I love dots

I do, I love dots. Never realized it so much as of today. They always make a happy impression and combine so easily into flowers or other motives. (Photo with courtesy to Stegemans textiel)

Why today? Well, the 3rd tuesday in september traditionally is Prinsjesdag in The Netherlands. The Hague welcomes our queen for the festive beginning of the new parliamentary year. Although this might be boring to think about, it is always a festive event. To get an impression: think of it as the marriage between the State of the Union (USA) and the hats of Royal Ascot (UK). But is this now turning into a political blog? By no means! And what does relate Prinsjesdag to dots? I will come to that in a sec.

As I said Prinsjesdag is a very festive event, so it attracts lots and lots of people from all over the country who want to get a glimpse of our Queen, the prince royal and his spouse. As I was watching the news I saw a few children in traditional clothing from Staphorst, a small town on the north-east side of the Netherlands. As part of their clothing these girls were wearing small bonnets. Lots of these traditional garments are from a (dark) blue or black fabric and adorned either with shawls or aprons in vibrant colours and (floral) patterns or as in the Staphorster Stipwerk, the fabric itself is embellished.

Now I come to the dots...The picture above is of so called Staphorster Stipwerk, which can be freely translated as Dotwork from Staphorst. It's nothing more than a technique, in which a small block with some nails attached to it is dipped into paint and pressed on the fabric or any other backing. When this is done a couple of times with different colours, the black is suddenly alive with small floral elements.

In fact it sparked  my imagination: if this could be done by such simple means, why not try and do it with beads? I think I found a challenge for the upcoming fall and winter. The base colour does apply to the retreat and death in nature that holds the promiss of a blooming spring and summer...If I'll be patient. (Photo was taken in my backyard last autumn.)