Michael Linton's Bayeux Tapestry: 1066 - A Medieval Mosaic and Puzzles
News
Getting his teeth into a hobby
News Article Details
- Publication: High Country Herald
- Author: Jill Meadowcroft
- Date: 13-10-1988
Description
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Neville Earl of Warwick (1428-1471).
If you were asked to find a connection between the teeth of knitting machine pattern discs and mosaics, chances are you would be hard pressed.
That wouldn't be too surprising given that Michael Linton of Peel Forest is quite possibly the only person anywhere to be producing heraldic mosaics from tiny pieces of steel.
Michael and Gillian Linton are probably better known as the owners of Kapai Crafts which specialises in pure wool knitted jerseys, hats and scarfs. But Michael's newly prepared display of mosaics is attracting a great deal of interest from passers-by.
He says he came across this painstaking and time-consuming hobby more by accident than design.
A former Tekau Knitwear employee involved with pattern design, Mr Linton used to rescue the circular, spring steel pattern discs that would otherwise have been destined for the scrap heap.
He doesn't know what made him think of cutting off the tiny teeth on the discs and then glueing the teeth to a thick paper base. This produces a glittering copper and silver coloured metallic surface.
Once Mr Linton has prepared his raw material he paints on coats of arms or copies of effigies of historic figures.
Mrs Linton comes onto the scene about now — her interest in English history makes her the ideal person to prepare short histories of the men to hang alongside the finished mosaics.
Mr Linton doesn't consider his hobby to be a particularly artistic one.
"The painting is a technical thing really — my background in graphics helps."
The Lintons have over 20 mosaics on display but the most ambitious is still to come.
Mr Linton has already prepared mosaics of three scenes from the Bayeux tapestry and has decided that having done that much he may as well go and complete the project — 35 metres (115 feet) of it.
Preparing the mosaic surface has taken about 2000 hours work and 1.2 million mosaic pieces.
He is now working on the best way to transfer the tapestry scenes on to the mosaic. He has prepared a stencil drawing and is debating whether to use a projector he has built himself to shine the image onto the mosaics and then paint over it.
The Bayeux copy is being done to half the original size scale and the completed 35 metres is going to present the Linton's with a problem. Where to display it.
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turning cast-off metal knitting pattern discs into mosaic pictures.
"We are thinking about building on another room to the workshop anyway so it might be displayed there," Mrs Linton says.
The actual painting is the less time consuming part of the process, Michael Linton says. There are only six principle colours used in the tapestry which also simplifies the task.
Neither of the Lintons consider themselves serious heraldry enthusiasts.
"Being English by birth we've always been interested in English history. Doing the write-ups was interesting — some of the early kings and noblemen were a really wicked bunch," Mrs Linton says.
Until recently the Lintons hadn't thought about displaying the mosaics that had already been completed. However on a recent trip to Australia they were interested to see a brass rubbing centre and other indications that people far from Britain were keen on European history.
The 16 effigies, three coats of arms and three scenes of Bayeux tapestries have already attracted plenty of interest.
"We don't get many people through Peel Forest but since we've put up the small sign overseas visitors and locals have been coming in to see the mosaics. They really are totally unique — they'll never seem anything like them anywhere else," Mr Linton says.
When the Bayeux tapestry copy is finished so too will Micheal Linton's hobby of heraldic mosaics.
"When Timaru's Tekau factory closed down I bought up the 40.000 used discs. There aren't any more in the country — I'd have to hunt overseas to find any more."
But it is possible that visitors to Peel Forest will still find another way to become acquainted with early English history.
Gillian Linton is considering importing copies of brass effigies found in English cathedrals. In Britain these from the basis of the very popular past time of brass rubbing.
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Earl of Winchester (1261-1326).
Visitors to cathedrals can pay a small amount to purchase heavy black paper and use gold or silver crayons to make rubbings of the effigies. Nowadays copies of the original brass designs are used as these were becoming worn with the frequent copies being made.
Doing brass rubbings is a popular rainy day pastime as well as a serious hobby in Britain, Mrs Linton says.
Her husband admits that when he undertakes a particular hobby it becomes something of an obsession. However, he doesn't envisage having too many idle hours when the last mosaic is completed.
He plans to make a set of perfect magic number cubes. These cubes feature a series of numbers that all add up to the total. They are perfect in that every rank, column, file and all diagonals including the four corner to corner ones all add up to the same number.
"I've been working on the nine number series since I was about 18 and it took about two years to work out.
Mr Linton is thinking of making a set of glass cubes engraved with the perfect magic numbers.
I have another project too — to find a formula for divisibility — a quick way to find a way to divide numbers."
A number of mathematicians are working on I the project he says, and it is a very time consuming one. Mr Linton thinks he has the problem partly solved but there is a way to go yet.
Sitting at the knitting machine all day gives him plenty of opportunities to think out such problems.
"He always keeps pen and paper beside the knitting machine to write down things we need to do or ideas for other projects," Mrs Linton says.