Ghorzah

Book excerpt: Ghorzah is the Arabic word for 'stitch' as well as the name of Natalie Fisher's first exhibition in the Middle East at the 20th Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival, UAE, in 2017-18. This book is about needlepoint stitching, as well as travel and Islamic architecture. It's an expedition to three countries that are home to glorious Islamic architecture and the story about how these places have influenced the author's needlepoint art. In the first section of the book, 'Inspiration', the author shares her favourite Islamic architectural motifs and settings from her travels to Morocco, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan. She illustrates how she has interpreted beautiful Islamic tiled walls and surfaces and converted them into original needlepoint tapestries. The second section, 'Stitching' contains a detailed description of how the artist creates her work, including tips, tricks and common mistakes. In the last chapter of this section the author takes the reader through a step-by-step process of making a small needlepoint project inspired by a small section from the largest Persian carpet in the world which adorns the main prayer hall in the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi, UAE. The book contains more than 90 full colour images including mosques, madrassas, fountains, carpets, tiled walls and needlepoint detail.