Anna Pearson's Needlepoint Blog

Just had a spectacular 20 hours;   Swan Lake ballet, the annual meeting of the Needlepoint Network and choosing threads of my next project;   sitting with a cup of tea,   catching my breath after so much excitement. Last evening we went to see ‘Swan Lake’ at a live cinema relay from The Royal Opera House, Convent Garden.   I have written about these live relays before, one sits there and join audiences in more than 1069 cinemas in 26 counties to enjoy world class performances.   Swan Lake was no exception; Anthony Dowell’s production evoked the opulent period of 1890 Russia when Tchaikovsky wrote the music; In my ignorance I had thought the whole story revolved around the swans living by the lake with their classical white costures, but two of the Acts were at Prince Siegfried’s palace, masked balls, acrobatic entertainers and sumptuous costumes. In addition to the beautiful sets by the Lake with the ‘swans’.     Natalia Osipova and Matthew Gol...

While, as I have said in the past I love travelling, seeing new places, meeting interesting   people and getting some truly wonderful inspiration for my needlepoint designs I have to admit that it would appear that some terrible things have happened almost immediately after we have left a country. This has been brought to mind with the destruction and bulldozing of the ancient Assyria capital of Nimrud and the great concern for the future by Unesco the United Nations cultural agency. I well remember the excitement of visiting the Riace bronzes in Reggio di Calabria, more than 2000 years old and discovered in the sea of the coast of Italy – I wrote about them in a blog of the …… when we had been on one of our Italian stitching trips However some of the buildings and architectural detail that have inspired me have resulted in lovely designs.    There are two from Christchurch Cathedral on the South Island New Zeeland; Christchurch Tiles on the left and Cathedral Tile...