2015 program: craft | embroidery | chair seat weaving | papercutting | printmaking
CRAFT - EMBROIDERY
Instructed by Bozena Hrycyna
This workshop will focus on techniques common in Eastern-European and Balkan traditional embroidery which has developed over the centuries to become ubiquitous in Slavic folk culture, even as it has evolved and spread across the world with various diaspora communities.
The course will not focus on history, but we can have those discussions as they come up, and a wide variety of books with lots of history and symbolism will be available for perusal during open studio times.
The purpose of the course is to give participants an opportunity to delve into the art of embroidery by working on a project, and to dedicate as much time as possible to honing one’s craft.
I’ll introduce you to embroidery in Slavic folk culture, the role of ritual towels (rushnyky) and the characteristics of peasant clothing. We’ll learn about basic stitches like the running stitch, backstitch, cross stitch. For beginners we’ll start small projects to work on for the week. You can choose from: bookmark, pincushion, pouch, patch. For intermediate students who wish to start a larger project, guidance will be given to plan a project from start to finish, including the finishing stitches.
