Phoebe Anna Traquair and Embroidery Tour begins

At breakfast this morning I met Philippa Turnbull (www.crewelwork.com), the leader of our embroidery tour as well as Lisa, a fellow Australian participant. The tour began at 2 pm, and in the morning we were asked to visit the Scottish National Gallery to view 4 embroidered panels by Phoebe Anne Traquair (1852-1930). A section of one of these forms the basis of one of the projects we will be working on over the next 10 days with Meredith Willett (mbellishment.com) our tutor from Virginia.

I got a taxi to the gallery and enjoyed the lengthy discussion with the young driver as we were stuck in traffic. 

The Scottish section of the gallery had some great pieces - especially those reflecting the Arts and Crafts Movement, like David Gauld's St Agnes 

And William Bell Scott's Una and the Lion 

The panels I had come to look at, however, were literally breathtaking. 

Phoebe Anna Traquair was born, and educated, Phoebe Anna Moss in Dublin. She met her husband, Scottish Paleontologist, Dr Ramsay Heatley Traquair, Professor of Zoology at the Royal College of Science in Dublin when he was looking for an illustrator for his scientific papers, a task she performed for the next thirty years. They married in 1873 and moved to Edinburgh in 1874 when he was appointed to what is now the Royal Museum. She was a prolific, respected and much sought-after artist, working in murals, embroidery, painting, jewellery and bookbinding. 

The embroidered panels represent the Progress of a Soul in four stages, The Entrance (above) , The Stress,

Despair 

and the Victory.

They are each about 2 metres high, densely embroidered and rich in symbolism.

The detail and technique is wonderful.

We are going to work on a piece based on the branch of birds at the top left of 'The Despair'.

I met up with three others from the tour at the Gallery and we had a coffee together.

At out 2pm meeting we met everyone - 13 students as well as Phillipa, Meredith. and Richard who will be with us part of the time, managing hotel bookings and IT. We had an overview of the places we are visiting and a clarifying of etiquette and rules associated with access to private homes and collections -all pleasant and useful.

We also collected our goodie bags, including midge-repellant, scissors (and a bag to keep them in), notebook, pencil and rubber, a needle book made by one of the students and a bag for carrying our purse and phone into the castles to minimise risk to the embroideries,from bulky bags.

It began to feel real!

In the evening we had a talk on Scottish Textiles by Rebecca Quinton, Curator of European Textiles and Costume at the Glasgow Museum, followed by dinner. I learned a great deal, took a lot of notes and enjoyed the company and food. 

Tomorrow we begin with a trip to the Roslyn Chapel.

It is my intention to keep this blog, over the next 10 days, focused on my own learning with some background about places, collections and general observations. For privacy and Intellectual Property reasons I intend to steer clear of details about other participants and of private collections where there are restrictions. I hope to sustain a narrative of interest without encroaching on private territory.

I may also be more limited in the time I have to spend blogging!