Scurrilous claims in an old email

Me studying smøyg in a museum in Norway

A libellous email was sent to me many years ago by a person unknown to me, making scurrilous claims about a needleworker of note (not me).

Amongst their many complaints were:
– * is not formally trained at the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) and therefore is not qualified to teach or claim she is an expert.
– * is not creative because she only finds old designs in collections and copies them.
– * is not talented as she does not do the difficult techniques of stumpwork or goldwork.

My credentials: I have a university degree in design, with honours. Due to the reputation I have built through my books and teaching, I understand many see me as a whitework expert. I call myself the Whitework Queen, but only because someone else called me that first, and while initially I laughed it off, I then decided to own it.

Yet every single one of the claims above could also be said about me.

1. You don’t have to be trained at the RSN to be an expert or a good teacher. I have spent time with many embroiderers (or their work in museum collections) from whom I have learned much about traditional embroidery. Not one of them trained at the RSN, and nor did I. I have the utmost respect for some RSN graduates. However, I know many immensely talented, incredibly creative and highly skilled embroiderers and teachers who have never been there. It’s snobbery to say that’s the only way to be an expert or a good teacher.

2. My career is built on studying old items in collections and museums, then creating works based on those styles. It celebrates historical tradition and keeps those traditions alive. That does not mean I am not creative.

3. I do not do goldwork or stumpwork. Apparently that means I am not talented either. Oh well!

Many years on, I am still appalled by the email. The writer obviously felt they were saving the world from terrible peril. Apparently, we must fit the writer’s very narrow definitions of expert, creative and talented to be considered worthwhile. What a load of rubbish! Let’s celebrate people for their talent, their expertise, their skill and their creativity however they acquired it and demonstrate it.

(Why I did I keep this poison pen letter? I’m terrible at deleting emails. On checking, I have 101915 emails in my inbox! How embarrassing!)

Anyone suggesting who the subject of the email was will be blocked and their comment deleted.