Join Cecilia Charlton for this day Bargello workshop and create small embroideries that can be used as gifts or ornaments.
In this workshop, you will:
No prior embroidery experience is necessary.
Bargello is a type of needlepoint embroidery consisting of upright flat stitches laid in a pattern to create repeating motifs. The name originates from a series of chairs found in the Bargello palace in Florence, which have a “flame stitch” pattern, although it can be referred to by other names such as Florentine Work, Hungarian point or Irish Stitch. As with many heritage crafts, the origins of bargello embroidery are not well documented, and the technique has been utilized in many textile traditions across Europe. Traditional designs are very colourful, and use many hues of one colour to produce intricate shading effects. The patterns are naturally geometric, but can also resemble stylised flowers or fruits.
Engaging with hand embroidery provides time and space to slow down, an effect enhanced by the tactility of working with yarn. While appearing complex, bargello embroidery is easily achieved once the basic principles are understood — leaving the embroiderer to relax into the soothing rhythms of the bargello stitch structure.
More about Cecilia:
London-based American artist Cecilia Charlton received a BFA Painting in 2015 from Hunter College in NYC, and an MA Painting from the Royal College of Art, London in 2018. She creates hand-made embroideries and weavings that engage with the formal histories of abstraction to explore a broad range of themes including the cosmos, memory, and the subconscious. Through manipulations of geometric pattern and colour her artworks achieve an optically challenging and playful approach, questioning the hierarchy between painting and textiles.
Themes of feminism, human history, time and transcendence are inherently part of the hand-sewn work, and her investigation into the history of textiles from creative, cultural, and socio-economic perspectives underpins Charlton’s studio practice. Spanning the mediums of textiles, installation, and art in the social sphere, the work results in conversation tending towards both the personal and the universal.
Charlton has exhibited in the UK and internationally; her recent exhibitions include: Colours Uncovered, Harewood House, Leeds UK, 2023; Memory Garden, Garden Museum, London UK, 2023 (solo); Syzygy, Candida Stevens Gallery, 2023 (solo); Mammoth Loop, SPACE Ilford, 2021 (solo); Parade, curated by Kris Day, Broadway Gallery, UK, 2019; SURGE: The Eastwing Biennial, Courtauld Institute, London, 2018; Rogue Objects, curated by spaceship, University College London, London, 2018. Some awards include the Brookfield Properties Craft Award in 2022 (shortlisted), Jerwood Makers Open Award in 2021, Fulbright UK Scholarship in 2015 (shortlisted), and the Ellen Battel Stockel Fellowship as part of the Yale University Norfolk Residency in 2014.
All money raised from our workshops goes towards maintaining David Parr House – thank you for supporting us.
Please see our Terms and Conditions before making a booking. Bookings are non-refundable and may not be exchanged or transferred.
Image Credit: Andrew Brown and Jess Littlewood
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