Tolkien’s world has inspired a great number of artists and artisans over the years and the Middle-earth News Team is always pleased to be able to talk with these talented people. Recently, I had the pleasure to interview an incredible artisan, Liz Heffner, who was kind enough to answer to my questions. Liz deals with “needlework and textile art inspired by fantasy literature, mythology and history” and I’m sure you will be enchanted by her works, especially if you are fond of the Middle Ages (and Tolkien), like me.
Liz Heffner
Middle-earth News: Can you describe to us what your works consist of?
Liz Heffner: All of my pieces share a common style, which is my attempt to emulate the feel of historical sources, in particular that of Medieval manuscript illustration. Beyond that, each piece usually reflects an element of either history or mythology, such as a place or a character, mortal or immortal. I have been concentrating on Tolkien’s legendarium so far, with pieces that show Gandalf, the Two Trees and Smaug; I also have many more Tolkien-inspired ideas that I hope to execute over the course of the next few years. I am however very fond of Arthurian legend, Celtic mythology and Greek/Roman history and mythology as well, so you can expect to see these influences at work in future pieces too.
Some of my pieces are embroidered in a modern interpretation of a Medieval style named ‘opus anglicanum’; others will be produced in mixed media or art quilting with surface embroidery.
ME News: When was your passion for Tolkien born? Before or after the one for embroidery and all that concerns your work?
LH: Actually, that’s quite a hard question, but only because I have difficulty remembering that far back!
I know that I first began embroidering when I was about six years old – which would have been 1977. My mother did cross stitch back then, completing designs from books and women’s magazines and using the kind of floss and fabric that is easy to buy from every craft store. I started doing it because I was interested in mimicking her – something with which every parent is familiar – and then continued because I found that I really enjoyed creating things.
Gandalf by Liz Heffner
My first contact with Tolkien was when I was three years old. An old family photograph captures me, seated on a couch in a holiday cottage rented by the family for the summer, holding the Lord of the Rings paperback – the one where all three books were published together, which made it enormous. I’m clearly trying to look as if I’m reading ‘mummy’s grown up book’. Eight years later, I was carting that sizeable tome around in my school backpack, eagerly reading it whenever I had two minutes to myself. I can’t remember exactly when I read The Hobbit but I still have the copy that was given to me as a child after being passed around the adults in the family – it’s a 1965 paperback.
Throughout my school years, I embroidered as a hobby, eventually branching out into free embroidery. My interest in fantasy literature, Tolkien in particular, was growing at the same time and a couple of my closest friends and I made attempts to write our own novel in Tolkien’s style when we were about 14. From what I dimly recall of the endeavour, it was probably well-intentioned but derivative; ultimately it was consigned to the scrap heap, which is definitely no bad thing.
Eventually, at university, I helped others to found what is now known as the Oxford Smial of the UK’s Tolkien Society: Taruithorn. I also ventured into the pages of the Silmarillion and other works of JRRT, finding the time amidst my studies in Classics and Ancient History to embroider a seemingly endless series of dragons and elves. Sadly none of my teenage work survives; I gave it all away to other teenage friends, most of it getting lost over the course of the last twenty five years or so.
The course of life took me in a totally different direction after I graduated. It wasn’t until 2013 after a varied career in customer service, IT and finally a second degree in Nursing, after the completion of which I emigrated to the USA, that I found a way to combine my passions for creative stitching, history, mythology and fantasy literature. I owe a great deal to Becky Dillon, who is passionate about promoting Tolkien-related art, for helping me take the initial steps into the art world.
ME News: To realize your works, are you inspired by the film adaptations of Tolkien’s books or from your personal vision of Middle-earth?
LH: I always aim to come up with an original interpretation according to my own personal vision after reading the books. The influence of the images from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy is, however, quite far reaching and can be subtle, as I consider those films to have successfully evoked the spirit of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, even if they strayed quite some distance away from the source material in other ways. This may be in part because I have always enjoyed the work of artists such as Ted Nasmith, Alan Lee and John Howe, whose visions are very much represented in the films. I therefore find sometimes that I have to strive quite consciously to ensure that what I have designed is not inspired by the films – or indeed the work of any other artists – and does not utilize anything that could be traced either to film dialogue and visuals or Tolkien’s own prose: this is, for me, essential, not least because of matters of copyright.
Luckily for me, Peter Jackson’s interpretation of Smaug had not yet been seen in public when I first drew out my design in August 2013!
The Two Trees by Liz Heffner
ME News: What is the process of creating one of your works?
