An Estonian Craftier and Her Masterpiece

On January 5th the exhibition in Pärnu, Estonia had opened and will be on display until January 20th. It is taking place in Pärnu Linnagalerii  on Nikolai 27.   I am exhibiting my quilts along with sculptures made by ceramists Aleksandrs and Marite Djačenko from Jelgava, Latvia, and embroidery, knitting and crochet works of Estonian craftier Helga Koger.

I don’t want to talk about myself this time. I will tell more about ceramists Aleksandrs and Marite Djačenko from Jelgava, Latvia later, when I get to know more about their work and the process of creation. This time I would like to tell you more about Helga.

Before I met Helga about 30 years ago, I didn’t know that embroidery, lace-making, and knitwear were some of the handicrafts which have been practiced with perfection in Estonia for generations. As Lithuanian girls were taught to weave, every Estonian girl was taught to embroider and to have her dowry chest filled with embroidered tablecloths, bed covers, pillow cases, blouses etc.

Helga learned how to embroider in different techniques when she was still a very young girl. She turned back to embroidery when as a journalist she wrote her first book about traditional Estonian embroidery. Then she started embroidering herself again. And she wrote few more books on different embroidery techniques. Then she turned to crochet and knitting and few more books followed.

I would like to share few photos of Helga’s work. First of all her books:

There were  many pieces of Helga’s work on a  display at the exhibition:

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But the center piece of the exhibition was Helga’s hand embroidered wall hanging (220 cm x 140 cm):

It was accompanied by a smaller wall hanging (70 cm x 50 cm)

I couldn’t take my eyes away and explored every flower on a large rug:

I truly admire Helga’s creativity and patience.  I would like you to enjoy Helga’s work!