Sampler VI

In a review of my recent exhibition, Kathie Stove wrote: ‘At Janine’s current exhibition… her signature mandalas and other enormous assemblages sit beautifully with samplers – biodiversity versions of the embroidery exercises of previous centuries.’ My dear Grandma Oswald belonged to the Embroiderers’ Guild of South Australia for many years and I’ve inherited her incredible collection of white table linens, which I’m too afraid to use. They’re wrapped in blue tissue paper and labeled, in her beautiful handwriting, with the names of the intricate stitches. I also have a ‘sampler’ piece, which she embroidered with my name and date of birth. I remember her saying to me, that the back of a piece should be as neat as the front (click here for a sneak peek of mine).

Sampler VI
Short Purple-flag (Patersonia fragilis) seeds, leaves and seed cases, linen thread and bookbinder’s gum on canvas
49 x 49 cm framed, image 22 x 22 cm
Framed in white moulding, with a white matt, internal side spacers, glass and hangers
SOLD – Private collection, South Australia