Magic Fingers

Burano: Island of Lace Makers

14^th July 2015

Step 1: Take a Vaporetto to the Venetian Lagoon
Islands of Murano & Burano

Step 2. Don't forget to stop off in Murano to see
some real Glass magic too!.

Step 3: The Burano Lace Museum is located in the Piazza
  near the Catholic Church

Skilled craftsmanship. Murano
Glass Table Decorations

Travelling to the islands is such a lovely diversion from bustling Venice.  First, there’s the vaporetto ride across the muddy lagoon bypassing intriguing islands little visited.  

Next, it seems compulsory to undertake a diversionary circuit of Murano with its historic yet bespoke glassmaking furnaces and sparkling showrooms that collide on narrow streets with fellow day tripping visitors. Be amazed by the skilled craftsmanship and versatility of glass.  Little wonder palaces were adorned with it.

Finally, we arrived on Burano to be greeted by the sunshine of colour radiating from Murano’s terraced houses, spreading cheer over cobbled streets and narrow canals. 

Burano’s heyday for needle lace spanned the 16^th to 18^th century, crafts women having been introduced to the skill via links to Cyprus.  In 1872, a school to teach and revive the skill was opened but as with many handmade crafts, its production is time-consuming and therefore costly.  Much of the lace available in those rather too-plentiful souvenir stalls has been made by machine and not on the Island.  It is possible though, to nose about and purchase the real thing - La Perla, Merletti d’Arte Martina & Creazioni Monica have been suggested in my reading material.  What a wonderful way to support a traditional craft and what a treasure to own!

Embroidery & Lace

A well stocked Museum

The Burano Museum and School of Lacemaking is a delightful (and cool) repository of all things lace.  The Museum showcases local talents and a rich legacy that skilled Burano women have created.  It offers examples of the many varieties and uses for lace, explaining that women often specialized in a single stitch.  Apparently, there are seven specific stitches, so I am sure competition was fierce…  Burano’s reputation was so established as a centre for the finest quality lace that Leonardo da Vinci was drawn here in 1481 to purchase a cloth suitable for Milan Cathedral’s main altar. 

How to wear your Lace & Silk with Style

Inspiration Unlimited

I've been sitting on my photos from the Sydney Quilt Show since - when was it - in June 2107!  It was so good to have it back in Darling Harbour.  Our little group made a good day out of the show with some hard-liners going back for another day at least.  

Here are some quilts that I found particularly inspiring...I think I'm a big Jen Kingwell fan too!  Let me say though, the work of Carolyn Sullivan should be inspiration to us all.  

Starting with an Edna Ostrich

Sheep will never be the same!

Carolyn Sullivan

Detail of work involved in Carolyn Sullivan's art works

Who doesn't love a vibrant star?

Scrappy Jen Kingwell pattern

This year, I plan to take a better camera with than just my phone.  See you there...

A Rainbow on Every Corner

Venice, Italy

4-17^th July 2015

Bird's Eye View from the Campanile di San Marco

Riding the Grand Canal in a Vaporetto

Beguiling Venice!  It’s so easy to be overwhelmed in Venice, especially in July – the heat intensified by huge crowds, many in holiday mode.  It’s a frenetic pace, and an island repository of visually stunning beauty housing amazing art & history in every corner, not to mention wondrous structures, old and new.  So, I quite forgot my textile challenge and, as nothing especially reminded me until we stepped off the vaporetto on Burano, I felt quite chastened.

Of course, when I say few textiles, I’m not counting rows of Italian designer boutiques, mansions crammed with all things evocative of wealth and power, religious vestments or art festivals aplenty.  It’s just that it fits in, a hand and glove story if you will, becoming part of Venice’s bold statement about itself, and you don’t want to unravel the strands.

Luxurious Velvet & Textiles on Ceremonial Gondola_Naval Museum

Only the Best Furnishings_Querini Stampalia Museum & Gallery

Mansions are full of great tapestries, lush curtains, upholstery and bedding, complimented by the sheen of silk wallpapers.  Soaring cathedrals and modest basilicas alike are adorned with humble cloth transformed into resplendent precious pieces, heavy in embroidered gold and silver threads. Have I mentioned glass?  Famous Murano is just across the lagoon and its Glass Museum (Museo del Vetro) positively drips with crystalline decadence.  I think I’ve found the modern-day home of Odysseus’s Sirens!

 

Another take on a self-guided tour of traditional fabrics of Venice can be found on this VeneziaSi site.  Yet another site (link) has a brief summary of textile history that I really wish I had read when planning my trip.  This way I might have at least discovered Cà Mocenigo and the Museum of Textiles and Costume.  Grrrr!

Punting the Inner Canals in a Gondola