Please see new website http://www.niamhwhite.com for up to date information.
Stitch Sisters is a brand new community of women, working on personal samplers to explore themes of maternal legacy and women’s’ heritage through stitch. If you would like to join Stitch Sisters please click on Stitch Sisters button at the top of this page for more details
Samplers are stitch “documents” originally used by needlewomen to create a catalogue of various stitches they liked and hoped to use in personal projects. At a time when books were not printed, these samplers were highly prized records and teaching materials in stitch development. I am calling for women to join me in cataloguing their thoughts, opinions and beliefs which they feel are worth cataloguing and preserving for future generations of women.
We will work in the medium of stitch, a material which has an interesting history in women’s lives and although it began as a practical craft used equally by both sexes, it has become, for various reasons, to be seen as a female material. We will investigate this history and use it to discuss our own narrative in this project.
There will be a series of introductory workshops around the country to recruit stitchers, info on which will be posted here and emailed to those registered. Your sampler is your chance to create a snapshot of yourself, your thoughts, opinions and stories to leave for future generations. It is yours to keep and bequeath.
Saturday 12th February 11am -4pm
Admission included with entry fee to the estate
Join our Artist in Residence Niamh White for an Open Studio day where she will lead a Valentine’s themed workshop and display her work. Simply drop into her studio off the farmyard between 11am and 4pm. Interested participants should bring their beloved’s shirt or use a cuff of fabric we provide and we will work on embroidering our names onto them. This is a play on the ancient tradition of men tying their beloved’s name around their wrist, entitling them to a year of courtship. Please consider carefully if you are willing to commit to a year’s courtship as this is a binding arrangement!
The Irish Times – Saturday, February 5, 2011
RóISíN INGLE
The innocent embroidery sampler has developed a serious attitude in recent years. One website – subversivecrossstitch.com – features samplers with messages such as “You lie like a cheap rug” and other less printable adages. Visual artist Niamh White has been researching how this very feminine artform developed over the centuries and wants contemporary Irish women to get involved.
“Many women learned to write through the medium . . . samplers were often used as notebooks and as a way to make public very private parts of these women’s lives,” she says. “Before they were married, women would often incorporate their maiden names into the work and they were passed down as a maternal legacy.”As part of what she hopes will be a national “maternal legacy” project, White is inviting women to create their own samplers, a “running thread that picks up fragments and extracts from your life”. At her weekly Stitch Sisters gatherings, participants can learn how to cross stitch their own textiles. The sessions take place at Airfield Overend Cafe, Dundrum, Dublin 14, where White is artist-in-residence, every Thursday at 11am, and admission is free. More information from niamhwhite.com or tel: 01-2984301. No stitching experience necessary.
We had our first meeting of the Airfield Stitch Sisters on Thursday. I was hoping for 5 or 6 participants but on Sile’s encouragement prepared 12 stitch packs, just in case we got a lot of participants.
Sile prepared the room so perfectly, laying out big squishy sofas around occasional tables, making the room feel welcoming and not so big. Emer brought round some of the sisters (Letitia and Naomi) succulents which were beautiful and we placed them around the room. We had our biscuits laid out, lit a scented candle, put our posters in the window and were totally prepared….or so we thought.
We were amazed when women began arriving in twos and threes. Sebastian had to bring three sack trucks of chairs and Sile began photocopying the contents of my, now pathetically inadequate, 12 starter packs. We ended up with over forty amazing women, from novice stitchers to embroidery guild members, all excited to join “Stitch Sisters” and be part of a legacy. Some women were keen to get involved in a project to use their stitch skills, others had never stitched but really wanted to learn, and others were really interested in the idea of making samplers to pass on.
Because we had such a big group we started with something very straight forward and used aida to practice some cross stitch.
Aida is a loose weave even fabric created for cross stitching and comes in various weave grades, we used 11, 14 and 18. The number relates to the number of lines across per inch, the higher the number the finer the weave and the more detailed the image produced.
The plan for the group is to work on a collaborative piece in cross stitch. Each individual will also work on a sampler in the sessions and at home, developing a self portrait which will form a part of a collective body of work, looking at the essential elements women hold in high regard and hope to preserve.
Hand stitched cotton thread on unbleached irish linen.
Finally got back to working on my flag which has been seriously neglected the last few weeks! Andy is making me a flagpole which will hang just above head height outside my front door, can’t wait to hang it- but have to finish it first.
When the flag is up I am in, when it’s down I am not on site. So when the flag’s up, feel free to call in for a chat!
Culture » Art & Design » Features »
The Irish Times – Tuesday, January 18, 2011
I’m an artist – can I take your order?
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2011/0118/1224287752457.html
Few Irish artists make a living solely from their art – with cuts in funding, even recognised artists have to take part-time work to support themselves, writes GEMMA TIPTON
niamh white 