Winsome Douglas (or Douglass) | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1919 Hartlepool, England |
| Died | 28 December 2016 |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | teaching, embroidery, writing |
Winsome Douglas (1919-2016) was a British embroiderer and teacher active in the United Kingdom in the 1950s and 1960s. She was born in Hartlepool in County Durham in 1919, and died at the age of 97 on 28 December 2016 in Hartlepool. [1]
An only child, Douglas' early life was spent primarily in the northeast of England. She attended the West Hartlepool High School for Girls. [2] After leaving school, she gained a place at the St Hild's Women's Teacher Training College (now part of the University of Durham) where she graduated with a degree in geography. [1]
Much of Douglas' working life was dedicated to teaching in secondary schools in the Hartlepool area. Initially during the Second World War she taught pupils at the Dyke House School. Prior to retirement she taught at the Henry Smith Grammar School where she eventually became the deputy head of the school. [1] This school closed in 1977 and was demolished in 1982. [2]
While teaching at Dyke House School, Douglas helped to set up the National Needlework Development Scheme (NDS). [1] This initiative, a joint venture between the textiles industry and art colleges, sponsored by J & P Coats the Scottish thread manufacturer, lasted from 1934 to 1961. It aimed to raise standards of embroidery design and practice through reaching out to girls and women in schools, training colleges and the Women's Institute. On behalf of the NDS Douglas helped to acquire examples of high quality needlework and embroidery from around the world, to be used as demonstration pieces and teaching tools for adults and children. Douglas herself designed and created embroidery for the NDS. Her work includes vibrant and intricately embroidered panels, cushions and soft toys, which showcase her embroidery skills. Douglas frequently deployed bright, contrasting colours such as red, black and white, to depict stylised or unusual beasts, birds and fish in her designs. [1]
When the NDS was disbanded in 1961, its vast collection of needlework of over 3,500 items was distributed among The National Museum of Scotland, The Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the 4 major Scottish art colleges - Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen. Several examples of Douglas' creative output are now to be found in the collections of British public museums, art galleries, art colleges, and universities, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, [3] Reading Museum and the Paisley Museum.
In December 2019, The University of Edinburgh College of Art held a special 2 month-long exhibition, entitled 'Touching Stitches', to show off items from its historic NDS collection of embroidery. The event was described as a display of inspiring pieces of needlework and textile art from the 17th to the 20th century. [4] The exhibition showcases several of Douglas' intricate designs and finished pieces. One of these is a brightly coloured circular cushion; a description and photograph of it can be viewed on the University of Edinburgh website. This piece features bold, fantastical animals, embroidered in primary colours. A stitch analysis carried out in 2017 by the Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) showed that it contained 17 different types of embroidery stitches. [5]
In addition to revealing rarely-displayed work, the exhibition highlights how Douglas' samples were used by ECA as a valuable teaching tool for groups of women, including refugees, prisoners and visually impaired. [6]
Douglas wrote three books on embroidery techniques during her long life. [1] The books, entitled 'Discovering Embroidery', 'Let me Embroider' and 'Embroidery' were published by Mills and Boon in the 1950s. [1] A more specialised book entitled 'Toys for your Delight' was published in the 1960s.
These books were designed to inspire and educate others in the craft, by explaining and illustrating techniques of embroidery to the public. The books passed on the knowledge and skills gained through her own artistic endeavours and her experience in the Needlework Development Scheme to future generations of sewers and embroiderers.
Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on caps, hats, coats, overlays, blankets, dress shirts, denim, dresses, stockings, scarfs, and golf shirts. Embroidery is available in a wide variety of thread or yarn colour. It is often used to personalize gifts or clothing items.
Berlin wool work is a style of embroidery similar to today's needlepoint that was particularly popular in Europe and America from 1804 to 1875. It is typically executed with wool yarn on canvas, worked in a single stitch such as cross stitch or tent stitch, although Beeton's book of Needlework (1870) describes 15 different stitches for use in Berlin work. It was traditionally stitched in many colours and hues, producing intricate three-dimensional looks by careful shading. Silk or beads were frequently used as highlights. The design of such embroidery was made possible by the great progress made in dyeing, initially with new mordants and chemical dyes, followed in 1856, especially by the discovery of aniline dyes, which produced bright colors.
The Royal School of Needlework (RSN) is a hand embroidery school in the United Kingdom, founded in 1872 and based at Hampton Court Palace since 1987.
Ann Macbeth was a British embroiderer, designer, teacher and author, a member of the Glasgow Movement and an associate of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. She was also an active suffragette and designed banners for suffragists and suffragettes movements.
