Got home after an amazing experience at the Japanese Embroidery Center in Atlanta, Georgia ....as many of you know I enjoy all types of needle work and am always eager to learn and improve my techniques. This time I can at least say that I came back with a little bit better understanding of how gold leaf, dye and stitching can be used to complement and enhance an embroidery. There is much more for me to learn and study on color, texture, historical context and of course, the refinement of techniques is a good challenge in itself.
I do not blog or show pictures of my Japanese embroidery often - although it is one of the silk embroidery techniques I focus on most of the time. Some of you have contacted me on this many times asking for details so I thought this might be a good time to share. My journey to the Japanese Embroidery Center in Atlanta started in November, 2005. My master teacher, Masa Tamura, introduced me to the world of filament silk. There are 47 basic techniques which are introduced over ten phases... I was smitten and went through all 10 phases rapidly - all other embroidery took a back seat while I simply inhaled the Japanese embroidery techniques... took many trips to Atlanta during the following year and a half and attended phase 10 class in October, 2007 after taking all my finished pieces down for Masa to see and approve before this Phase 10 class. That is when I was told that not too many people have finished the ten phases that quickly and stitched them as well as I had managed to do; for most people this is a 7-12 year ‘process’. Oh well, I know I have always had my own pace and not having boundaries and immersing myself fully into the intricacies of this beautiful embroidery was just perfect for me ! Teaching Japanese embroidery had not crossed my mind at all, Masa had asked me around phase 6 if I want to teach which surprised me. I gave her a diplomatic answer (I was proud of it at that time ) saying that if and when the time comes I would consider it but that I had so much more to learn and refine so my focus for now would be just enjoying my own learning.
Totally by chance, at my very first EGA local meeting in November, 2007, a lady sat down next to me during the break, briefly looked at what I was doing and talked to me and then wrote out a check and handed it to me saying that she would like to learn Japanese embroidery from me. I was surprised and taken aback, tried to get her to go to the ‘teachers’ in New York State or Massachusetts but she wouldn’t budge ... I got home; my husband expected me to be all excited about finally meeting one of the designers I had previously corresponded with via email in person only to see my confused face and hear my story about being asked to teach Japanese embroidery! During that week I got emails from two other women saying that they heard I would be teaching and they wanted to be part of my class! I guess the drums were beating in the embroidery world in Connecticut! I was amazed and called Masa ...she reassured me and said that I would learn to teach as I instructed my students through Phase 1; she said that she too went through a similar process when they first moved to Atlanta. So, I started out on that venture - I stitched Phase 1 again taking pictures, videos and PowerPoint presentations to assist my teaching and over the years I have stitched just about all the phase projects 1-8 in the catalog so that my students would have a class sample and I would have a better understanding in guiding them if they chose that project... I spent a considerable amount of time and resources in this quest to be a better teacher - until Masa-san told me to stop and get back to my own pieces... and then 'life' intervened and I am still trying to get back to where I left off !
And as we went through years of ‘upheaval ‘ in our lives with one medical issue after the other, as many of you know who follow my blog .... samplers and other embroidery techniques helped me through, thus rekindling my interest in all types of embroidery again; I had taken all my stuff out of the closet as many of you know with the intention of ‘getting rid’ of other embroidery stuff ... just couldn’t do it and am so glad I did not act on my initial thoughts. These past years, dealing with frozen shoulder issues and then the mess after my fall have proven to me once more that all of my stash has value, all the embroidery techniques are the best form of ‘physical therapy ‘ - far better than the therapy I received from the specialized therapist I sought out after my fall...
Over the years, I have continued to teach my small group... we have shared many laughs and learned a lot of things about Japanese embroidery techniques and Life. They are progressing well and have started understanding my reasons for striving for excellence, striving to develop a way of 'seeing' and understanding the complex dynamics of not just a well executed stitch, an organized approach, but also seeing color, developing a feeling for texture and appreciating the design in it's historical context of Japanese culture. I am always pointing out how certain designs were influenced by other countries and cultures - that even in ancient times designs and information were 'borrowed' and adapted, refined and interpreted. This 'give and take of ideas between cultures is what has fascinated me since my childhood and was at the core of my Master's thesis in German Literature a long time ago. Appreciating this now in color and design, in music and foods is what many of my Facebook posts are about ; it is what I like to 'research' in my spare time - I realize now it is what surrounded me in my childhood growing up in India - it is part of the exuberance of life in India.
My personal study and fascination for needlework continues on - my approach has evolved though and will keep evolving - my intensity in learning has not wavered - I doubt it will and so life continues ... my focus remains 'learning and refining' - in my profession and in my hobbies. The accumulation of certificates and honors has never been my focus - it is nice to have them ( Japanese Bead and Silk embroidery 'certificates' and the professional ones many of which are in drawers - I don't want all the walls plastered with certificates at the office - I need the space there for my needlework after all! ) and it is nice to 'teach' - I do not 'advertise' - in my embroidery classes just like in my profession ...
