to keep the viewer intrigued. No matter which area of this design you look at, there is something to see.
 Exhibit #207NP Noble Reflections © 1997 DIMENSIONS. 641 McKnight Street, Reading, PA. 19601-2499 U.S.A. Made And Printed In The USA, All Rights Reserved |
 Exhibit #101NP Songs of the People |
 Exhibit #404NP Sedona Rain |
 Exhibit #519NP Spirit of the Southwest |
 Exhibit #3005P Southwest Contemplation |
Although there were a number of pieces at the Albuquerque Seminar Exhibit with a Southwestern theme, these five demonstrate that all "Southwest pieces" need not look alike. Instead, they are all very different from each other because of the different artistic styles employed.
"Noble Reflections" was stitched by Esther Helweg. Because of the very realistic treatment of the subject matter, colors and stitches had to be carefully chosen. Notice the contrast in texture between the woman's skin and the mountain lion's fur; they are just as they would be in real life. This sort of realism can be very difficult to carry off well, but it is certainly beautifully handled here.
The three Southwestern figures in Joni Stevenson's "Songs of the People" are much more stylized than the subjects in the previous Southwestern work. This means that they are less realistic, and more idealized. Additionally, their colors are stronger, and there is a much richer pattern created by the stitches. The formal and symmetrical balance from side to side adds to the stylized effect. This very appealing piece is one step away from the realism shown in "Noble Reflections" but it conveys Southwest spirit just as well.
We move to an impressionistic view of the Southwest with "Sedona Rain" submitted by Dee Schlecht. The various stitches give the impression of sky, cloud and rock textures, without being the least bit realistic. The colors are in the main soft and gentle, and definitely Southwestern in feeling. This is a mood piece -- one can almost feel the dampness and sense the coming rain.
The next piece in this group is very abstract in nature, yet the color palette chosen evokes the "Spirit of the Southwest." It was stitched by Janet Crass. In addition to the colors, a number of the motifs have a Southwest flavor, and the overall presentation adds to this impression. In a "sampler" piece such as this one, variation within the motifs and repetition of colors are both important factors which tie the design together.
And at the very last, we have a piece that reflects all of the aspects of artistic excellence that so many of the 2002 Seminar Exhibit pieces presented to us. It's titled "Southwest Contemplation" and was entered by Linda Smith. There is contrast of color, and also repetition. There is variety in the stitches, but not too much. Everything in the work contributes to the feeling of overall "rightness." It has unity, the goal of any artistic creation.