Foreword: Charles McCubbin ix
List of Works xv
Profile: Phillip Mein 1
Author’s Note 7
TEXTILE WORKS
White-faced Heron 12
Coastal Banksia 14
Eastern Water Dragon 17
The morass – Sale 19
Bush Jacket 21
Maternity Dress 21
Dragonfly Cape 23
Lacewing Vest 24
Butterfly Ties 25
Fisherman’s Tie 25
Grasshoppers 26
Frogs 30
Dragonflies 32
Cup Moths & Larva 34-36
Sawflies 38
Superb Blue Wrens 41
Christmas Beetles 43
The Potter Wasp I & II 45-46
The Old Lady Moth 49
Squabbling Gulls 51
Pink Emperor Gum Moth I & II 54-56
Above the Channels 59
The Nest 63
Case Moth Cocoons 64
Emerald Moth on Banksia 66
Fallen Red Gum Log 69
Fallen Branches 70
Silvereyes 73
Ameinus McCubbinonymous, Lepidoptera 77
Mythical Moth 78
Mating Mythical Moths 81
Slate Pencil Sea Urchin 85
Barnacles 88
Mussels and Kelp 90
Wattle Seed-pods 92
Here She Comes! 94
Early Birds 98
Lepidoptera Quadripartite 100
Freedom & Samplers 104-106
Night Flight 112
Fantail Rhapsody 115
Fantail Night Watch 120
Southern Blue Gum Blossoms 122
Flight Dust 124
Butterfly Dust 126
Pittosporum Seed-pods & Blossoms 128-129
Fabric Fantasy 131
Grasshopper Flight 135
Dance of the Mayflies 136
Mayfly Life Cycle 140
Frog Down Under 143
Lewin Honeyeater Nestlings I 146
Book on Lewin Honeyeater Nestlings II 150
Lepidoptera Olympia Australis 152
Pheromone Frenzy 154
Acknowledgements 159
Annemieke Mein lives in Australia. She was born in Haarlem, Holland, in 1944. Annemieke has become internationally recognized as an artist and craftswoman. She was the first textile artist to be accepted as a member of both the Wildlife Art Society of Australasia and the Australian Guild of Realist Artists. She is the only textile artist to be featured in Australian Artist.
She won the inaugural Hoechst Textile Award in 1980. She is represented in the Hoechst and Husqvarna international collections, in private, national and state collections in Australia and in private collections in Holland, Sweden, the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Japan and Canada. In 1988 she was awarded the Order of Australia Medal 'for services to the Arts, particularly in textile sculptures and bronze bas-relief sculptures'.
The Annemieke Mein Gallery, a space dedicated to her artwork within
the new Gippsland Art Gallery at Sale, opened in January 2018.
Exhibitions change regularly.
Annemieke's website can be visited at www.annemiekemein.net.au
This tribute to the work of Annemieke Mein was first published in
1992 but remains as impressive as ever. Her expressive stitched
compositions of nature are a perfect lesson in the artistry of
stitch; marrying Mein's acute flair for observation and
storytelling with her skill as an embroiderer (she used numerous
techniques in limitless combinations - hand and machine embroidery,
dyeing, appliqué, trapunto, quilting, pleating, felting, beading,
weaving and plying.) Now sadly no longer able to work her legacy is
captured in the beautiful photography and vivid descriptions of her
processes in this book.
*The Textile Art Magazine - Embroidery*
This book I have had for many years and feel it is a worthwhile
book to review, despite being long established. Annamieke Mein is a
superb wildlife artist, her interpretation into textiles is quite
incredible. Her work involves painting and embroidery on a very
large scale, as well as smaller pieces. The inspiration for silk
painters is beyond measure especially if you have a love of
wildlife. Annamieke's drawings of frogs, birds, insects etc.
capture reality with humour and are beautifully illustrated in this
book. An absolute joy to look through when we need a prompt to get
started. I particularly love the dragonflies and mayflies. The
intricacy of detail are combined with a mere suggestion of
landscape and delicacy of colour to create works of great
beauty.
