Two hours to do that!!!

 

As you can see, I've added another bird to my Corinne Lapierre style collection.  A white goose.  My embroidery's not exactly as per the pattern in the book, but it's good enough.  

The goose joins the owls and blue tit, though the chickens have flown the nest, given as Easter presents along with a shed load of chocolate.  I also received a massive amount of chocolate back, which I'm ashamed to say I've already scoffed.  Delicious it was too.  

Today was another Stitch Art class at Leeds art gallery.  Once again we took inspiration from the current exhibition, 'Found Cities, Lost Objects', and in particular this huge wall hanging by Young In Hong.  It's entitled 'Burning Love' and - to quote from the exhibition programme it 'illustrates a scene from a candle-lit vigil that was held in Seoul, South Korea, in 2008.  The demonstration was triggered by the South Korean government's reversal of a ban on US beef imports and saw hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets to join the protest.'  

This wall hanging looks as though it's painted or dyed material that's been spread over a backing fabric like unbleached calico, but I think the base is canvas and it's not fabric that makes the image we see but thread.  The whole thing - and it's massive - is embroidered.  Presumably it was made in smaller sections and attached together, or the complete piece was made in an industrial setting like a textiles factory.  I mean, you'd never get that through your home sewing machine!  The mind boggles as to how much thread this artwork swallowed up.  

There are un-stitched areas where you can see the bare canvas, and lots and lots of threads hanging down, left deliberately long and loose.  The image really does look like a dense crowd of people in a city setting, even though when you get close up it's all abstract shapes that swirl about in front of your eyes.  

Anyway, we were given teeny embroidery hoops with calico stretched over them, and could pick our thread colours from a large box full.  Now, two hours might seem a long time to sew, but honestly the time passes in the blink of an eye.  So please don't laugh when you see the piddling effort I managed to produce.  My interpretation of Young In Hong's beautiful textile piece is very much a work in progress ... 

Oiy!  You weren't supposed to laugh ... I'll keep working on it this evening, and see if I can't at least cover the entire area - small as it is - in thread.  I doubt somehow it'll end up hanging in Tate Modern, but it'll keep me occupied and hopefully away from ferreting around in the kitchen for yet more chocolate.  The waistline can't take any more calorific feasts.  

Bye and best wishes.