Saturday 31 May 2014

The Great Tapestry of Scotland.

Yesterday I visited the exhibition of The Great Tapestry of Scotland. Wow! It's absolutely amazing. The stitchwork is beautiful, such gorgeous colours and texture.

I took loads of photos, mainly of little details that caught my eye, but occasionally I'd step back for a bigger picture.

The tapestry is in Paisley until the 8th of June when it moves to Edinburgh for the summer.

All the panels together make a tapestry that is 143 metres long, the longest tapestry in the world. It's the artwork and the skill of the those who did the embroidery that impresses most though. Here's a link to BearPaw, a blogger who was actually involved in stitching one of the panels, she did the mountain hare which is one of the motifs I particularly liked.

Each panel links to a period in Scottish history. The information on the panels was well written and informative. An excellent book could be made using the text accompanied by photos of the panels. I had a look at the paperback book that was on sale but didn't buy it as the layout was very uninspiring - there was an overlong introduction describing how it all came about (interesting, but not needed for the book) and just one dull photo for each panel showing the whole panel, no close-ups of the little motifs and stitchwork. I think at least a thousand more photos showing all the little details would have done it more justice!

Anyway, here are a few of the photos I took. There are rather a lot and should have been more, I wish I'd taken ones of each panel as I went along. I may have to go back!








 













































15 comments:

Lizzie said...

Wow.
I was given a beautiful book about the tapestry, which is wonderful, giving details of the history behind each panel, and a picture.
I have to say that your photos have added another dimension - they are so detailed, bright and sharply focussed.
Thank you

Mama Macfennell said...

I'm so looking forward to seeing this. Fab photos - Helen

Hazel said...

Absolutely loved looking through your pics. I will def look at making a trip up to my Aunt's to go and see it this summer. I love the macaroon bar and the tunnock's teacake! Brilliant. x

Rosemary said...

What a stunning piece of work - I loved so many of the details, and was pleased that it shows Rennie Mackintosh's School of Art especially in the wake of the recent tragic fire, and also the symbol for Glasgow where we lived for several years.
I would love to see it - imagine that it is twice the length of the Bayeux Tapestry!
I shall be in Edinburgh in the summer, hope I have a chance to see it.
Thank you for showing it in all its wonderful glory,

Louise said...

Amazing! Those are fantastic piece of work. It reminds me of the local well dressings, but those are made of petals and catkins! Thanks for sharing.

CJ said...

WOW! It's absolutely stunning, what a treasure of a piece of work. I love the hare too, and the shell and the peacock, and the bit with Macbeth. It's amazing, I could spend hours looking at all of the beautiful designs and textures.

Lyn said...

gorgeous!
x

Claire said...

What an amazing exhibition.......love all the photos and the texture in the stitching. Just beautiful, yes I think you do need to go back again Anne. Such wonderful work, certainly deserves another look.

CLaire :)

Marksgran said...

Hi, I hope you didn't park in morrisons car park when you went. My friend and I visited the tapestry a couple of weeks ago and a week later I received notification from the car park firm they were charging me £85 for going over the 2.5 hours you are allowed to park in Morrisons. As I'm sure you did, we looked in great detail and all the great detail and took ages then went for a bite to eat. I'm in 'discussion' with Morrisons about it! It is fabulous though and would highly recommend it to anyone, just don't go near Morrisons (even though you are told to park there!)

blueskyscotland said...

A real credit to Scotland and all the people involved. Didn't even know it was on exhibit in Paisley. Thanks for the excellent photos.

Mereknits said...

Amazing, I am so impressed by the workmanship and the creativity. Thank you for showing us these gorgeous scenes.
Hugs,
Meredith

Lesley FW said...

Beautiful work, makes me want to take up a needle again!

Amy at love made my home said...

This is truly beautiful! What amazing work and so carefully and wonderfully done too. Thank you for sharing this with us. xx

Neighborhood Watch said...

Wow! This is gorgeous. I love the way you captured so many fabulous details. Perhaps you should make the book you suggested yourself. Use these photos as a portfolio for a proposal. Really! Thank you so much for sharing this!!

Anonymous said...

Oh thank you so much, it is glorious!

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