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Thursday, November 1, 2012

A Needlepoint Collaboration, No. 2

Mark D. Ruffner © 2012
Last year I featured a design of mine that was lovingly needlepointed by my mother (you can see it here). My mother loved to work on needlepoints, but she didn't like kits, and because there were artists in the family, she had a steady supply of original designs. After she completed the rabbit tapestry, I asked for another needlepoint, this one a simpler statement, but no less complicated in design.

I was inspired by this 19th century engraving of a fleur-de-lis, which I found in one of my Dover books. It looks as though it was designed to be cast in metal, and I envision it in gold or brass.

 
While I'm not a huge fan of purple for interior designs, I have become fond of the combination of purple, green and gold, which has a very rich effect.

Mark D. Ruffner © 2012
Here's the design that I made for my mother to work from (the framing came later, of course). I painted this in acrylics, and then had the design photostatted directly onto canvas. Because the two greens of the background design were difficult to read on the canvas, my mother required a second copy of the background in a light color and black, a valuable lesson for me in needlepoint designing!

Mark D. Ruffner © 2012
And here's a photo of my mother's finished product. I treasure this, not only because it is the handiwork of my mother, but also because it is the last needlepoint that she worked on.
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24 comments:

  1. Hello Mark:
    We cannot say enough how we admire here both your own work in creating the design for your mother to work from and her completed cushion. Both are absolutely lovely in terms of execution, finish and colour and deserve, as you do, to be really treasured.

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    1. Hello Jane and Lance:

      Thank you for the warm compliment, which brightened my day.

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  2. Two very talented people in one family!

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    1. Thank you, Columnist. My mother never considered herself an artist, but she was indeed a great colorist, and I learned a lot from her.

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  3. Hello Mark,
    Beautiful and priceless in every possible way.
    Anyes
    XX

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  4. A wonderful combination of talents at work here. Your fine designing and your mother's skill in needlepoint.
    I like the combination of colours suitably 'royal' or 'imperial' to compliment the fleur-de-lis.
    There are no treasures better than those that have been left behind for us by loved ones.
    I enjoyed seeing the other post of you with your rabbit.
    Angeli Laudantes is one of my favourite Wm Morris tapestries.
    I have a small tapestry, bought in France, showing one of six panels illustrating the story of the Holy Grail designed by Edward Burne-Jones and woven by Morris & Co. Mine shows the three angels outside the chapel where the holy grail is located. The angels appear with their large red wings as beacons of colour in a scene where the trees in the background are dark and the forest floor is scattered with flowers. I am very fond of it.

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    1. Dear Rosemary,

      Thank you for enjoying this, and the rabbit "tapestry," too!

      As I've said in my "Art Is Not Linear" series, for some reason that still amazes me, I had a difficult time making my art students appreciate that there was inspiration to be drawn from all of art, and that art history was not a static timeline. William Morris was certainly an inspiration to me, and as one looks at his tapestry designs, I believe Botticelli might have been Morris' inspiration for those scattered flowers.

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    2. I have always thought the same thing about Botticelli, especially his La Primavera.

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  5. Hello Mark, This needlework project is indeed masterful, both in design and execution. The detail and shading are incredible, and the coloring is very beautiful, both in the central part and in the border.

    All these considerations are surmounted by the fact that it combines your family's efforts and talents. As we read your blog, we can get an idea where your artistic gifts and interests originate.

    I particularly like this design because it reminds me of my own mother, who also loves the fleur-de-lis design. Whenever I think of my most treasured possessions, they are the ones with family or personal importance.
    --Road to Parnassus

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    1. Hello, Parnassus,

      You are a very perceptive observer, and it is true that both my parents influenced the way I look at design. (They were also both project-oriented.)

      As I've mentioned before, though my father had a long career in the military, his training was in architecture and he admired, as I do, things Neoclassic. He also always had a workshop, and I learned from him that aside from decorating, one can construct a whole environment.

      My mother enjoyed refinishing furniture and often recycled furnture into new uses. It would be typical of her, for example, to turn an antique shaving cabinet into a display case or to paint wooden office chairs and turn them into dining room chairs.

      I was always impressed by the fact that my parents enjoyed shopping together and that they discussed the aesthetic merits of the smallest purchases.

