As I am working really hard to finish my upcoming ebook on the linen vestments from Tyrol, it's just a short post today. But a rather nice one! First up is a beautiful blackwork tiger by Olga Tempel. She attended my five-day blackwork course earlier this year and recently finished this epic piece. I think she did a terrific job with the shading, don't you agree?

Remember my Millie Marotta fox? He won me first prize in the 'Stitch your Heart out' competition organised by Inspirations Magazine. Fox had been down-under for more than a year as Inspirations promised me to make him into an article. Alas, they finally decided they weren't going to do that after all and I got fox back after a nasty and expensive battle with German customs. During transit the frame got badly damaged. Luckily, I've found a really good framer in nearby Murnau: Galerie Gewehr. I think they did a great job on my fox! It now hangs in my kitchen for all to enjoy.

And last but not least, I managed to finish a commission today: Emilia's baptism gown. I am sure the little baby-girl will look adorable in it!

P.S. If you did not receive my newsletter it is not because I've stopped liking you! It means you forgot to give me permission to keep sending you one after the new privacy law went into effect on the 25th of May. No worries! Just use the sign-up button on the right to get back onto my newsletter mailing list!

Thanks to all who have written encouraging comments on last week's blog post regarding my first successful art exhibition! As you can probably imagine, I am still mulling it all over. Getting rid of self-limiting beliefs I have held dear for nearly 28 years can't be done overnight. And isn't easy either. At least I can pinpoint with ease where my 'I am not an artist' belief comes from. It was firmly ingrained by my first art teacher in college. I've never quite understood why he disliked (or was it even hate?) me so much. But I turned from a very creative kid into somebody who focussed on perfecting techniques instead. Not only did he tell me to my face and in front of all my classmates that my drawing or painting was shitty, he would even tear it up. Now that's a real confidence booster...

Unfortunately, nobody was either able or willing to protect a sensitive 12-year-old from such a bully. He told my mother that he treated me the way he did because I should not think that I had what it takes to go to Art School. Never mind that I had never ever thought of going there in the first place. Fellow teachers I asked for help were merely telling me that art wasn't important enough to make a fuss. Luckily, I had a very different teacher the next year and I briefly enjoyed art classes again. Unfortunately, the rest of my college time I had to put up with the bully again. I skipped classes as often as I legally could and when I was there, I solved crosswords instead. And the rest is history. I became a scientist but wasn't happy as I did not fit the system. When I decided to quit and try to be a craftswoman it took till last week to see I was sending a mixed message. And that made a mess. Time to clean it up. I am aware that this might alienate people as they don't understand, but that's a risk I am prepared to take. Life is too short and very precious!

To end this blog post on a lighter note: the cats. As I am working on two projects at the moment, I've set up two frames. When I came into the studio this morning, both chairs were already occupied. Luckily, I was allowed to sit on one of them after breakfast. Sammie needed to harass some dragonflies and bring me one as a present (no worries, it was undamaged and released into the garden). Unfortunately, this is what happened during my lunch break:

What was I to do? As a good cat-mum, I just couldn't shoo either one of them from their respective chairs and resume working on either embroidery project. That's just not done and would disregard the Geneva Convention on the proper treatment of cats. Instead, I decided to sit behind my laptop and write a blog post :).

Last weekend, I participated in a small-scale art exhibition with a painter and a sculptor. It was my first time exhibiting as an artist rather than a craftswoman. And I made some interesting observations I'd like to share with you. Especially as this art exhibition was a so much more positive experience than the usual craft fair!

We promoted our exhibition through posters and flyers laid out at local shops. In addition, I promoted the event on Facebook, Instagram, my website and through my newsletter. However, the best medium to promote your event in rural Bavaria, is through a local newspaper. We were very fortunate to have two such papers taking an interest. And their articles were lovely. They even managed to take a decent picture of me!

Me and my embroideries took up residence in the sculptor's atelier. Two beautiful rooms with good natural light. I was allowed to hammer nails into the walls where ever I wanted. What luxury! My embroideries where more spaced-out than what is possible at a craft fair. I was able to group similar ones together and to add proper descriptions. Besides naming the piece, I also added materials and year of creation. There was plenty of space for people to mill around and get really close to my work. I also set up my trestles with my slate frame to show a piece of silk shading as work in progress. That proved to be a clever move, as people were very interested in this technique.

