Landscape and Legend

One of my favourite memories is of sitting on my Grandmother’s window seat, surrounded by her embroidery and learning to stitch. Her example and my Mum’s background as a domestic science teacher meant that I grew up sewing and making my own clothes.

Adult life and a passion for computers intervened and there was less time for embroidery until I had children. After a second career in education I decided to refresh my creativity and follow my early interest in embroidery by studying Design for Embroidery and obtained City and Guilds qualifications at both Certificate and Diploma levels.

Most of my work is inspired by architecture or landscape. The hills, farmland, crags, forest and moorland on the North West outskirts of Sheffield have provided the starting point for embroidery using a variety of textile media, gradually taking a more abstract approach.

The Maiden
Jenny Robson

Last year I discovered that these abstract landscapes could be combined with my interest in Celtic design and so the hunt for a theme began. Living within sight of Wharncliffe Crags, the ‘Wantley Dragon’ was an obvious choice.

The dragon of Wantley made his home near Wharncliffe Chase in the Upper Don Valley on the edge of Sheffield. He lived in a cave in the hillside and drank from a nearby well. He was known for eating people and cattle, tearing up trees and having a nose running with burning snot. He was also partial to eating children for a snack.

The Knight
Jenny Robson

Eventually the locals called upon a knight to deal with the dragon. More lived in More Hall just across the River Don from the dragon’s den in Wharncliffe Crags and was famous in the area for acts like swinging a horse around by its mane. The locals offered all their worldly goods to him in return for slaying the dragon. He refused, saying instead he wanted a sixteen year old girl to prepare him for the fight, dressing him in the morning of the battle.

More went to Sheffield to get his armour covered in steel spikes. With that done, he hid in a well to wait for the dragon. When the dragon appeared, he jumped out of the well and hit it. The battle continued for more than two days and nights with More and the dragon displaying their skill and exchanging comments. Eventually More kicked the dragon's behind (literally) and it fell down dead.

Winter Dragon
Jenny Robson

There is no indication of the colour of the dragon in the story so I was free to experiment. I did not want the traditional ‘St. George and the Dragon’ style but wanted to experiment with Celtic design as it would lend itself to the gold-work techniques that I intended to adapt to give the dragon a hint of glitter. After all, dragons are often associated with golden hoards of treasure.



If you'd like to see Jenny's work at exhibition, it is being displayed at Unravel Crafts in Huddersfield throughout August. Please click here for the website and directions. - Editor

Celebrating 10 Years of Embroidery

'Madagascar' - Jenny Robson

Crewel work, cross stitch, gold work, white work, silk shading, free embroidery, machine embroidery, traditional or contemporary embroidery – what’s your favourite? Does embroidery change over ten years, or is it just our approach to embroidery that changes?

This year Yorkshire and the Humber Region of the Embroiderers’ Guild celebrates its tenth anniversary, so we decided to celebrate ten years of our embroidery at our annual Open Day and Exhibition here in Sheffield.

Freestyle & Goldwork
Embroidery

So what did we see? Knowing the wide range of interests of our members we expected to see lots of different techniques and lots of beautiful work and we were not disappointed in this. We are lucky to have some members who produce exquisitely stitched examples of traditional embroidery, some who take a contemporary approach and others who combine techniques and media giving a contemporary twist to tradition.

Silk Shading
- Christine Poole

The hardest job we had was to select a dozen of the entries to form our contribution to the regional exhibition ‘A Ten Year Journey’ in Ripley Town Hall, near Harrogate, on July 14th and 15th which will feature work from embroiderers all over the Yorkshire and Humberside region. The exhibition is open to everyone and as there are plenty of other things to see in Ripley, such as the Castle and gardens, it should make a grand day out!

Needlelace / Stumpwork
Elephant

Over the last ten years some of us have embarked on the journey to develop our own designs and create our own unique approach to embroidery, whilst others have continued to explore their particular favourites. What doesn’t change is our joint enjoyment of embroidery in all its forms.

-Jenny Robson

Click here for details of our Regional Exhibition