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  6. Dear Mark,
    Thank you for this wonderful post! I am a dedicated needlepointer myself, and feel, just as your dear Mom, that working from kits is usually a bore...(with some exceptions, of course: after seeing the unicorn tapestries at the Cluny in Paris, I purchased a needlepoint kit version at a lovely shop near the Seine...a great souvenir!) Your design and her needlework are beautiful, and I can see how her finished piece would be such an imporant piece to you! I know from working on things for my family that there really is love in every stitch, even though that sounds so corny! I can imagine that the time your mom spent working on a design by her beloved son would have been a very happy time, indeed. Working on such a labor-intensive and slow project really allows for a meditation of sorts, and the finished works are almost like a diary for that period in time. Wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing this deeply meaningful work with all of us!
    Warm regards,
    Erika

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    1. Dear Erika,

      Thank you for your lovely comment. I do believe that such projects are both meditations and in their process, a way of comuning with the recipient. I know I've had that feeling with gifts that I've handmade for others.

      I thought my mother was the greatest of needlepointers, of course, but she had a friend who was even more dedicated than she, a lady who covered an entire wingback chair in needlepoint!

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  7. What a charming remembrance to have of your mother; it's beautiful!

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    1. Thanks, Stefan! It's one of six needlepoints I have by her.

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  8. Dear Mark,
    Today is my mother's birthday and here I am reading about your wonderful mother and her needlework.
    I agree with the others: It makes for a lovely remembrance of her.
    As a bit of a needlework-er myself (on occasions) I can appreciate the work (as well as the love) that has gone into the making of this piece. Having said that I also like the design that you made and painted. Very nice! I do like the Fleur-de-Lys pattern. Have you seen some of the needlework created by Queen Mary?
    Bye for now
    Kirk

    PS
    From this post I went on the read the one about your rabbit. Another very nice remembrance for you. Was Hopkins a house rabbit?

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    1. Dear Kirk,

      Thank you for your kind words, and I hope your mother has had a good day. I do know that Queen Mary was a needlepointer, and as I recall she worked on at least one rather monumental piece.

      I chose Hopkins as a pet because — as someone away from the house all day — I wanted an alternative to a dog (who might feel neglected). He was an indoor pet, was litterbox-trained, and lead a well-celebrated life. His outstanding characteristic was that he enjoyed being held as he is shown in the photo, which is very unusual for rabbits.

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    2. Dear Mark,
      I had a feeling this was the case. One of my best friends had an indoor rabbit named Smidge, for the same reasons. He died a couple of weeks ago at the advanced Rabbit age of ten. I was glad we had been back in Melbourne in July and had visited him as I knew him when he was just a baby!

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  9. Hi there
    I stumbled across your blog via a reader of mine and so glad I did. Your mothers needlepoint work is beautiful.
    I also loved browsing through the old photographs in an earlier post. I could sit looking through old photographs all day!
    How lovely you live in St Petersbury - we holidayed there for many years before finding Sanibel and have now been going to the island for 21 years.
    You live in a beautiful part of the world.
    Sophie

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    1. Hi there, Sophie - Thanks for visiting, both my blog and this area of the world. For many years I lived in the northeast part of the United States, and I finally got tired of the cold (the turning point was waking up to discover ice in my bathtub!). So now I've lived in this warm climate for more than 30 years, but never taken it for granted!

      I hope you got a chance to look at the antique photographs on my sidebar . . .

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  10. Greetings from Sweden, Mark --
    I'm catching up on my favorite blogs here. A fine needlepoint from your mother. Very hansomely executed. Thank you for sharing. Clearly, talent runs in your family.
    Cheers,
    Loi

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    1. Greetings, Loi, and thanks for the encouragement. I hope you're having a good time in Sweden, and that we'll all be able to see some handsome goodies that you've brought back for your house and shop! Cheers, Mark

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  11. This is beautiful, Mark. Your mother was a master of needlepoint. (Do they give degrees for that?) Wow. Needless to say, you are so fortunate to have this treasure. Mother/son collaboration at its finest.

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    1. Thanks, Yvette - I'm hearing a Paul Simon song in there somewhere!

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