Artist : Norman Delue

My needlepoint interest began by chance. Vacationing in Santa Fe, I wandered into a needlepoint store that displayed a painted canvas in the window. I loved the design and southwest colors. The owner greeted me and asked if she could help me. “I’d like to learn how to needlepoint!”
She replied, “How long are you going to be in town?” I replied for five days. “If you’ll come in each morning for an hour, I’ll have you needle pointing in no time.” She was right! She taught me the basics. I was hooked. There would be no turning back.
I’ve been involved in the art of needlepoint for thirty years. It has become a compulsion. Like every beginner, I started with the basic tent stitch. This stitch must be mastered first, of course.  But I wasn’t satisfied with only one stitch. I took classes and joined the American Needlepoint Guild. There is a ladder of skills that ascend in complexity and difficulty. It didn’t take too long to master various skills.
I worked on painted canvases done by various artists. I took classes from master teachers. Finally I was designing my own canvases and doing the stitch guides for them. I had entered the world of original work.
I explored and used the myriad number of fibers available. I learned how to use silk, cotton, wool, and metallic. Each fiber has its own particular properties. Silk is used for its shine; wool for its texture; and metallic for its glittering- highlighting effects. Every year new products come out in the market; they add dazzling effects to our work. I love finding new fibers, and then learning how to use and incorporate them into my work. Example: a new fiber has been introduced recently created from the bamboo plant and dyed to hundreds of hues, shades and tints.
Needlepoint is always done on canvas. This means that the needle is put through the canvas and brought up in another hole. Embroidery is yet another fiber art form. Canvas varies in size. There is ten, fourteen, eighteen, twenty-four gauge mesh, and a very fine silk gauze.
The larger number of holes in a canvas results in a greater number of stitches per inch. I mostly work on
24-count canvas. That’s 576 stitches per square inch. Sounds impressive, but with our handy tools and a variety of techniques, it’s easy to work on. Yes, I use a supplementary magnifier light and always work with framed pieces. This allows me to keep both hands free


to lay the threads (separate and spread) very carefully to get the desired effect. A needle pointer tries to honor all the rules of design. But instead of paint or watercolors, we use fibers to create our finished work.
Needlepoint allows me to explore my creativity. It gives me a sense of accomplishment.
I often hear that one must have so much patience. Yet, I don’t feel that I have an inordinate amount of patience. I have developed a disciplined regimen. Each day I stitch for one hour. That’s seven days a week, every month, year after year. With such devotion to regimen one is bound to get something done.

Editor Note:
Norman Delue has recently retired after a distinguished forty year career teaching at university, junior college, high school, and elementary school, specializing in writing and creative drama for children. In his retirement he has returned to performance art with Encore Theatre Company.
Norman has also established himself as a nationally distinguished needlepoint artist. His original needlepoint works have been featured this year in Needlepoint Now magazine. His work will also appear on the cover again in a subsequent issue— an unprecedented honor.