Memoirs of a Geisha

I am so excited to tell today's story.

It is a perfect example of the reason I started this blog in the first place.

I have enjoyed my mom's piece for several years now, but never before did I know how much history it really has. Sit back, and enjoy- this one is gooood.

This piece, which my mom calls, The Geisha, sits in our little dining room.

It hung in my mom's dining room/hallway for my entire childhood, I think.

Then, when she repainted her walls, she gave it to me.

I visited my mom last Sunday for dinner and asked her to tell me the story about it.

My mom designed this piece in the mid-late 70's from a design she saw in a McCall's Needlework magazine. The entire piece is stitched using silk threads. It was originally intended to be hung in a master bedroom of a custom house up in the mountains. It would have been spectacular... adjacent to a beautiful mountain view. But, it turns out, my mom didn't live there.

This piece was an excellent vehicle for a class on techniques with silk, and so my mom offered it at the Needleworker boutique in Cherry Creek North. It would be a six week class, meeting once each week in the evenings.

One of the shop regulars at the Needleworker was a man named Walt. Walt was a really nice guy, known for being a great customer and an excellent stitcher. Walt really wanted to enroll in the class, but his partner, Mr. James, was distraught: they didn't often spend evenings apart. Now, Mr. James had no experience whatsoever, and should not have enrolled in the class. But, Walt assured the Needleworker staff that he would be completely responsible for helping Mr. James with whatever he needed during the class.

The first night of the class, Walt and his partner, Mr. James arrived. Mr. James owned a beauty salon in Denver, and perhaps that is why he showed up... in drag. Maybe you've never seen my mom handle a change of plans, but she is always as cool as a cucumber. Even though I wasn't there, I bet she handled it really well. (I mean, let's face it. There are a lot of places you could expect to see a man in drag, but a needlepoint boutique in Cherry Creek North in the late 70s/early 80s is not necessarily that place.) My mom went on with the class as usual, but neither she...nor the Geisha... were the center of attention anymore.

Mr. James was very frustrated by the class, as any beginner would be, and he did not handle his frustration well. He would start sweating when things became difficult, and it was all my mom could do to keep the class from dissolving. One evening, as things became particularly challenging, Mr. James leaned over, and sighed, "Waltie darling, I just can't do this!"

It was the fourth evening of class, and Walt and Mr. James never returned.

Later on that year (I think), my mom wrote an article for the National Embroiderer's Teachers Association. She titled it, "Needlework Can Be a Drag." It was an article all about dealing with problematic situations as a workshop teacher. Over the years since, I have heard a lot of my mom's stories about students who are in over their heads. I think what frustrates her the most is having to make the decision to assist one student over the others or leave that person hanging.

Meanwhile, my mom entered The Geisha in an ANG national exhibit in 1980. She took First Place and her first ever Judge's Choice award. (She scanned and sent me a picture of her ribbon when I told her I'd be writing about this piece... so cute!)

Because of these accolades, she attended the first Invitational Exhibit offered by Princess Grace of Monaco in 1982. The American Needlepoint Guild, which began in 1970, held its first convention in 1972 and its first trip to Monaco in 1973. ANG hosted trips to Monaco nearly every year after that. To my understanding, the exhibit took place in the spring of that year.

That following September, Grace Kelly died in a car accident.

This picture is absolutely one of my favorite pictures in my mom's house. It turns out it was taken by the palace photographer and sent to my mom later on. How perfect is that- this moment needed to be frozen in time. Now that I know the story, I think I'm going to see if I can get a professional-quality copy of this picture and frame it next to the Geisha.