"Nippon Textures" - more Gail Hendrix!

I'm very pleased to learn that Anne Stradal plans to stitch this beautiful ornament by Gail - another of her Japanese pieces inspired by the wood block prints of the Edo period by the great Harunobo.

The word "Nippon" is derived from Dai Nippon, meaning Great Japan, and the expression comes from the Chinese ideograph for the place where the sun comes from - or Land of the Rising Sun, as it is east of China, and therefore where the sun rises from. (interesting trivia here)

Anyway, Gail's interpretation of this art is superb, and her adaptation to a 7" circle of needlepoint canvas has the simplicity, grace, and beauty of the art of that era. The painting has movement by use of the lines, and the eye is led where the artist wants it to go by the repetition of colors and small pattern textures.

Anne has an excellent sense of color, and is an advocate of elegant simplicity in her choices of stitches (very few textured stitches) and the use of simple threads, with only a few of the novelties for accents - so I do look forward to watching it's progress. Be sure to watch at her blog, The Cape Stitcher!