*International Journal of the Guild of Silk Painters*
So, I started at the beginning. Within the opening of the cover and
a couple of the first taster pages before the foreword, pictured
were some amazing photographs of works that appeared stitched,
maybe with some relief and a colour palette which I would describe
as Autumn.
The forward and profile of the artist has been written by a good
friend and the Artist’s husband and is several pages of
achievements, awards and a small insight into the admiration of
this artist – well, how weird I thought, that the artist did not
write this themselves? Maybe they were a little shy of the absolute
accolade and following she had gained. I discovered however on
reading on that this artist is not about the fame and fortune but
is all about the extensive study, observation and artistry in her
subjects to produce a piece of work using multimedia techniques in
such an intricate way you would be excused at first glance to think
you were looking at a photograph.
Here I thought these photos illustrate the size of some of these
works and how they evolve.
This is the artist herself some years ago.
The whole remainder of the book is dedicated to 60 pieces of
Annemieke’s – at this point, I feel I have been given some insight
and personality to the artist that using her name seems more
appropriate – she is starting to creep into my creative mind!
The pieces are all noteworthy and I have decided to concentrate on
three of my favourites to try and give you a feeling for the
delights in store. My third choice – work 49 –
Butterfly Dust
This piece of work draws you into the light by the trees –
exquisite gold and white beads highlight the feeling of the sun
peeping over the ridge and the glow is continued by clever machine
stitching. The stitching is continued in a similar shape to
represent a valley which the main subject – an imaginative
butterfly - is making its way towards the light. The movement of
the butterfly is represented by darker shadows painted into the
background and ways of machine stitching simulating where the wings
have flapped. A small scatter of beads behind the butterfly say
‘dust’ which must have been disturbed as the butterfly took to the
wing.
The trees in the background of the picture give distance and sights
to come. In this piece when you look closely materials that have
been used are raw wool, beads, silk fabric, machine embroidery,
hand embroidery, painting, dying and wool.
I defy you not to want to cup your hands and let this magnificent
butterfly flutter into them! My runner up piece – the potter wasp
ii
You can see here an insight into the detailed drawing and study of
the wasp before the 3D creation begins. This is typical of
Annemieke’s rather strange pull to the insect world which one would
normally not choose as a subject which would give joy to the
viewer. A rather unlovable creature is depicted but Annemieke
explains that she admires the rather gory survival behaviour and
the creature’s success.
How can you however not look at this work and see the pure mastery
of the artist even if not attracted by the subject?
Female Potter wasps make many hundreds of flights with daubs of mud
to make their mud pots and they leave an opening so they can lay
their egg. They then hunt a grub and paralyse it before adding it
to the pot and sealing each pot with a mud door. All ready for the
new birth.
The mud pots shown here are each started as an embroidered square
of fabric with a central hole. The fabric was shaped into a pot
using tucks and
pleats whilst hand sewing and bunching up the excess fabric to the
inside of the pot.
The wasp has delicate-looking wings which are free-standing and
made using glittery silk stockings, veil netting, cream silk and
heavy iron-on backing.
With the descriptions and background given by Annemieke, I found
myself peering closer to the picture to see all the elements and
how they were constructed together. Oh, what it would be to see
this artist in motion! So, to my favourite – Frog down under
I was captivated by the whole wall sculpture. Wherever I look I
stared intently to work out how the composition was created.
This frog has featured in a few of Annemieke’s designs in the past
but has been recreated in a more feline form here with a more
delicate and athletic look.
This sculpture uses a technique perfected by Annemieke, which is
sewing with an exceptionally tight bobbin tension and loose top
thread tension – to the absolute limit- This has created the almost
scaly skin of the frog and when you look closely you can see the
bubbling and dimpling of the thread which has created this look.
The gum blossom plants shown are such a joy of French knots that I
found myself wanting to reproduce the plants almost
immediately!
