Live blogging The Young Lace Makers Symposium- Doily Free Zone

[Devon Thein]

I have proposed to Lorelei that those of us who are attending the 1st International Symposium of Young Lace Makers in Pavia Live Blog the event. I don't know if anyone has ever Live Blogged a lace event before, or even if it is a good idea, but in the spirit of innovation, I thought we could give it a try. I encourage anyone who is attending to share their thoughts, observations, pictures and Youtubes as responses to this entry.

Devon

[Stella Lee]

Oh what a wonderful idea to be able to borrow the books!

[Debra J]

If you are a member of IOLI and live in  the USA, you can check out a book for a very reasonable cost--postage. I know a lot of people who have an IOLI membership just for the books.

[Stella Lee]

I would love to get my hands on Rosemary's book but sadly my book budget is restricted to what is freely available under creative commons licensing for at least the next 12 months and I will have to make do with what info I can glean from forums, blogs, Godey's ladies book, Therese de Dillmont and the like for now - so frustrating! It's good to know her book will answer some of my questions.   

[Debra J]

Read Rosemary Shepard's book " An Early Lace Workbook." In her book, Rosemary has drawn easy to read thread paths that explain how the early lace picots were worked. It is a great book!

[Stella Lee]

Am I right in thinking the picots in the metallic laces from the Gandino Bascilica are not like either picot type in the tutorials?

[Denise Watts]

Thank you Devon for your blog on the symposium, for those of us that were unable to attend it was the next best thing. I have been conversing with Jane Atkinson and Ros Hills for a long time on the future of lacemaking and it would have been interesting to hear the next generations take on it.

[Devon Thein]

Sorry, Orla, not Ora.

[Devon Thein]

Orla Breslin's work represents a number of experiments. For one thing she has experimented with Plarn, a plastic yarn. She has also done a work entitled Abstract Expressionism in Irish Crochet which is pretty daring. She is very interested in the crochet models for coral and one work on her flicker site appears as a "specimen box". I think that her innovations go beyond the use of color and larger scale. The work is assymetrical, and sometimes it breaks the frame of the piece. But what I like is the developing use of three dimensions which she relates to her background in sculpture. The piece Hang Up shows this to a greater degree than other pieces. I was interested to see that there are leaves and other features that are actually projecting from the surface in a very non-traditional way. While I agree with Lorelei that a doily or table runner of a traditional appearance can be an original work and a creative one, the aesthetic of most of the older doilies we see is one in which symmetry is emphasized, whereas the chaotic energy of Hang Up appeals to me. Some of the Russian pieces that you link to are also very interesting, as the use of color makes them seem very active and dimensional, as though the motifs are turning cartwheels.

[Gunnel Teitel]

 Thank you, thank you Devon, for your blog idea,pictures and comments. Looking forward to hear more when you get back home.     Gunnel

[Lorelei Halley Administrator]

To those of our members who attended the syposium:

1. What part of the whole event did you find most exciting, and why?

2. Is there a way to characterize, in general terms, the trends or directions that the works exhibited display?