Our promotions had clearly worked. The day before I was setting up the exhibition, I was contacted by a buyer who didn't dare wait till the exhibition was officially open. She bought three of my pieces! During the two-day exhibition, I sold two more. In addition, I also sold a few pendants, a food cover and an embroidery kit. Much more than what I usually sell at a craft fair. And so far, I have never sold an embroidered item other than pendants, at a craft fair.

Until now, I have been reluctant to call myself an artist. And I get the giggles when somebody in my presence does. But I think it is perhaps time to make the transition from crafter to artist. For starters: I've been invited on the spot to two more art exhibitions as people where so impressed by my work. These exhibitions have equal low costs for me as this exhibition had. That seems to be the biggest difference between craft fairs and art exhibitions: the costs. This one was exceptionally low: part of the costs of the flyers and two cakes. But the others are very reasonable too: cost of flyers, drinks during the vernissage (if I want such a gathering!) and 5% of my sales. You see, no sales do thus not equal disaster as it does with craft fairs. Who knew?!

What I also found refreshing was the type of visitor. Yes, there were fellow stitchers and yes some made the same kind of silly remarks as they tend to do at craft fairs. But the majority were art lovers. And they are a different tribe altogether. They either like a piece or they don't like a piece. Fine by me, I can deal with that.

And my new tribe was very clear about their tastes and interests: goldwork and silk shading. With copies of local painters' work in canvas (think: my interpretation of Franz Marc's tiger). And since I sold so many pieces, I need to create some more of that in the coming months. Oh joy! But first I'd like to finish my ebook on the linen vestments from Tyrol. Because attending an art exhibition does take time. And with several commissions sitting on the shelves, the ebook is unfortunately lower on the list of priorities... Nevertheless, I hope you liked my report on my first-ever art exhibition. And maybe some of you should transition from crafter to artist too? Still giggling...

Before I am going to feed you with some more embroidery eye-candy, I want to thank all readers who commented on last week's blog post. It seems to be that it is indeed possible to create these pieces on a loom and work the ends in. A picture of a woman weaving such a particular piece was posted on this topic in Mary Corbet's Facebook group. Equally, a comment with a link to a Swedish blog showed a similar piece being made on an embroidery frame. Pieces like these can thus be created by weaving or by pattern darning. That's fascinating, don't you think?

On a different note: I became a shipment of House of Embroidery perle, silk, stranded cotton and silk ribbon today! I've stocked up the webshop and almost all colours are back in stock. If you were waiting for a particular colour, grab it before it is gone again :).

And just one final shout out before we go back to Crete: I am participating in an art exhibition next weekend. Please come and visit me at Marion Werner's Studio in Steingaden. The exhibition is open on Saturday 12th of May 13-19h and Sunday 13th of May 11-19h. Entry is free and there is cake and coffee too!

One of the best places to find beautifully presented embroidery, is in the Historical Museum of Crete in Heraklion (www.historical-museum.gr/eng/). There is a small display of richly decorated Orthodox vestments. These were made at the Asomaton Monastery and look similar to the ones from the Monastery of Arkadi. Do you see the fine embroidered lettering running vertically along the embroidery on the left? That's where it says who made this particular piece. In this case: 'the present was restored by the monk Methodios and the deacon Anthimos on the 1st of October 1854. The patron was Abbot Joseph'.

And then there is a whole floor (!) dedicated to the ethnographic collection. And oh joy, that is mainly textiles! The pieces themselves where lovingly displayed. But the main advantage were the detailed descriptions about them in English. The pieces were grouped according to life's rituals: religious holidays, marriage, birth, death, etc. Such a joy to read about the different textiles and their context of use! Seldom seen such a well-made exhibition. Here are some of the beautifully embroidered pieces:

A richly embroidered towel, probably from Ierapetra.

There were many examples of Ottoman-style embroidery and of Cretan embroidery.

And last but not least, I found the above text very moving and much in line with my own drive.