My NAN Entry

Two posts in one day…

very unusual for me but when I have the time to catch myself up I need to take advantage…so…

This was my entry into the NAN (http://www.needleart.org/) Exemplary as a Non-Original Professional with instruction. It is as yet an untaught piece by Eileen Aird, who owns Ridgewood Needlepoint, Ridgewood NJ. (http://www.ridgewoodneedlepoint.com/index.php?p=main)  I have permission to use the picture and to talk about the piece from Eileen. This is a class teaching piece designed by Eileen and as yet not taught…I knew about it because I did the stitch diagrams and page layouts for the student handbook.

I liked this piece because I live close to the Kansas City Country Club Plaza (http://www.countryclubplaza.com/);   and  I always try and buy and want to stitch pieces that depict the Plaza. NAN is held on the Plaza too, so if you come you will see the Plaza from your room. The Plaza is a great place;  shops, hotels, fine dining, carriage rides, and is usually decorated for the season. This time of year we have bunnies on the Plaza and it is a tradition with many families to go to the plaza and have your picture taken standing by the bunnies. At Christmas, the Plaza is a winter wonderland; all the buildings are outlined with electric lights and it is a magical place. Until a two years ago there were no stop signs and few traffic lights on the Plaza but with the enlarging population, and less thoughtfulness of drivers this has changed.

I thought Eileen had chosen interesting architectural buildings to demonstrate needlepoint techniques. The curved dome on the right of the piece only had the left lines marked on the canvas, so as the student you are to mirror this on the right side making the dome symmetrical. To help the illusion of a smooth curve a couching technique is applied to this  roof. The building on the left uses mirror stitching to present perspective and change of direction. And the center tower shows perspective by using similar stitches that either vary in size, direction or variation. This was a fun piece to stitch and a great intermediate class to try beginning mirror and compensation techniques as well as good stitches to use as architectural elements.  

This will be a great teaching piece and does not only represent the Plaza but any architecture that has a Spanish, Mediterranean or Middle-Eastern elements. I enjoyed stitching this piece and it will hang in my dining room in a place of honor with my other Plaza pictures that I frame.

ttfn…sue