Today I began the process of photographing Nelly's collection of Bulgarian embroidery, concentrating on the largest opus, that of her mother-in-law, Vala Georgieva. There are a couple of wonderful pieces in this collection. I am not going to go into detail here. I will take much longer to research and document.
This is from a table runner, intensely embroidered, mostly in cross stitch and slanted Slav stitch.
The latter stitch is new to me. For those who are embroiderers, it resembles tent stitch, but the slant is greater than half a cross stitch - twice the length on the horizontal as on the vertical.
I spread some of the pieces out on my dining table and photographed them using my digital SLR, first with the 18-200 mm lens and then with a macro lens to get the detail. The detail is tricky, because the macro lens has a very specific focus and blurs the edges. It's a bit of a balancing act.
The overall impression of this collection, spread out, is red. That, I have learnt, has its roots in a pre-medieval cultural association with the blood of mothers and birth. It was associated with life, renewal and prosperity.
Embroidery, it seems, was the highest of Bulgarian crafts, maintained without break through the 500 years Bulgaria was ruled by the Ottoman Empire, preserving identity.
It's a privilege to have access to this collection and to be in a position to learn more. I look forward to documenting it and making it accessible in a number of ways.
I managed to print off a proof set of notes for the Certificate Workshop and copy the PowerPoint on to my Guild dedicated USB. My duck soup worked well for my dinner - with enough left for tomorrow.
My friend Peter in London has sent me this photo of the pigeon on his window sill. It's been -7C and the bird is surviving on the muesli Peter is feeding it. It reminds me of " The North wind doth blow, and we shall have snow, and what will the robin do then, poor thing?" I can't quite come up with the right ending for "She'll sit on the sill, and weather the chill" since she clearing isn't tucking her head under her wing and I can't think of a suitable rhyme for muesli.
I was itching to keep working on the Bulgarian embroidery, but turned instead to the Owl Service while I watched Pie in the Sky and the third episode of Midsomer Murders Series 1. I wasn't happy with the white, so returned to original dinner service which had gold on the green. I dug out some gold Madeira silk and whipped over the white. I'm much happier. It's nowhere near finished, but definitely on the right track.
Tomorrow is the first meeting of the World Embroidery Study Group for 2021. I've got our calendar printed off to discuss and a contact sheet for attendees to amend. I'm looking forward to seeing how members fared over the break.
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