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Embroidery certificates
NZ Certificates of Embroidery The aim of the Embroidery Certificate is to encourage the study of the many aspects of embroidery in depth and to provide a system of assessment which will give recognition to the results achieved by the individual student. The aim of a certificate assessment is to set a standard to which candidates work. There are 18 specific subjects to choose from and a time span of three years is allowed for completion of a folio for the chosen subject (s). Candidates need not be a member of any Guild.
Briefly candidates are asked to show they understand the specific character of the technique being studied, to be able to evolve good designs, to experiment with stitch, to apply work to a finished article. Within each subject there is a requirement for a historical study and a modern critique. All work must be original and design and an understanding of colour is an important part of the folio work With the completion of four certificates (one of which is Design) you may progress to a Diploma of Teaching. GENERAL INFORMATION FROM CERTIFICATE BOOK Assessments are held in October each year in eighteen subjects. Certificates will be awarded to successful candidates. Assessments will be in five grades. FAIL - Work not up to standard. Advice will be offered on how to start again.
REFERRED PASS - Work not quite up to standard and advice will be offered on how to improve for resubmission
MERIT PASS - Work being assessed as a good PASS but not quite sufficient for a PASS WITH RECOMMENDATION
PASS WITH RECOMMENDATION – Work of an excellent standard Certificates may be assessed with a selection of the above grades, e.g. a folder may be awarded a PASS but an individual completed article may get a FAIL or a PASS WITH RECOMMENDATION. In the case of FAIL and REFERRED PASS it is expected that additional work will be submitted again within 12 months with no additional Entry Fee The presentation of the work will be assessed as an integral part of all aspects of the work submitted.
CERTIFICATE SUBJECT TITLES
01 Appliqué
02 Blackwork
03 Canvas Work (including Florentine)
04 Counted Thread Embroidery (Cross Stitch, Double Running, Geometric Satin, Assisi)
05 Drawn Thread Embroidery I (Hardanger, Hemstitching, Needleweaving)
06 Drawn Thread Embroidery II (Filet, Russian Drawn Ground, Hedebo)
07 Machine Embroidery
08 Metal Thread Embroidery
09 Patchwork
10 Pulled Work
11 Quilting
12 Surface Stitchery
13 Cut Work
14 Design for Embroidery
15 Church Embroidery
16 Needlelace
17 Decorated Nets
18 Smocking and Fabric Manipulation Click here to download an order form. For more information contact Noeline Becker
76 Papanui Street
Tokoroa 3420
07 886 8347
t.becker@slingshot.co.nz April Update Congratulations and well done to these three stitchers for achieving ertificates of Embroidery in 2009: Tracey Melhuish – Blackwork
Shirley Pygott – Metal Thread
Glenys Jackson – Applique I would like to ask all embroiderers to look at the topic of design. We have a Conference just around the corner and I hope work is well on the way, if not yet in stitch, then at least in the mind. Just as for Certificate work the design aspect of any original work needs some serious thought. What is an original design? I leave this to you all to discuss in your Guilds and perhaps some will share their interpretations in ‘Letters to the Editor’. From my viewing of various exhibitions and also folio work it is apparent that this subject needs our special attention, so we can all benefit from being able to present inspired designs. So often when I’m talking about Certificates of Embroidery, the first reaction is “I can’t design”. What a pity if this were true. Believe me that is not the case, but a lot of us need guidance and a few tips along the way to give us confidence. ANZEG’s invitational exhibition (held in the year between conferences) is a great platform for members who have not previously exhibited work. I am sure the experience (and the confidence) Guilds have in nominating members for this exhibition, is not only an honour but also an inspiration to many who find they do, in fact, have the ability to design an original work. Any exhibition surprises with the different interpretations that are made from a title. In last year’s invitational exhibition ‘Fabric of Time’ the word ‘time’ conjured up the past, the future, the seasons, the hours. ‘Fabric’ gave us the use of fabric, the making of fabric, the dictionary meaning of the word and so it goes on. (To view some of these exhibits, go to the Gallery page of this website.) This same process is the basis of your certificate work as well. Following the guidelines in the Certificate Book, use your own interpretation of traditional and modern design. As always, if you are having problems, help is at hand. I am thankful to our assessors who are giving inspiration and help. We will all be at Conference 2010 and look forward to your company. We all wish for your success and look forward to seeing your certificate work in 2010. Noeline Becker
Contact - t.becker@slingshot.co.nz. CERTIFICATE JOURNEY After spending some fruitless time on the internet looking for embroidery courses I could do by correspondence, I gave up. I was on holiday at the time, and had a Threads magazine with me, where Noeline Becker had written some encouraging words about the ANZEG Certificates. I sent my money away and got my book. I saw the advantages, no overseas postage, no international phone calls, I could study at my own pace, it’s homegrown, and it’s by the keepers of our standards. I had only stitched a small Christmas decoration in blackwork, and I enjoyed it. I knew nothing about blackwork so I decided to do this certificate. I had many chats with Noeline over the course of my study. She was most helpful and I can’t praise her enough. I started on the history, and two samples, and sent them down for an interim assessment. That was helpful, I needed to change a few things, and off I went again. I developed an ideas book, in which I wrote or drew (if you can call my scribble drawing!) any inspiration. As I read more books on history or technique I got more ideas. Things were going well. Then the school my children go to, Elim Christian College, suffered a huge tragedy with seven lives lost. I felt for the parents who lost kids close in age to my oldest. I saw my school community grieve. I grieved. As the days unfolded the emotions did too. My stitching came to a halt. I could not concentrate to think clearly, let alone be creative. After a couple of weeks of this I phoned Noeline, to say I was struggling, I couldn’t restart. She encouraged me to hang on, the creativity would return in time. I re-read my certificate book which encourages the stitcher to use a variety of design sources – not just visual like a photo, or textural like a plant rubbing, but emotional. That started me thinking about what grief looked like in thread. Not stitched, I wasn’t up to that. I just went out and picked up a variety of threads and fibres. The colour was easy, black matched my mood!
Then I started thinking again, over a few more weeks a plan began to develop. I still wasn’t stitching. More drawing on graph paper, and sticking bits of thread onto cardboard in order of thickness. The idea was developing. I chose border patterns (back to the books) that did not connect, to emphasiSe the movement of feelings through the process, and of course the place of peace I would like to be in the centre. The rough threads on the outside equal raw emotion, as time moves on the emotions change and the threads change to reflect this. I was very pleased with my finished piece.
At last I was back to developing ideas. I sent off for another interim assessment, that was encouraging. Finally I was able to send my whole portfolio away. The relief at passing was surprising. I have enjoyed this so much I have started another certificate! Tracey Melhuish Noeline Becker
Contact - t.becker@slingshot.co.nz.
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