Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Drawn Thread Forests with Catherine Jordan

For the past two days I've had the pleasure of learning from this warm and talented woman, Catherine Jordan.



I've been admiring Catherine's work for years as she tends to exhibit her work at the Woodlawn Needlework show each March.  

Her work is wonderfully three-dimensional and she uses a combination of drawn thread, fabric painting, needleweaving and embroidery to make contemporary forests, boxes, journals and more.


I just love how her trees not only recede back into the composition but come forward as well, reaching over the picture frame.

Our project yesterday was this 4"x6" contemporary drawn thread forest...


Though it appears as if this forest is deeper than one piece of fabric, it's not.  Isn't that cool?

The first part of class was learning to withdraw threads and re-weave them to create an opening in the linen...


That took me most of the first day...a bit time-consuming but well worth it.

Next, we each painted the fabric, giving added dimension to our forest setting.


I love a process class like this where individual choices makes each piece unique. 

Folks were choosing shades of autumn, spring and summer and pieces started coming to life...


We learned many tips for shading and creating skylines during different seasons and times of day.

Once the stage was set, the fun continued as we learned methods for weaving our trunks and embroidering the foliage...



Lots of decisions needed to be made about tree placement, foreground and background...


As well as clipping out threads to make space for the trees to breathe...


After two days of work, some of our forests were well underway...


And some of us only had the beginnings of an idea...


I decided on a dark and creepy forest and spent yesterday painting my linen and working on a creepy tree.  Just one.

I have visions of something like this..



Though I'd really like to keep working on it, I've got to push it aside to work on a few other things for Mrs. Rose and my Japanese embroidery.

Most of the time when I attend a workshop at my Guild, I feel badly because many of the courses are not available to you in your areas.

Here's the good news.  Catherine is teaching this class, Contemporary Forest Necklaces, at the Shining Needle Society online and registration is open now!



If you are not yet a member of the Shining Needle Society Yahoo group, you can go here to find all the details.  There are MANY opportunities for you to take classes there, just request to sign up and you will receive updates on class offerings.  Catherine's forest class begins November 1, 2014 but registration closes today so get a move on!

Catherine Jordan will also be teaching at EGA National Seminar in Phoenix in a few weeks.  If you can't find her there, spend some time perusing her website to see her work and her class schedule.  She sells kits for many of her designs (including instructions) as well as supplies.

Oh, and check out her maps (kits here, workshops here)!  They are amazing! And there's an online class for that too if you're interested in making one for your area (details here).  

I would love to do the Chesapeake Bay so a group of us from our EGA Chapter hopes to research one and stitch it together with Catherine's assistance.  She told us about a group in Cape Cod that is creating one for a class she'll be teaching there next Summer which gave us the idea.  Thank you Catherine!!

Here's hoping you get to learn from her one day.  She is wonderfully open with her expertise and her workshops are chock full of information that will open up whole new areas of possibilities in your needlework...

Literally.

29 comments:

Mary Ann Tate said...

Lovely but it must be very difficult to do in such small scale.

Cari said...

Oh my gosh Susan. Catherine's work is amazing. Why oh why am I 65 ?? I sometimes wish I were 35 with my 65 year old brain. I would so love it if one of my darling granddaughters wanted to take all these classes with me and we could stitch, stitch, stitch using many different techniques. I'm not complaining because one is a very talented graphic design artist and one of them does some needlework and knitting with me. So…all in all….I'm spoiled and blessed beyond measure. Thank you so much for sharing your learning opportunities with me !!

gracie said...

Besutiful beginning. I look forward to seeing the finished piece. I am hoping to stop by the Phoenix show, but I know I will not be able to take any classes.

Moonsilk Stitches said...

Oh, I did the forest workshop a few years ago. I enjoyed it as much as your group did. I came home and finished my piece right away and it's hanging in our bedroom. Catherine Jordan's work is awesome. I have to look into those miniature necklaces. What a great idea! Thanks!

Vicki W said...

Oh my gosh, those pieces are amazing!

Susan Elliott said...

Mary Ann, don't let the small scale fool you. It's not as difficult as it looks!

Lisa Boni said...

Wow! How blessed you are to be able to take so many great classes like this one! I too have admired Catherine's work for a while. Looking forward to seeing where you take the piece you started!

Egléa Senna Bordados said...

What an incredible !!!! Wow!
Hugs!

Gerry Krueger said...

I KNOW, KNOW, KNOW I would just love this. It just my juices sing!! AND he teacher looks like your kindly Mrs. Rose... Hugs. Ger'

Can juices sing???

allie aller said...

Thanks for the glimpse into yet another woman's passion and creativity! Lovely catching sight of Carolyn, too. ;-) xxoo

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting this. You were just the push I needed to sign up at SNS. I had been on the fence and you pushed me over. Thanks!

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Talk about incredible work! I would love to do something like this too, but have enough on my plate at the moment and can't fit in anything else. Will be anxious to see your completed piece!

Createology said...

You clearly have the most interesting experiences in thread and needle work. I have never even seen such amazing work at this open weave forest art. WOW!!! And to be able to learn from the Master herself must be Creative Bliss Indeed.

margaret said...

what a wonderful embroider and so lucky you are to have been on a lesson with her, your piece is coming along beautifully will now check out the links you have shared

Rachel said...

My goodness! Such fabulous work, and full of inspiration for all of us!

liniecat said...

Catherines work is stunning, that's a workshop Id enjoy doing, but its too far from UK to go!
I like the idea of a darker tree scene and you could always place a moon behind on voile as a kind of backing.

Sheila said...

Incredible work !!

sharonb said...

They look fun to do - thanks for the post - they rminded me of how much fun drawn thread techniques can be

lorenabr said...

It's gorgeous and looks amazing!
http://balearaitzart.blogspot.com.au/

Rose said...

Looks like a wonderful class! The kind I would love to take!

Mosaic Magpie said...

What an interesting project! Off to check out the links!
Deb

wendy said...

How Beautiful!! I love trees! wish the classes were near me.

wendy said...

How Beautiful!! I love trees! wish the classes were near me.

Unknown said...

It is just wonderful, full of poetry, so delicate. I have looked at all these masterpieces for minutes. A beautiful piece of work. Thank you for sharing.
Enjoy a nice week-end.
VĂ©ronique.

Vicky aka Stichr said...

oh boy...that creepy tree of yours is fantastic! how could you resist not going home and working on this until it was done???

i love trees. i know you all are probably using wool, but i keep thinking about using twine for a tree...same suzzy...er..fuzzy look.

Crissouli said...

You have been nominated...
http://thebackfenceofgenealogy-crissouli.blogspot.com.au/2014/10/lovely-blog-award-2014.html

Padparadscha said...

Wonderful work ! You may want to check the following website from Francine Leclercq and her students, she also does beautiful tree embroidery :
http://www.aufilduleman.fr/galerie2.html

Elizabeth said...

I NEED to take a class with this gal!!! Thanks for all the info!!!

Zdolność-tworzenia said...

Rewelacyjne!

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