Embossed Angels

I am packing again - this time for a talk in Hull on Saturday. The title is 'Putting on the Glitz' and it is one of my favourites because we cover the historical aspects - mostly goldwork. There are such lovely distressed pieces in the golden oldies section. It's also interesting coming up through the 20th century to see the development into the work we do today. This piece by Val Campbell-Harding was worked on furnishing fabric -a common choice in the 70s. Don't you love the folds in his neck?





Coming up to date I think that some of the stuff being done with melted embossing powders is a new goldwork and many of the same rules apply for using it. The small embroidery below was poured from a melting pot onto a Sherrill Kahn angel stamp - it's not an exact science as you often get an incomplete motif, which is great. I slapped some water-soluble paper over the melted UTEE so that it had a base. When the paper is dissolved and dried it can be stitched to a background.

I made a series of these for an exhibition and sold them all. This one had a wing missing so she was called 'Almost an Angel'. Then there was 'More than an Angel' who had an excess of powder; you can see her below. Finally there was a very skinny one who just had to be 'Atkins Angel'.

We shall be sure to record anything interesting that we find en-route to Hull. No doubt we shall be visiting a National Trust place or two - if only for the food.

Please keep the comments coming - I don't always get around to replying individually but I love reading them.