Many of you have asked me why I don't share my silk embroideries, my bead embroidery or my own designs spanning all sorts of techniques.... this is hard for me to explain without sounding 'weird'.... some of you know how hard a process it is for me to even share my sampler related/ western embroidery.. This blog started as an interesting 'experiment' for me to try and understand 'technology' when I was home sick with a cold/flu as some of you may recall and the carrot was possibly 'winning' a sewing box ( of which I have many) by posting sampler related progress on a now defunct blog.
I will however, try to make an attempt at explaining my approach, my quirky reasons for hesitating in showing my projects...
you see, in a world that now is becoming so increasingly "noisy"- where everyone is posting their work, their creations, their ideas (like I am here now)... 'true mastery' often is undervalued - overlooked even... 'everyone is an expert'... and yet, Mastery is undeniable, it presents itself with quiet confidence - it is an unmistakable sign of excellence rooted in years of focused work, deep understanding and " unconscious competence" as George Leonard puts it and many before him have tried to 'discuss" in their books. I am fortunate to get small glimpses of it in my profession - it has been a long focused journey. I have also been fortunate to see exquisitely stitched pieces of Indian embroidery in the maharaja's collections, Japanese and Chinese embroidery and Western embroidery done superbly by talented, dedicated professionals.... when I observe their work, it takes my breath away... when gold, silver and silk threads shine brightly to breathe life into each line and angle stitched, when the stitches, twists and foundations themselves 'disappear' and all that remains is the 'whole' experience - that, to me is Mastery in needlework. And then, even within the ranks of the professionals you can see variations in skill and attitude.... just like many people can play a musical instrument or paint, and there are many very talented professional musicians or painters but there are only a few in that group who rise above the rest, and then, there are rare individuals like Bach, daVinci or the Chinese master embroiderer who stitched a large piece of double sided embroidery depicting a tree branch with a white crane on one side of the fabric and a brown feathered eagle coming in for a landing on the other side of the same piece of fabric - that is the endangered world of the Suzhou Master Embroiderer ( and this is not a tourist gimmick glue job but a certified piece of exquisite embroidery).
I realize that an argument can be made for sharing needlework etc - some of you have written to me to tell me that my blog has helped you in various ways. It is interesting to note that usually a message or email arrives right around the time I am ready to stop blogging since few people comment here and the likes etc on Facebook always leave me wondering but some posts have over 1000 visits (according to the stats).
Even at the Japanese Embroidery Center there is now a push to share whatever was embroidered in class - it is projected onto the big screen thanks to technology - so I have to now hesitatingly share my half baked ideas ( of which there are many when I start a project ) and see them projected on the big screen ....an interesting experience that makes me cringe each time! And then, the result for me now is that all this 'sharing' of my half baked ideas mingled and jumbled up with everyone else's thoughts and ideas and stitching experiments at Advanced or Teachers class results in my not even touching that embroidery frame for a long while upon my return from class because even though I may have tried to prepare myself for the class and think about color and techniques before class and in the evenings whilst I am there.... all the sharing is just 'noise' and it gets in the way when I come home from such a class and hinders me from continuing with that project.
I used to come home from Advanced class with some idea of which of my thought processes were worth exploring, getting good ideas from the Master teachers as to what I needed to consider etc - now it is a constant bombardment of images in my head/or through social media of others 'sharing' in this seemingly new 'race' to be the first one finished
....and all I am looking for is quiet and clarity...
I preferred the old way.a bit more : less talking, more observation -which is now even more possible because the Master teacher has hooked things up so we can watch him stitch on the big screen if we weren't 'expected to stitch something to show' during that time, more sharing of ideas through seeing beautifully stitched pieces by professionals - observing excellence in choice of stitching technique, seeing the expertly used colors and textures of a professionally stitched piece, hearing more about the historical context of life ....it is rare to see such works of quiet elegance and sophistication these days.... the world of the master embroiderer is now getting drowned out by all the 'chatter of the masses'.... it takes time to learn a skill, more time to aspire to duplicate a professionally stitched piece in an acceptable way, and then even more time to find your own voice and develop your own design at a decent level..... I hesitate, because I am just barely aware of how high the mountain is ...
which may not be a bad thing... all you can do is put one foot forward, then the next and then keep moving ...
It reminds me of something the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote in a letter to his wife when studying Cezanne: "I am learning to see, yes, I am beginning to see ... "
so, perhaps now you can understand my hesitation ? Understanding a stitch is a start, and executing a technique is just one more step ... but there is a huge mountain ahead still.
