BRINGING MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE DESIGNS ALIVE FOR MODERN STITCHERS
Arelate Studio started in 2000 with the publication of my first book, "Ecclesiastical Pomp and Aristocratic Circumstance: A Thousand Years of Brocaded Tabletwoven Bands". While doing research for this serious book on a weaving technique that was popular for 1000 years in Europe, I kept running across wonderful motifs in the corners of manuscript illuminations, on carved Viking stones, as Italian woodblock prints, woven into Oriental silk fabrics, in literally ever aspect of medieval art.
I wanted to do something with these pieces of art, something to make them accessible to more people, so I started charting the motifs and designs . Much to my surprise, soon I had hundreds of these patterns which became "Here Be Wyverns".
Then it was a quick visit back to tablet weaving when I transcribed and published patterns written down in the 16th century by a German nun for weaving gold brocaded tabletwoven bands. With her own introduction to the book - which still gives me goosebumps - it was a great honor to be able to make "Anna Neuper's Modelbuch" available to modern weavers.
However, the siren call of all those quirky, beautiful, and intriguing designs continued to call, and another 400+ patterns soon appeared in "Here Be Drolleries".
My line of single, cross-stitch patterns have all been created by combining motifs from the two pattern books or simply by recognizing what a delightful graphic a single design was by itself. As I put more individual designs out, you will discover motifs that are not in the books, new entries which will eventually, I'm sure, add up to a third book. (Psst. I am working on that third book right now!)
Medieval and Renaissance art, in whatever form it took, offers us a small bit of insight into the life and thinking of those time periods. By making these patterns available, I hope that I have been able to bring these time periods alive and to add something fresh to your own creative life even if the source is hundreds of years old.
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Happy stitching!