LH: I start by drawing out a ‘cartoon’ in black and white. Once I’m happy with the outlines, I make a separate copy and decide on the use of colour. After this, a third version depicts what types of stitches I will place and where, the order for working and the direction of stitching, which is something that can make a huge difference to the appearance of the design.
For embroidery, I then frame up fabric of a suitable size. Often there is a background fabric of either canvas or linen, then a ‘foreground’ fabric of either fine linen, cotton broadcloth or silk. Once these have all been prepared, edged to prevent fraying and brought to a suitable tension, I transfer my design to the fabric using the first cartoon in black and white. The process for this depends on the colour of the background fabric. Sometimes I trace the design with the aid of a light box, sometimes I have to copy the whole image onto acid-free tissue paper which is then pinned to the fabric. I then must place running stitches along every line of the design, until the tissue paper may be carefully removed, leaving the image in stitches. I then stitch according to my design papers until the piece is finished.
The piece is then removed from the frame and professionally stretched and laced over acid-free foam core.
For art quilts or mixed media, the process involves building up fabrics and stitching on a background marked with the design and is much easier, as the tension required is nowhere near as fierce!
Grail Knight by Liz Heffner
ME News: What materials do you mainly use?
LH: I mainly use canvas, cotton broadcloth, linen and silk for fabrics. Threads and other embellishments can range from pure silk in a brand named Soie de Paris, gilt metal threads of varying types (gilt would mean an actual gold content to roughly 2%, this being the highest content available), simulated Japanese metals, silver threads, metallic yarns, Swarovski beads, crystals and pearls or twisted yarns. I do still use widely available ‘hobby’ threads from time to time as well, as they all have their purpose and place.
ME News: Approximately how long does it take to create each work?
LH: This depends on the size of the piece, the intricacy of the design and level of detail, plus the stitch techniques used. ‘Gandalf’ took me about 250 hours over five weeks, the ‘Two Trees’ perhaps 200 hours … and ‘Smaug’ took 600 hours over about five months. I intend to make quite a few pieces now that don’t take as long as he did! Not having the triple hurdle of Thanksgiving, Yule/Christmas and my daughter’s birthday within a two month period will help, as this definitely slowed me down when I was working on Smaug.
ME News: Are you working on anything in particular, concerning Tolkien’s world, right now?
LH: My current work in progress is a Celtic piece, showing a three-fold interpretation of the Morrigan in her main aspects. After this, I intend to stitch a series of Tolkien-inspired landscapes on art quilts, such as Orthanc, Barad-dûr, Tol Eressea and Taniquetil. I also have it in mind to embroider some of the Valar, in particular Ulmo, Tulkas, Elbereth, Yavanna and Manwë.
Realizing Smaug
ME News: What is the work of which you are most proud of?
LH: I’m proud of Smaug because of the gargantuan amount of effort involved in his creation, including 200 Swarovski ‘pearls’ and more than 300 gilt spangles (I lost count) all individually applied. I think it took me about 25 hours over two days in two mammoth stints just to get those stitched on!
I have to say though that I am most proud of Gandalf. He was the first of my Tolkien-inspired pieces and yet has journeyed from America to Europe in order to take part in the final of the Premios de Arte: Niggle competition for Tolkien-inspired art, which was organized and hosted in Sevilla, Spain by the Sociedad Tolkien Española. I was delighted to win second place and hope that this bodes well for things to come.
ME News: Can your works be purchased?
LH: All of my original pieces are for sale. I also have limited edition museum quality Giclée prints and digital offset prints available at two price points for my first three pieces, all signed. My printer, Hank Frentzen, is an artist in his own right, though he’s usually surrounded by automotive art which is just a little different from the items that he handles for me!
All prints and pieces may be purchased via my store on Etsy.com and using Paypal, but I am happy to discuss installment possibilities for originals on an individual basis.
ME News: Are your works exhibited at some trade shows or exhibitions?
LH: I was very pleased to be able to exhibit my very first draft prints, practically hot off the press, at the Tolkien Society’s annual gathering, Oxonmoot, in Oxford, England in 2013. I hope to be there in person for Oxonmoot 2014 in September, though I’m still looking at the logistics of ‘crossing the Pond’.
I will also trade at the Kalamazoo Medieval Studies conference in Michigan in May 2014, plus a number of trade shows in south-eastern Pennsylvania throughout 2014. I am still very new as an artist and building my portfolio, but anticipate that I will be exhibiting and trading at a lot more shows in 2015, particularly as a member of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen.
I would also love to be able to get over to Europe for shows and conventions; this is something that I’m working on for the future.
To read more about Liz’s works, you can visit her website and her Etsy shop, or follow her on Facebook.
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