In later sculptures, Annemieke tells us the gum blossoms were first
hand-painted on the canvas, machine-stitched in different coloured
buttonhole threads before the thousands, yes thousands! of French
knots were added – a true breath-taking result.
This book has been summarised by Mary Corbet, www.needlenthread.com
as a must-have for every textile enthusiast. Annemeike’s close
friend Charles McCubbin sums it up as ‘a rare standard of
artistry’
I whole heartily agree with these snippets.
I think every artist that uses paint, hair, stitching, material,
silk, beads, threads, wool, felt, and even tights can use this book
as inspiration, not to reproduce, but to take a different look at
their work using techniques and colours in Annemeike’s pallet to
discover a different side to their work.
A truly inspirational read and insight into the techniques we
probably all know but have not seen used in such world-class
textile sculpture.
For those interested in these works why not have a look at
Annemieke’s website - https://annemiekemein.net.au there is a short
video on her website about the steps and techniques used in the
making of the work Superb Blue Wrens which also features in the
book.
*Anne Walden-Mills*
First published by Search in 1994, this re-issue is as fresh and
beautiful as ever, showcasing Annemieke’s timeless textile
art. Dutch-born, she has lived in Australia from a young age
and specialises in depicting the wildlife of that country through
works of art that delight both the artist and the viewer;
although realistic in style, by her own admission, they are not
correct in every botanical or anatomical detail. Sixty pieces
of her work are shown in this volume, to be looked at again and
again to fully appreciate the painstaking and meticulous detail and
the level of craftmanship achieved by Annemieke. Sumptuous
colour photography justifies the higher price – this is an
invaluable book for every embroiderer’s bookshelf.
*East Kent Embroiderers'*
This is a beautiful book, filled with intricate designs created
through embroidery and paint.
While there are no instructions on how to achieve one of the pieces
yourself, there is a basic description on how they were made.
From wall hangings to free standing sculptures each one is
stunning. The photography is just amazing and the skill involved is
there for all to see.
All are very life like and the reality of some pieces are
frightening.
I loved the stories that go with the designs, the author tells how
each piece was born and brought to life.
There is no doubt of the talent and the expertise of Annemieke Mein
and only in my dreams would I ever hope to be as good. This book is
amazing and while filled with inspiration, it will definitely be a
talking point.
*Postcard Reviews*
Marvel at the textile skills of Annemieke Mein in this wondrous
book of her work. Find skilful and amazing use of fabric, stitch,
paint and embroidery to create imaginative flora and fauna that is
sheer delight. Her subjects come to life; Mr. Frog is so textured
you can almost feel his skin. Annemieke uses textiles as a
sculptural medium to portray insects and other wildlife in natural
settings. There are no less than 60 works of art shown in this
book. Step into the world of a wildlife artist, outstanding in her
field. See the detailed drawings and notes she makes. Discover how
she selects fabrics and stitch to convey her subjects. She reveals
the progression in her work, from early flat works through relief
work (I am certain that Eastern Water Dragon’s eye just blinked) to
the more sculptural work. Backgrounds blend, as they do in real
life, as camouflage; the colours being very natural. Stitch just
flows along leaves or quietly in the background. Even intense
stitching just seems to blend at one with the fabrics and subjects;
like a symbiotic relationship. In the high-relief wall sculpture,
‘Cup Moths’ the background shapes and colours are repeated in the
leaf work, the cocoons blending beautifully; the moths themselves
in relief but beautifully camouflaged. Other subjects include
birds, beetles, wasps, gulls, branches, sea urchins, barnacles,
mussels and kelp, seed pods, gum blossoms and grasshoppers. Each
piece is accompanied by a description and often by drawings. Note
the size of the panels, they are reasonably large wall pieces.
Annemieke has also worked on costumes. She captures Australian
wildlife like no other textile artist, detailed work to marvel at
and admire. There is so much the textile artist can learn from this
book – how to approach work, how to instil a feeling of reality,
how to use colour and stitch to give form. This book was previously
published in Australia in 1992. Highly recommended.
*karenplatt.co.uk*
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