Mary "May" Morris was an English artisan, embroidery designer, jeweller, socialist, and editor. She was the younger daughter of the Pre-Raphaelite artist and designer William Morris and his wife and artists' model, Jane Morris.
Opus Anglicanum or English work is fine needlework of Medieval England done for ecclesiastical or secular use on clothing, hangings or other textiles, often using gold and silver threads on rich velvet or linen grounds. Such English embroidery was in great demand across Europe, particularly from the late 12th to mid-14th centuries and was a luxury product often used for diplomatic gifts.
Leon Conrad is a British polymath: writer, story structure consultant, educator, and specialist in historic needlework techniques known particularly for historically-styled blackwork embroidery designs.
English embroidery includes embroidery worked in England or by English people abroad from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day. The oldest surviving English embroideries include items from the early 10th century preserved in Durham Cathedral and the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry, if it was worked in England. The professional workshops of Medieval England created rich embroidery in metal thread and silk for ecclesiastical and secular uses. This style was called Opus Anglicanum or "English work", and was famous throughout Europe.
Helen Kathleen Ramsay Whyte MBE (1909–1996) was a Scottish embroiderer and teacher of textile arts.
Mary Linwood (1755–1845) was an English needle woman who exhibited her worsted embroidery or crewel embroidery in Leicester and London, and was the school mistress of a private school later known as Mary Linwood Comprehensive School. In 1790, she received a medal from the Society of Arts.
Jessie Newbery was a Scottish artist and embroiderer. She was one of the artists known as the Glasgow Girls. Newbery also created the Department of Embroidery at the Glasgow School of Art where she was able to establish needlework as a form of unique artistic design. She married the director of the Glasgow School of Art, Francis Newbery, in 1889.
The Oxburgh Hangings are needlework bed hangings that are held in Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk, England, made by Mary, Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick, during the period of Mary's captivity in England.
Elizabeth (Bessie) Burden was a British embroiderer and teacher. She was a member of the Arts and Crafts Movement, and worked for the embroidery department of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. She was the sister of Jane Morris and sister-in-law of the artist, designer and poet, William Morris.
Constance Mildred Howard, later Constance Parker, was an English textile artist and embroiderer who had a profound impact on the development and teaching of those subjects in Britain. The Constance Howard Gallery, part of Goldsmiths, University of London, is named in her honour.
Beryl Dean MBE was a British embroiderer. She was known for rejecting the traditional Victorian designs and for creating her own contemporary embroidery designs.
Louisa Pesel (1870–1947) was an English embroiderer, educator and textile collector. She was born in Bradford, and studied textile design at the National Art Training School, causing her to become interested in decorative stitchery. She served as the director of the Royal Hellenic School of Needlework and Lace in Athens, Greece, from 1903 to 1907. Pesel served as the first president of the Embroiderers' Guild. She produced samplers for the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum and cushions, kneelers, alms bags and a lectern carpet for Winchester Cathedral. She collected textiles extensively, and following her death in Winchester in 1947, her collection went to the University of Leeds.
Lilian Margery Dring was a British artist known for her paintings, poster designs and textile designs. needlework and embroidery work.
Margaret Helen Swain was an English embroidery and textile historian. Trained as a nurse in London, she began a career as a historian after noticing no history about Ayrshire whitework embroidery in books following an exhibition at the Signet Library which she visited. Swain's research on the subject resulted in the publication of several books, she held two exhibitions, and wrote about embroidery, household textiles and tapestries in museum journals, magazines and newspapers. She was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1981. A pencil portrait of Swain was made by Elizabeth Blackadder and a collection of papers and objects related to her career are stored at National Museums Scotland.
Audrey Walker was an accomplished textile artist, embroiderer and teacher, who was active from the 1970s and 1990s in United Kingdom. Walker became known for developing an innovative style of embroidery based on fine threads applied by machine and by hand, to create striking figurative wall-hung works of art. Walker described her work as evolving from fairly fluid ideas, and the process as being akin to drawing with fabrics.
Diana Springall is, according to the Victoria and Albert Museum, "amongst the most well-known of all British textile artists", who has been committed to raising the profile of the contemporary art of embroidery through the Diana Springall Collection. Her work is found in many private and public collections worldwide. As well as creating art and teaching, Springall has held various appointments including chair of both the Embroiderers' Guild and the Society of Designer Craftsmen. Throughout her career, Springall has campaigned for the promotion of embroidery as a true art form. She has assembled the Diana Springall Collection, an extensive collection of contemporary pieces from various artists showcasing embroidery as fine art.
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