Starting On The Skeps

Many years ago, we went to Cornwall, For not nearly long enough, given how far away it is, but that’s partly my fault. I went home the long way around, via an evening event at the Egypt Exploration Society!

We spent one day at the Lost Gardens of Heligan, and one at the Eden Project. Both of them were absolutely splendid, full of delights, from startlingly lush vegetation to fascinating tales, from beds buzzing with insects to domes full of unfamiliar plants. It’s Heligan that is relevant today, however. There was a wall in the kitchen garden, which was there simply to house and protect the skeps, each in their own niche.

Anyone who’s watched a freshly thatched cottage dull and fade knows how quickly the gold turns grey – those skeps exemplified that beautifully, creating a soft tapestry of creams and greys, modifying the colours in the stone. So that is what I am choosing to guide my choices. I’m blending colours in the needle, beiges, creams, yellows, greys. Some of them are from the Thistle Threads collection of historical colours, some are from my Devere Silks, and these aren’t all the same in twist or thickness, but they seem to have worked pretty well.

When I had finished the first layer, it plainly wasn’t enough, looking rather flat and cartoonish in spite of the heathered colours. After some thought, I’ve added bands of strapping, as it were, to hold the layers together.

I think that looks a great deal better. As I discovered with William Marshall, it’s the wonderful variety of effects of light on silk that are so attractive with opus, and I think this photo, mobile phone photo in dull light though it is, shows that admirably.

So I can do the second with a clear conscience!