Charley Harper was a hero of mine as a child and I
saved some of his National Wildlife covers. So several
years ago I was very excited that he was teaching a
class at a cross-stitch convention I was talked into
going to with some friends. I took his class expecting
to glean some of his design philosophy, but instead it
was all about his very realistic but, well, not to my
taste cross-stitches of trains and barns, and he was
very kind of bitter and gripy, so I chickened out of
telling him how much I loved his work.
So when great designer Todd Oldham made a personal
investment in bringing his true work back to the
public eye, that was a wonderful wonderful thing. I'm
so glad he lived long enough to experience and enjoy
that rediscovery.
