Anna Castagnetti: stitching in the air

When I put out the call for people who might like to share some of their embroidery with us, this week while I am at The Big Craft Show, Jeanine of Italian Needlework excitedly wrote to me about a colleague of hers, Anna Castagnetti. Following is what Jeanine told me about the wonderfully talented Anna:

“Anna Castagnetti likes to experiment with embroidery. She does it well and with lots of style in the fair city of Verona, Italy. Inspired by “stitch in the air” techniques, or “punto in aria” in Italian, such as Aemilia Ars needle lace, Venice Point, Hedebo, Reticello, Teneriffe and Renaissance Lace she often takes traditional surface embroidery patterns and fills them with an assortment of the stitches from these styles.

Anna tries to inspire young people to discover embroidery and she has endeavoured to teach traditional techniques while at the same time giving her pupils license to try something new. She founded the Cultural Association “Ricami a Fili Tesi” (which does not translate into English all that well, so we’ve decided to call it Openwork Embroidery until something better comes to mind) to encourage further study along this line.

She says: “Today’s embroiderer is an artist who stitches for pleasure, but especially because through embroidery she can express something of her own personality.” She believes that to apply recognized techniques to different contexts gives freedom to creativity and imagination. She does not call her idea an invention but rather an interpretation. With this style, her aim is to have us consider an open space the same way as any piece of fabric which can be embroidered without the complication of a long and laborious preparation.

Anna is also experimental with other techniques like Casalguidi Embroidery and Pulled Thread. Her innovative Casalguidi coral design earned her the cover of the Italian embroidery magazine RAKAM in August of 2008. Since then her work has been featured often.

This cushion, also featured in RAKAM in August 2008 was made with Sotema 20L 38ct 100% linen. The Daisies are filled with Hedebo stitches, non-open areas are Padded Satin Stitch and Stem Stitch.

The Sun is made of Teneriffe Lace embroidered first on a cardboard base and inserted upon completion into the fabric. The Teneriffe Lace technique has been modified to simplify it by executing one circle of Buttonhole stitches and another circle inside of Antwerp stitch around the edge. The Sun’s rays, stretching across the cushion to the flowers, are worked in Cable Stitch.

The buttons are small pressed paper balls (made in Germany) covered in Antwerp Stitches and enriched with Bullions.

In September of 2010 Anna will release her (as yet untitled) first book which will be in Italian and English, with instructions and step-by-step photos of the stitches she uses to fill the empty spaces of her designs. The book will also feature four delightful designs to embroider.

Anna can be reached at: anna.castagnetti@email.it”

Many thanks to Jeanine for telling us about Anna and her embroideries!