Earlier this week we found time to visit the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight for their latest exhibition of the work of May Morris. The Lady Lever Gallery is lovely to visit at any time, but the May Morris exhibition made it even more pleasurable.
The exhibition is a celebration of the wide-ranging creative output of Arts and Crafts designer and maker, May Morris, the younger daughter of William and Jane Morris. There is a vibrant display of embroideries, wallpapers, watercolour designs, costume and jewellery showcasing her many talents.
Today she is regarded as one of the most pioneering artists of the Arts and Crafts movement. A talented designer and needleworker, she elevated the embroiderer’s craft from a trivial hobby to a serious art form worthy of recognition. But in her lifetime her nature-inspired designs were often misattributed to her father, resulting in the underestimation of her artistic influence. For many years May Morris was the manager of the embroidery department of Morris and Company. She stepped down after her father's death to focus on her own work as well as being a passionate advocate for women artists. May co-founded the Women's Guild of Art in 1907.
The exhibition was stunning, and reminded me how much I love embroidery. I was surprised how many of the stitches I remembered from the days when I was pretty nifty with a needle! I might even have been inspired to take up embroidery again myself!