Book Review: The Art of Embroidery
I bought The Art of Embroidery about a year and a half ago. This term it has been assigned for a graduate level Stitch class I am taking. Hello, old friend. (It’s a lot cheaper now.) Originally published in France by Francoise Tellie-Loumagne, the rich evocative images need no translation (but the text is in English).
Tellier-Loumagne takes the reader on an embroidered journey through the natural world. She presents a striking photograph next to her stitched interpretation: a field of daisies, lichen on a barn wall, even a moldy orange. The deconstructed images are recreated, some as stitches in paper, others as three dimensional wearable art, as in the cabbage leaf transformed into a ruffly scarf, or a flower pot reimagined out of yarn and thread to look like moss.
Mimosa’s replicated in beads, boulion knots, and seed stitch.
More eye candy than instruction, this book won’t teach you how to embroider. You might add a new stitch to your repertoire, but if you are looking for basic instruction you might be disappointed. If, however, inspiration is what you are after this is an investment, especially if you are looking for ways to challenge yourself or slip out of a rut.
I suspect we will be having a few assignments similar to this. Stay tuned.
