Sweep
everything off your coffee table (no, not the full cups!)
and make way for the coffee table book of the year. This is
a pictorial autobiography of the life, work and methods of
one Lindsay Taylor, embroideress extraordinaire.
When a book comes shrink-wrapped and has a padded cover you
know to expect a visual feast inside and you won’t be
disappointed. Ms. Taylor tells the story of her idyllic bucolic
childhood in the Isle of Wight, her training, assignments
and projects in a mixture of words and photographs. Read about
her methods and get motivated by them, find out what inspires
her and how she interprets nature and turns it into stitched
works of art. Feast your eyes on gallery chapters filled with
her three dimensional flowers, her wedding dresses and other
gowns, glorious hats, bags, jewelry and shoes meant for showing,
not wearing. If a queen of the fairies really existed, these
are the items she’d have in her wardrobe! For the rest
of us it’s interesting to see what can be done with
humble thread and a lot of imagination. It inspired me to
add a bit of something extra to my sundresses and accessories
next year. This isn’t a book of projects. there’re
no instructions or diagrams in here, but for anybody who embroiders
and has reached the stage where they are more in need of stimulation
than instruction, this is a good book to add to your sourcebook
shelf. Or coffee table, of course.
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