In a previous life I was a teacher of embroidery and did so with a lot of love. Most of my time was filled with making curricula, making drafts and executing them before they had to be carried out by the students. The program contained anything that was related to embroidery: classic techniques as well as contemporary, but also techniques from all over the world. The embroidery below is one of the few works I made just for my own pleasure. I was inspired by 'Palampore", Indian printed fabrics consisting of floral motifs and the tree of life. It is executed in silk on silken rip.
Palampores were a regular feature of the eighteenth-century chintz trade to Europe, where they were prized as wall hangings and bed and table coverings. They typically show a central flower-and-fruit-bearing serpentine tree emerging from a hillock with stylized peaks or rocks. Palampore patterns were usually very complex and elaborate, depicting a wide variety of plants, flowers, and animals, including peacocks, elephants, and horses. Because a palampore was hand-created, each design is unique.