@virtuosew@mathstodon.xyz
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virtuosew

@virtuosew@mathstodon.xyz

Embroiderer, dancer, early music fan.

I tell stories in stitch.

https://ko-fi.com/virtuosewadventures

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virtuosew, to random
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I've just been made aware that this week saw the anniversary of the death of , jouster, warrior, statesman, guardian of kings.
So, reposting my embroidery of him in honour of the occasion.

virtuosew, to random
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This painting was done during lockdown, using a very grainy photo of Flinders Petrie outside one of the empty tombs he lived in when excavating in Egypt, early in his association with the Egypt Exploration Society , and it taught me a lot.

Here you see the whole painting, using entirely earth colours and some salt effects. I chased tones all round the image, and then sat back...

virtuosew,
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I sat back, cross eyed and a bit blurred with all that tonal work - and discovered the dog.

I hadn't realised he was there, looking at the photograph! In fact, even now I know he's there, looking at my original photo, it's not clear.

So now I know to try to trust the process.

virtuosew,
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The same tone-chasing gave me Flinders Petrie himself, standing casually against the rock, hands behind his head..

virtuosew, to random
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It's always useful to find out what other writers and artists think about their work. This, from Rosemary Sutcliff:

"The temptation is to try & use everything you’ve found out in…research. That can be fatal, because you…only need to use about 1/10. It’s…like an iceberg…It has to be there, because it gives you the freedom of the period. But you don’t use it.”

It has some relevance to my planning of embroidery projects, especially the . I need to know something about it, but I'm not trying to do a period-accurate one, so I have to be a bit careful about what I include of what I know.

virtuosew,
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@ColinTheMathmo Exactly so!

virtuosew, to art
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If you go for a stroll in Birkenhead Park in the next fortnight, there's an exhibition in the Visitor Centre... It runs from 13:00 on May 11 until 16:00 on May 25.
Opening hours 10:30 - 16:00, every day.
#exhibition #Wirral #BirkenheadPark #art #paintings

virtuosew, to random
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Finished in class this week.

Trooper in Ballarat (living history site, bringing to life the Australian Gold Rush).

virtuosew, to random
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Carrying away the spoil...

A very small detail of the , the most distant figures, all in fine and with clouds of dust.

virtuosew, to Futurology
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I went hunting for #Aethelflaed yesterday. This is the only part of #Chester Walls that I think may include some of her refortification, near to the Northgate.

#MedievalMoversAndShakers #Research #Sketching

virtuosew, to random
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I've been looking through the manuscript - and I think I'm at least five watercolours short for the marginalia! AAARGH!

virtuosew, to random
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Two finished overlays!

virtuosew, to random
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I spent some of yesterday doing experiments with possible techniques for the the overlays, and ended with with hands like Lady Macbeth's (always assuming that Duncan's blood was purple acrylic ink!). For such tenacious colour, the effect on the gauze was disappointingly feeble.

I'm concerned about the inktense because the first gauzes are beginning to look much muddier than when I started, but I think acrylic ink is not a better solution, in the end.

virtuosew,
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Now someone on another platform has picked up the reference and wants to know what is the equivalent to "incarnadine" but for purple? 💜
Anyone like to make a suggestion?
@Minimus , do you know?

virtuosew, to random
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Today has been A Day. I gave the manuscript for The Book to @ColinTheMathmo, asking for feedback and suggestions. I've spent today putting them into action. They've improved it considerably, but it's been a frustrating day, tied to the laptop.

I am trying to emphasize the contribution of the artisans, labourers and excavators to the story of Egyptology, something that Mary Chubb was also conscious of.

#DreamsOfAmarna #AmWriting #AmEditing
#MaryChubb #NefertitiLivedHere

virtuosew, to random
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I'm thinking of using Crowdfunder, or something similar, for pre-orders for The Book, so - what rewards might be appropriate, beyond, of course A Book, A Signed Book, or Several Books?

virtuosew, to random
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Basketchildren of Amarna... A homage to the children employed to help excavate Amarna in the Twenties and Thirties.

virtuosew, to random
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I'm still struggling with the final version of the overlays for . This time I'm experimenting with making stencils.

It involved an enormous amount of studio rearrangement to find the mat and the cutting tool.

virtuosew, to FiberArts
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The more I worked on the #DreamsOfAmarna, the more those dreams changed.. Rather than gold and glamour, I found myself drawn to the less showy finds, stone and faience, and to the people responsible for making them, or responsible for excavating them, the archaeologists, the Guftis, the local labourers and the basket children. #LoadingTheFelucca was one of the pieces made in their honour.
#Embroidery #Applique #HandEmbroidery #Amarna #Stumpwork

virtuosew, to FiberArts
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As I am looking back at the #DreamsOfAmarna project, planning the eventual book, I am thinking about what changed between when I started and when I got to the end (I think, the end!). One of the things that changed the most was that I didn't use nearly as much goldwork as I expected.

We all think of #AncientEgypt as being a place of gold and glamour, full of wonders of metalworking, epitomised for most of us by the famous death mask of #Tutankhamun. Somehow, that isn't where the #embroidery and #watercolour led me.... Projects, it seems, have a mind of their own....

#ArtistsLife

virtuosew, to uk
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Artists in the #UK who use sites that put their artwork on things - can you recommend one which is decent to work with and does good quality things?

#ArtistLife #SellingMyWork.

Boosts welcome.

virtuosew, to random
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Thinking about producing The Book Of The Dreams Of Amarna, and some postcards or notecards to go with it.

Would you prefer postcards or notecards?

And which images would you want to see on them?

virtuosew, to random
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Well, I've learnt one thing today blocks on damp fabric are rather uncontrollable and tricky to manage.

virtuosew, to random
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Did I show you this?
"Copper Blue" in , from a photo taken in Belem, Lisbon.

virtuosew, to random
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Studio day today, trying to mount the overlays.
First dry run - now I have to work out how to wrangle the corners ..

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