When visiting English practitioner and teacher Owen Davies says embroidery should be respected as an art as well as a craft, he has plenty of supporting evidence.
Mr Davies (46), of London, is a leading English embroiderer who
gave a day-long class, organised through the Otago Embroiderers' Guild, to 13 fellow embroiderers at Otago Polytechnic on Saturday. And before his class started at 10am, he displayed a striking embroidery stumpwork representation of an Apollo butterfly, with its distinctive markings.
Mr Davies has also created other innovative three-dimensional sculpture-like works, including embroidered knot gardens.
Stumpwork is a traditional style of embroidery in which stitched shapes are raised from the surface of the work to create a three-dimensional effect.
Mr Davies had a ‘‘real problem'' when people described embroidery as simply a ‘‘craft''.‘‘It's a lot more. It's a creative medium,'' he said in an interview.
And the ancient craft elements in embroidery could be used to create new works of art.‘‘There are many artists that do embroidery.''He is keen to foster more teaching of embroidery in schools, where it had a great deal to offer, including being ‘‘great for learning hand-eye co-ordination''.
He is impressed by the high standard of New Zealand embroidery and by its popularity in this country, and is keen to encourage more men to try it.
Mr Davies is strongly qualified to comment on needlework and embroidery.
When he graduated from the Royal School of Needlework in England 1994, he became the first man to complete that apprenticeship since 1872.
Since 1994, no other man has completed that training, although some have tried.
After he graduated, he was invited to work in the workrooms at Hampton Court Palace in Greater London, where he stayed, working on commissions and teaching for the school.
During this time he developed embroidered knot garden classes which were inspired by the surroundings at Hampton Court. Embroidered Knot Garden, a book he co-authored with Gill Holdsworth, became an international bestseller when it was published in 2006.
Mr Davies said he was enjoying his first visit to New Zealand. He recently also gave embroidery classes in the North Island, which had proved ‘‘a great success''.john.gibb@odt.co.nz
