Editor,
I have never seen the Basin Park in the 18 years I’ve lived in Arkansas look as festive as it does during 2016 May Arts Month by Gina Rose Gallina, Eureka Springs, a fine stitchery artist.
I am a stitchery artist, too, but I am an embroidery and crewel specialist. I never learned how to crochet. I’m still no good at it. My mother tried to teach me, but I couldn’t get the hang of it. My mother also tried to teach me how to tat. I didn’t get the hang of that, either.
However, I worked for two years with 40 other women at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis, Minn. I worked on a crewel embroidery, the largest wool tapestry in the world. It measures 16 feet tall and 24 feet long. If you ever get a chance to visit Minneapolis, this tapestry is a must see. There are four tapestries to view. There is one for each season, while the others rest so that they don’t stretch. Each tapestry weighs approximately 80 pounds. I only worked on the first one, which is entitled The First Thanksgiving and is hung during autumn.
It is so wonderful to see people picking up the old arts. Knitting is so great, too. Many people, both genders, find knitting relaxing and mind comforting.
Gina has a swell studio on Center Street where you can visit and find just what you are looking for in stitchery arts. You can also find the materials for these arts, and the tools as well as learning guides
Hope I see you there.
Enid B. Swartz