Many years ago (when I had better eye-sight!) I rather enjoyed a bit of 'petit-point'.
It was the late 1980s. I recall stitching scenes of pretty pastel hot-air balloons, a Parisian scene and a matching one of London. But the only ones I still have in my possession are these two, inspired by the work of Edouard van Goethem.
He was of Belgian-Irish descent, married to an English woman, and settled in Parkstone (near Poole) in 1900. Many of his sketches and watercolours portray an idyllic Edwardian childhood by the sea. I especially love those where the subjects are gazing out to sea.
But as I have a soft spot for donkeys, I like this one too...
And I love the little dog in this one - if I were to have a dog, it might well be one like this!
Apparently Edouard hated selling his paintings (and he was financially supported by his wife's family, due to his frail health) so most of his work stayed within the family. The downside of this is that he never really gained the reputation that his work deserves, as so little of it was on the market. What a shame!
Beautiful. Em x
ReplyDeleteI love his work. Nice to think he lived & painted in Poole - my neck of the woods - I didn't know that .
ReplyDeletehe's my great great grandfather. and we still have a lot of his work in the family. he was such a talented man! x
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