Despite the satisfaction i feel for finally getting into some making again – i must say i’m suffering slightly – i really have done some hard core cross stitch today… as a result my fingers resemble pin cusions and my eyes are a little fuzzy…
Last night i treated myself to a few hours of paper folding – it really is great to get started but i think the next few weeks will certainly be a challenge – but that was what i was after so no complaints. I have found that i can actually get 3 tiles from each page, which means a potential 832 pieces within the installation. Last night i finished 42. Only 790 to go…
Doing these repetitive occupations has given me the chance to catch up on the news – radio 4 has been on all day and i feel rather educated on topics such as the osprey population and how to claim lost premium bonds. So Froebels justification that these tasks were the path to knowlege are proving true so far – although i’m not sure he would have agreed on my methods. I chose cross stitch rather than the geometric embroidery he encouraged as i felt it was something he was fighting against in Victorian society – the idea that children and women should be kept quiet and busy with this kind of occupation. In fact, needlework was one of the main parts of female education – even in my own primary school, rather than more intellectual subjects. By the 19th century, samplers were well established as vehicles for religious instruction, geography, English and mathematics. School girls produced needlework exercises of almanacs, mathematical tables and maps, as well as numbers and letters. Froebel hated this kind of education – copying facts from books and repeating dictated passages. His type of embroidery was far more expressive and free. I hope to be exploring this contrast within the pieces.
