Extensions group

Extensions is an autonomous group of embroiderers under the umbrella of the Association of NZ Embroiderers' Guilds (Inc).  It consists of both formal and informal area groups as well as individuals throughout New Zealand.

April update

I am pleased to report that our 2009 exhibition ‘Celebrating the Natural Fibre’ at Tauranga in October was very successful. Congratulations to Flora Sandbrook from Waihi, who won the People’s Choice Award with ‘The Old Gum Tree’ – using paper bark and flax with cotton, wool and silk stitching. The exhibits were very diverse in design and technique, drawing in-depth comments from a wide age group of visitors and Nyree Sherlock and Mary Stewart, who critiqued the works. Check out the ANZEG website gallery for photos of all the exhibits.  (To view some of the exhibits go to the Gallery page of this website.)

I now encourage all ANZEG Extensions members to participate in at least one exhibition at Conference 2010 in July. Both the ANZEG Open and ANZEG Extensions exhibitions will be held at Artspost in Hamilton – a superb city venue where all works are for sale. It is important to remember that Artspost is a gallery, and all work should be finished with this in mind – these exhibitions are not displays of work. Refer to the October 2009 ‘Threads’ for ANZEG Extensions Exhibition, ‘The Extension of the Stitch’ criteria. Entry forms and details are available from me (blingis@xtra.co.nz) for contact information. All works in this exhibition will receive a written critique as members have suggested feedback is valuable.

ANZEG Extensions Day is to be held at Waikato Diocesan School on Friday July 9 and I encourage any member wanting to attend to register as soon as possible. The day promises to be exciting with a focus on education. I am sure everyone will find the programme stimulating and contributions from the floor for the afternoon panel will hopefully keep facilitator Felicity Willis on her toes!

The full programme is:

9.30am: Registration and morning tea
10am: Welcome and introduction
10.05-10.50: Priscilla Lowry lecture: ‘The Wow Factor! -  Designing Your Work to Win’
11am-1pm: Four x 25 minute workshops tutored by Priscilla Lowry, Jeanette McDonald,  Raewyn Penrose and Yanny Split
1-2pm: Lunch
2-2.45: Panel discussion:
 Facilitator: Felicity Willis
 Panellists: Priscilla Lowry, Jeanette
 McDonald, Raewyn Penrose and Yanny Split         
 Topics: 
a) What’s Most Important in a Gallery Exhibition of Embroidery –
   the Design or the Stitch?          
b) Is There Bad Stitching?
2.45-3pm: Wind-up.

Remember, any ANZEG member is eligible to join ANZEG Extensions. However only financial ANZEG Extensions members can attend ANZEG Extensions Day (Friday July 9) and exhibit in ‘The Extension of the Stitch’. Current and ANZEG members interested in joining ANZEG Extensions are invited to the ANZEG Extensions BGM on Sunday July 11 in the school chapel at 2pm.

Thank you for the positive feedback to the newsletter published every three months. I am sure members appreciate the contributions from the many groups around NZ as it is always interesting to read what other embroiderers are doing. I believe it is really important to work outside our comfort zones from time to time and workshops can be truly stimulating.

I look forward to catching up with you all at Conference.
 

If you have any questions you are very welcome to contact me at blingis@xtra.co.nz.

Linda Inglis

For a membership form click here.

Celebrating the Natural Fibre Exhibition

The 'Celebrating the Natural Fibre' exhibition was recently held at Harrisons Gallery, Tauranga 5 - 17 September, 2009.  Photos of all exhibits are available for viewing on the Gallery pages of this web site.  

 Some overall views of the exhibition.

A critique of the exhibition by the selectors is reproduced below for you information.

Critique of the Association of New Zealand Embroiderers' Guilds Inc Extensions Members Exhibition 'Celebrating the Natural Fibre' by Mary Stewart, School of Design and Humanities, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and Nyree Sherlock, Centre for Continuing Education, University of Waikato, Tauranga.

'Firstly, the overall impression of this exhibition is that the standard of embroidery is impeccably high and the participants are to be commended for creating an art exhibition that allowed the public to enjoy both the art and the craft of embroidery.  This critique, however, is based on the works as visual art works rather than on the technical merits of the embroidery as such.

The theme of 'Celebrating the Natural Fibre' was not only inherent in all of the works but was extended beyond what we had imagined it could be.  It was wonderful to see the extension of embroidery into the world of visual art through the development and depth of concepts used in many of the pieces.  The boundaries of wearable art were also explored and took the viewer beyond the ordinary in to the extraordinary.  Feedback has been given on how the works could be extended and we hope that this will be received as positive affirmation that the work is of a standard warranting exhibition in an art gallery and possible ways of building on the arts practice of the participants.

A recurring theme has been the need for work to be framed in a way that it enhances the artwork.  The use of box frames are very effective when presenting three dimensional work.  It also ensures that the work is protected and will last for a long time, which is important to a buyer or recipient of the artwork.  In the case of many of the artworks that we viewed, the work is very fine and delicate and the audience needs to view them at close range.  Subsequently, it is helpful to have the work on a contrasting background, preferably black or white, with a strong frame around the edge.  This helps the eye to physically focus on the art work, as well as give it a professional finish.  Also, in the curation of the exhibition, artwork of this kind needs to be at easy eye level so that the audience is not bending down or reaching over obstacles to see the work.  It may also be a good idea to exhibit the 3 artworks on plinths with perspex covers to ensure their safety and security.

Finally, this is an exhibition to be extremely proud of, and it is exciting to see the boundaries of this wonderful art extended.  Congratulations to all.'