I participated in a two hour paper marbling class Friday evening, with John Bielik. It was very enlightening to experiment with traditional methods and see the effect on patterns formed while 'combing/raking' the paint. Marbled papers are used to finish the interior drawers and panels of cabinets/caskets, so this class was a must for me. Of course, if you have very old books in your collection, the interior covers will have also been finished in marbled paper, below is an design of Mr. Bielik's. The outdoor venue was perfect and allowed us freedom in distributing the paint which would have been difficult in an indoor setting.
Saturday, two authors from the UK, Jo Baker and John Mullan gave very entertaining talks on their respective books, Longbourn and What Matters in Jane Austen?. There was a combined book signing after. A free copy of P & P was handed out with Jo Baker's book to encourage readers to read them simultaneously. John Mullan did an encore talk on Sunday which turned out to be a continuation of Saturdays discussion, he is extremely fun to listen to and encourages audience participation. Sunday, I attended a workshop on Regency hairstyles by Heather of Custom Wig Company. She went through roller placement and direction which was very informative. I purchased 5 yards of a soft patterned sheer cotton muslin fabric and have many design ideas from the Regency fashion shows held on both Saturday and Sunday. The vendors had period tents set up on the Green, with all the participants in Regency clothing for the Guinness Record breaking attendance, you thought you were in Regency England! The picture below is a very festive period tent of Bingley's Teas Limited, those are customers purchasing teas's, not models or actresses! I had a very enjoyable weekend. I also found that traveling alone just encourages meeting new people. I attended two teas with European seating and in both cases I was seated with very pleasant company, once with two like aged ladies and a daughter and once a mother with two daughters. I suppose a single man would have really enjoyed himself with so many ladies!
As mentioned in a previous post of our JASNA 2013 tour, we stayed three nights in Buxton visiting several 'great estates', Lyme Park, Chatsworth, Stoneleigh Abby and Adlestrop. I managed pictures of interiors with various textiles of great quality on these excursions with the exception of Lyme Park which is still privately owned. Lyme Park has the one piece I was most intrigued with, and therefore can not share, a fireplace screen in the Knights Bedroom of Jacobean design. I know I have seen a picture of this piece before in one of my books on Crewel Embroidery, but I can not currently locate it. I love crewel embroidery and have completed several correspondence courses of Judy Jeroy's in technique and design in addition to completing several kits of Barbara Jackson's. Below are pictured a variety of stitches with Jacobean inspired motifs I have completed for class work. Crewel is my technique of choice as my eyes age, I have been hoarding fibers and projects to complete when I can no longer accurately count linen threads.
Chatsworth's interior was used in the 2005 version of P & P, as luck would have it, our small tour group was escorted into a locked room where 'the veiled lady' was on pallets ready to be shipped out for an exhibition, we had a private viewing all of our own!
Stoneleigh Abby was a pleasant surprise, the entrance looks like Wedgwood pottery, I believe one of Jane's letters mentions purchasing a Wedgwood tea set in London, I can understand why it would have meaning for her family. A set of needle point chairs in the library were present when Jane and her mother stayed at Stoneleigh, also a wonderful red velvet couch with removable 'wedges' or cushions.
I soon plan to return to this region, it is near two places I dearly want to see. First, Hardwick Hall the seat of Bess of Hardwick, otherwise known as Elizabeth of Shrewsbury, the goddess of Elizabethan embroidery (Mary Queen of Scots jailer) both women are legends in the embroidery world. Second, Haddon Hall, which is supposed to have a collection of crewel work unsurpassed. Pictured below is a class of Elizabethan embroidery and gold work, designed and taught by Tricia Wilson Nguyen, which I completed almost 12 years ago. Also shown, a jam pot and curtains made of fabric inspired by the crewel work at Haddon Hall in my collection.
Enough for today.... more tomorrow as we head to Winchester!
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