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Thread, Color, Attention

Two embroidered tapestries by Ruth Miller. Left: “The Evocation and Capture of Aphrodite,” 36 x 30 inches. Right: “Blue Peace,” 38 x 25 inches. The piece on the left was on display this spring at the Penland Gallery.

This spring, visitors to the Penland Gallery got the chance to see a piece by Ruth Miller as part of the exhibition I dwell in Possibility. The work’s vivid colors and rich texture were the first things that drew the eye upon stepping through the doorway, and many visitors were overheard exclaiming something along the lines of, “I need to get a closer look at that painting!” It wasn’t until they were within a few feet that they realized the work they were admiring was embroidery.

Through a lifetime of needlework, careful observation, and inquisitive self-reflection, Ruth Miller has mastered the art of embroidery as portraiture. She works large and with impressive realism, combining the precision and color sense of a pointillist painter with the narrative skill of a novelist. Her work, above all, is thoughtful and thought provoking, and it’s been a thrill to gain a deeper sense of her process this session as she’s been teaching in our textiles studio.

Ruth (in the red shirt) talking through her process during a demonstration in Upper Textiles.

In her workshop Embroidered Portraiture, Ruth and her students are approaching needle, fabric, and yarn as tools to transmit what they see, not merely what they think they see. In the process, Ruth has presented them with a crash course in observational drawing, color theory, stitching patterns, and more. To see the tables strewn with reference photos and pencil sketches and yarn samples doesn’t fully illustrate the time and care that go into these works—a full portrait generally takes Ruth about a year to complete!—but it does help to deepen our appreciation for the craft and mastery behind each one.

Stitching samples, color theory explanations, and colored pencil drawings from Ruth's Penland workshop

If you’re intrigued, we’d highly recommend taking a few minutes to read Ruth’s own description of her process and motivations on her website.

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Environmental Portraiture with Mark Tucker | April 20 – 26, 2014

marktuckerpenland

Great face on this young skateboarder today. Late afternoon soft diffused light on the Venice Boardwalk.

Mark Tucker, February 2014

 

This spring, Mark Tucker will teach a workshop exploring how to find and harness light outside of the studio in service of the great faces of the world.

 

Mark Tucker
Environmental Portraiture
In the photo studio
Sometimes keeping it simple is the best approach. In this workshop we’ll learn to make strong portraits using available light. We’ll find the best light, and if it’s not perfect, we’ll modify it with reflectors and fill cards. A field trip to a nearby town will help students learn to approach strangers and to quickly find the best angle and light for a portrait. We’ll learn the emotive difference between hard and soft light and how to use various light sources to achieve the mood you are after. This is a digital photography workshop, which will include enhancing your portraits with basic adjustments in Lightroom/Photoshop. All levels. Code S03P

 

Register here for this workshop

 

Mark Tucker is a portrait and advertising photographer. His clients have included Amtrak, Jack Daniels, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Harper Collins, Penguin Books, Alabama Tourism, Colonial Williamsburg, and many others. He is represented by MergeLeft Reps (NY). He documents his portrait-making adventures on Instagram and Tumblr.