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HELLA

ANODYNE

The Erica Wilson Wikipedia entry is hella anodyne. What did she do?

New echolalia unlocked, thank you.

Wilson basically defined American embroidery for the second half of the 20th century. Her designs, her preferences, her publications, her scholarship - if you ask the average lay person to picture embroidery then they probably picture her influence, if not outright her work. Because other kit makers and designers followed suit. And a lot of embroidery simply never moved past that, because that style then became the nostalgia sought after as embroidery had its cyclical moments in the sun. I compared it in the replies on that other post to 1920s fashion, in the sense of, a very narrow subsection of history becomes the popular idea for how the past actually looked, and often times is distorted in the process to make it better suit audience expectations.

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A commission made for a friend this past May, where my guidelines were to make the given phrase as twee and old fashioned looking as possible. The lace border was at my suggestion and came from my stash of vintage notions, and we both felt it really added to the vibe.

Interested in your own commissions or browsing my completed work for sale? Check out my ko-fi!

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if it helps i'm very very very new to the world of embroidery so when i think of embroidery i usually imagine something you posted

Thank you so much! This sorta... There's always, always, always been pop culture or irreverent embroidery. This goes back thousands of years. But the kinda stuff I do is definitely firmly 21st century. The way I handle color choices, composition, layouts, even stitch choices, is pretty rooted in today's styles and trends.

One of my favorite things to do, which drives my mentor insane, is I like to use elements from stitch albums from the mid to late 1800s. These images are known for being saccharine and insipid. Anodyne, to borrow a word that was already gifted to me. I need to find my citation from the early 1900s book I read on it before, but the author was scathing about these designs because it all had to do with the idea of the cult of domesticity, the women's sphere of influence, and how that sparked a craze in embroidery that simply had not been seen previously, because it was well to do middle class and up housewives participating in their own hobbies, and they needed as many patterns as they could get their hands on, as quickly as they could. So I drive my mentor crazy because, to paraphrase her words: I make them look good. I update the color choices, I pick my placements, I render them with skill instead of trying to churn out as many as possible to say I've done them.

Erica Wilson pulls a lot specifically from that age of embroidery, especially with her work as an artist put into context among the larger art movements of the 1970s. And she codified a lot of it in very specific ways, as did others in their respective art fields in the 1970s. The arts and crafts movement of the late 1800s in particular lent to this, harkening back to earlier eras to find legitimacy (see also: the artistic dress movement and its focus on embroidery, smocking, etc, which has led to factoids that still don't have fucking citations to this day).

Wilson was talented and exceptionally driven at her work, and she was operating in the same art landscape that brought us Gunne Sax, and the Battle of Versailles, and the Little House on the Prairie tv show. We're informed by art that came before us because no one exists in a true void, and we all exist on this landscape together as peers, even as we hone our skills in our own niches. I'm not a magical exception to that. This leaves me continuing to work in a style that fits my own tastes instead of the, to me, soulless and puddle-deep pastoral landscapes and lace edged hoops that haunt every thrift shop these days.

Art is a zero sum game but the only losing option is to not play.

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The Erica Wilson Wikipedia entry is hella anodyne. What did she do?

New echolalia unlocked, thank you.

Wilson basically defined American embroidery for the second half of the 20th century. Her designs, her preferences, her publications, her scholarship - if you ask the average lay person to picture embroidery then they probably picture her influence, if not outright her work. Because other kit makers and designers followed suit. And a lot of embroidery simply never moved past that, because that style then became the nostalgia sought after as embroidery had its cyclical moments in the sun. I compared it in the replies on that other post to 1920s fashion, in the sense of, a very narrow subsection of history becomes the popular idea for how the past actually looked, and often times is distorted in the process to make it better suit audience expectations.

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Anyway here's the project I was working on when I made these posts, and as a reminder the day after I said all this she appeared to me in a used book warehouse in the guise of one of her autographed books

designing out a commission for a buddy and like. damn theres such a world of like. design difference, between what we immediately picture as 'vintage kitschy embroidery' as an aesthetic, and what actually survives in extent materials from the last 100, 150, years or so

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A commission made for a friend this past May, where my guidelines were to make the given phrase as twee and old fashioned looking as possible. The lace border was at my suggestion and came from my stash of vintage notions, and we both felt it really added to the vibe.

Interested in your own commissions or browsing my completed work for sale? Check out my ko-fi!

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hiiiii! what stitch is that on the 'who the fuck is Feanor' post please, sending lots of love!

Hey there! It's a kinda bastardized long and short stitch because I wanted thickness to the script.

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I love using þ

Þ is my friend

Þ is family

Reblog if you love þ

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the idea that what dc needs is "fixing up" in real estate terms is so fucking infuriating. our budget is blocked, we're getting a stadium we have to pay for that would be infinitely better as housing, blighted buildings are vacant and unused and housing prices are insane, our public services are understaffed, childcare is massively impacted, and we can't even pass local laws without the rest of the country's approval, bur you know what we need? More Police Spending ^.^

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Reblogging again because some people in my life were horrified by this license plate and thought it had to be a special vanity plate. No, this is just what cars in DC have on them.

DC is a gorgeous city with incomparable history. It is unique and resilient and deserves so much more than our country has given it. I only lived there for about 6 months, but it still lives in my heart and it honestly hurts seeing what is happening there right now. Thinking of you and of everyone who calls DC home right now, this shit is terrifying

Thank you. It means a lot. I'm worried for the most vulnerable of the city in the next couple weeks. If you have senators - because for everyone else, DC doesn't have congressional representation - please fucking lay on the pressure. Don't let Home Rule be repealed.

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spotted by the river

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spotted by the river

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DC is a gorgeous city with incomparable history. It is unique and resilient and deserves so much more than our country has given it. I only lived there for about 6 months, but it still lives in my heart and it honestly hurts seeing what is happening there right now. Thinking of you and of everyone who calls DC home right now, this shit is terrifying

Thank you. It means a lot. I'm worried for the most vulnerable of the city in the next couple weeks. If you have senators - because for everyone else, DC doesn't have congressional representation - please fucking lay on the pressure. Don't let Home Rule be repealed.

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I'll add sources in later on stats once I'm home but well, hi, Washington DC resident here, enjoying a 30 year low on crime. My post schedule shouldn't be impacted by the fucking federal troops being deployed here, unless I get harassed for trying to cross a street while being trans, but that'll involve the cops looking up from playing candy crush long enough to wonder what my gender is and decide if it's worth following me.

Please think critically of the shit coming out of my city in the next few days. A distraction is a distraction, even if it's military tank parade part 2. The people who live here are incredible and I love my city so much, and none of us want to be part of a dick measuring tug of war, which is what revoking Home Rule will do.

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Would you say that skills in other crafts can translate well to embroidery, and if so, which ones? E.g. if someone has never tried it but has a steady sewing hand, or understands line flow and weight in drawing, would they be at an advantage in starting embroidery or is it more of a unique/standalone set of skills?

Love your blog, and thank you for replying to all the asks!

Hey there, thanks so much.

Yeah, I've personally seen friends who do knitting and crochet do their first embroidery and then be accused of faking it for internet attention when they post it online - knowing how to handle fiber tension directly carries over. My first embroideries were better than average because I had so much hand sewing experience from stitching seams. Fine artists who understand color values and line depth come to embroidery with that in mind for placing strands and choosing stitches, the same kinda way you pick your brush to lay down paint.

That said I think everyone needs to try embroidery without trying to be good or not so there are very few excuses I take for an answer.