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(Click on Photos for Larger Version)
In 1999 the building of our church was underway and Father Jim Williamson
asked me to join Trudy Topolosky and the building committee to meet
with the builders in the construction trailer on a regular basis to help pick
out the flooring
materials and all things pertinent to the decorating of the
building. For 20 years previously I had been the decorator for 2 Episcopal
parishes in North Carolina and was delighted at the prospect of continuing to do
this work.
When the building was completed, I turned my focus toward how to complete the decorating in a meaningful way. The architect had loaned me a marvelous book on the history of mission architecture which ultimately turned out to be a history of Spain. Spain throughout the ages, had a series of traders and conquerors who changed and enhanced the country. The foreigners left many examples of their heritage, both a marvelous collection of ceramics, pottery, porcelain, and icons and also textiles of all types from their homelands. These came from Eastern and Western Europe, the middle East and Asia. Many of these fabrics still grace the churches of Spain. How wonderful, I thought, to establish a collection of textiles in our church for future generations to enjoy. But where do we start?
The following spring I happened to go to the Sarasota Antique Show. Turning a
corner of the show, I spotted a perfectly magnificent hanging in a booth of a
dealer from Jacksonville. We chatted and I was told that it was 150 years old,
from a
monastery in Birmingham England and hand done by the Nuns. I was ecstatic and
called
Trudy to come take a look. She did and felt as I did. I spoke to
Father Jim about it and he concurred. The church budget didn't have room for
items like this, but I felt so deeply that it was the right thing to do, that I
called the dealer and told him I'd pick it up the next day. I wrote
the check and brought it home feeling full well that we were surely on our way
to wondrous things on
our walls.
The builder installed a special textile friendly light to shine upon it. English Des Champs, who had been the major benefactor of our building, saw it and felt that it would remain in better condition if it were not easy to touch. He told me that he would pay for a marble topped, iron based table from the forge that had done all the ironwork for the church, if I would design it. That project was a joy and you see the tapestry and table below when you enter our Narthex today.
Lorette Hartzog and I then hung the wallpaper borders in the 2 bathrooms and
kitchen
amidst wallpaper paste, ladders and much laughter. A few days
later, I walked into a fabric store and found a matching fabric to the Raphael
angels we hung in the
ladies bathroom. These angels were originally painted in the
16th century and are among the most famous of all angel paintings. I knew
it meant that we needed to have a tapestry of these angels to match the
wallpaper border.
The men's bathroom border was of a Greek scroll design and I found fabric compatible to it and made that wall hanging also. The Bishop told me not long after, that he had never seen a more handsome men's' room.
A friend visited who is a marvelous textile expert and she got caught up in
the whole project and consequently designed and made the large angel tapestry
hanging between the two bathrooms. She sent it to me from North Carolina where
she restores 19th century houses and is deeply involved
with preservation.
Another friend gave me the small tapestry of the Last Supper which
hangs in
the Sacristy. About the same time our fall Fair was held and among the donations
was the fabulous gold framed Middle Eastern fabric, found in the Sanctuary,
which is one of the finest
examples of jeweled handwork that I have ever seen.
I mentioned that it should to be in our collection and the
next thing I knew, Len Erikson had bought it with instructions that I should
decide where to hang it in the
Church.
All this time, the nursery had no fabrics in it so I ordered an ABC quilt and
had the
Church's name and date put on it. It is my recollection that
Dorothy Stedman
paid for it. I had been saving an angel quilt for a
possible granddaughter in my family, but since that wasn't happening, I brought
the quilt to church and it too hangs in the nursery.
Barbara Meloan brought me over 30 exquisite cross stitch metallic threaded Crismons. I made miniature tapestries out of them with silk tassels and they are the main focus of our Christmas tree.
The next fall Fair provided a beautifully made yarn rendering of
a mission
scene. I suspect this originated in Mexico or Central America.
It's lively, colorful, and hangs in the secretaries' office.
I
had long felt that we needed a welcoming textile in the Narthex
and so I
designed and made the framed one you see today. It has many Christian symbols on it, but the one you may not recognize is on the upper right. It
is Mary Magdalene's perfume bottle.
I'm currently holding 2 lovely hand made oriental framed textiles given to me
by Sheila Noyes, and they will be the next
things up. Renee' Cecil brought in an
original framed textile, collage style, in beautiful colors which now hangs
in the office.
This has been a fascinating adventure and I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to see this collection grow. It would be lovely to see some beautifully done banners hang on our walls. Maybe the children, with assistance, would like to enhance our project with an original wall hanging. Altar linens are always a possibility for expert fingers.
As future buildings are built in our complex, there will be many walls available for the fabric collection to continue to grow. Art is timeless and examples of the best in textiles from all corners of the world could be our ultimate goal. The possibilities are endless as to what the future may hold for our collection. Thanks so much for all of you who have aided in this mission. The growth of the collection depends on all of us. If you have any textile treasures from anywhere on the globe, please think of the church where they will be enjoyed by generations.
If any of you are interested in assisting in this project, please let me know. Continuity is very important and, in time, the growth of this ministry will become too much for one person to handle.