UK Museums - Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

The reason I put Oxford on my itinerary was “The Eye of the Needle” exhibit at theAshmolean Museum. Entry to the Ashmolean is free, but this special exhibit was six pounds.  The exhibit showcased a number of 17^th century embroideries from the Feller collection and from the Ashmolean’s holdings.  I was amazed that embroidery from the 1600’s were still in existence. Many of the pieces depicted religious themes to demonstrate the technical abilities of the girls and women who stitched them.  Photos were not allowed, but even if they had been, the room was dimly lit and the stitches tiny so they would not have been clear anyway. I bought the postcards from the gift shop, but all of the items in the exhibit were not available as postcards.

 

The day I visited the exhibit, I noticed a small sign in the gift shop advertising a lecture the next day being given by the curator of the exhibit, Dr. Mary Brooks, so I bought a ticket (four pounds).  The lecture was titled “Exploring the Making of the 17^th Century Needlework.” The lecture explored the context in which embroideries were made in the home and the schoolroom and included a slideshow of photos from the Feller Collection.  It was well worth the cost of admission.

In addition to the special exhibit, the museum also has 17^th century English embroideries from the museum’s collection in the Textile Gallery on level 1.  It was an amazing exhibit.

UK Museums - National Portrait Gallery, London

I visited the National Portrait Gallery several times during my time in London.  Two of my favorite exhibits were The Real Tudors and The BP Portrait Award exhibit.

The Real Tudors had several portraits of Queen Elizabeth I, reminding me I need to finish stitching my own portrait of her. (Here is my last post about her.)

 

 

The BP Portrait Award exhibit showcased 55 portraits from around the world.  These portraits were chosen from 2377 entries.  This exhibit has closed, but you can see the prize winners here.

Bath Summer Textile School - Jan Beaney Class

This was supposed to be a two day class with both Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn, but while vacationing in Greece six weeks early, Jean’s husband had a stroke and they were still in Greece at the hospital at the time of the class. I think Jan was pretty stressed not to have Jean, but she had an assistant and the class went on.

On the first day of class, we went out in the drizzly rain with two angles of white paper to find things to sketch.

 

I’m not so good with sketching, but I did my best. Here’s what I ended up with (don’t laugh!)

 

Next we used markers to draw our pencil sketches in color (again, don’t laugh!)

 

We ironed these marker drawings onto fabric and started stitching over the drawing.

 

Our next project involved dissolvable stuff.  I still have a lot to do on mine – it involves orange ribbon, with beads to be added.

 

Another thing we did was scribble on tissue paper and wad it up and wet it, then tear it up and stitch it to fabric.

 

After that we stitched on this horticulture covering stuff, then used a heat gun to dissolve away the stuff, leaving only the stitching. I really like this.

 

After that we stitched on some burlap, ironed some gold leaf on top, then stitched some more on it.

 

We did another little thing stitching on top of stitches in different directions.

 

Here are my samples after two days of experimentation.

 

My classroom at the American Museum -

 

It was an interesting class!

UK Museums - British Museum, London

One of the great things I discovered on this trip, was that most of the museums had free wifi.  Free wifi is rare in Hokkaido, so I really appreciated being able to check something on the internet or look at my email while I was out and about.

The British Museum has free admission and is close to four tube stations.  I’m very frugal and I love free admission!

When you first enter the museum, it doesn’t seem like the same building you see from the outside.

 

Cradle to Grave by Pharmacopoeia was my favorite exhibit at this museum. The exhibit was created by a textile artist, a video artist, a doctor.  Had I not been involved in my recent medical challenges, it might not have spoken to me the way it did. “Maintaining well-being is more complex than just treating illness.”

UK Museums - Tate Modern, London

One of the museums I visited while in London was the Tate Modern.  Except for special exhibits, the Tate Modern has free admission.  It is very easy to get to, with three nearby tube stations.  Here are a few of the things I saw and liked while visiting.