From flowers on: the art of Thea Gouverneur

Hi Folks!

Anyone thinking of “flowers” has always thought of Holland, somehow, and in the cross stitch business, anyone thinking of flowers must be thinking of “Thea Gouverneur”

Sassenheim is a nice, small town in Southern Holland, in the area of the famous Kagerplassen lakes, as well as a well-known flower bulb center and a reference point in this sector, both in the past and now. Today it is surrounded by fields and fields of colorful lilies, tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and gladioli. Thea was born and grown up right here, in the middle of well-ordered, endless rows of stalks, crowned by multi-colored petals and corollas: those flowers that she herself and her brothers used to harvest in the Summers of their childhood, for the export worldwide.

“I think I was born with a passion for flowers”, she states in her website. “My father was a bulb grower and exporter, as was my uncle, my mum’s brother. My father and my uncle first met on a ship to America, where they were going to sell flowers. Ever since I can remember, flowers have been part of my life. When I began to draw and later to stitch, it seemed natural to choose flowers as my inspiration”.

The designer’s hand, mainly when her/his subjects are natural elements, is evident and definitely makes the difference: that’s probably also the reason why the kits from Thea Gouverneur are true works of art! The attention to details, the delicacy of color combinations and the tridimensionality of her designs are all distinctive marks of the kits manufactured by this Dutch artist, who – as some more famous names in our industry – has turned one of her childhood hobbies into a job that has made her renowned all over the world!

Today, her collection of flowers and fruit includes over 300 kitsin a whole lot of taste and elegance, making them the right idea for any kind of decoration – both traditional and classical – while offering a number of creative ideas, for a stitched kit isn’t simply something nice to frame J It can be used for making particular cushions, or as a “starting point” for a special quilt, or to embellish a basket, too, as a “wishing well” present for someone we love, or even simply to paint a cloth with some stitches, representing those magical shades that nature blesses us periodically with, but that we love all the year round!

Through the years, of course, the projects from Thea Gouverneur – almost all coming in both versions with linen or aida – have started focusing on more and more subjects, too. Some of them are always directly inspired by nature and share the same painstaking attention to details, as it’s clear looking at these rich Animal and Puppy and Kitten Collections

Some more are, instead, inspired by the great works of mankind, as well as by the epoch-making cultures that have made mankind evolve through the centuries, as it’s evident, for example, in the collections dedicated to the greatest and most famous cities in the world and to the cultures that have left their unforgettable sing in the history of mankind.

Always keeping an eye on the tradition of samplers and alphabets – still much “rooted” in The Netherlands and brilliantly preserved, as well as carefully handed down in this country - Thea has then created two collections that are clearly inspired by her fatherland and its customs and habits: Alphabets & Samplers and Dutch Designs. And, for something special for our little ones, throughout their lifetime here’s the special collection called “New born”.

This amazing selection is completed by collections focusing on the most different subjects – from sports, to the most tempting delicatessen; from breath-taking skies and sunsets, to the most impressive galleons and sailing ships of the European history.

However, Thea Gouverneur doesn’t only mean evergreen kits and designs, standing out for their typical features… On the contrary, in the list of the many kit designers and manufacturers we have always been dealing with, this Dutch brand has been among the first ones to bet on the modernity of black, using this color as the basic color of the fabric included in their kits, as you can see in these amazing kits. If possible, the dark color per excellence highlights even more the masterful designing ability of this artist, whom Casa Cenina is proud to be the official, reference online retailer for the European market!

Happy stitching and hear form us soon again