Feeling Blue

Open daily from 5 October

Essential Information

Location	Queen's House
Price	Free

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With its array of colours, striking design and text, it’s hard not to be taken in by this vibrant tapestry.

Feeling Blue is a brand-new commission from Royal Museums Greenwich. It was created by multidisciplinary artist Alberta Whittle and Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh.

Currently on display in the Queen’s Presence Chamber in the Queen’s House, the tapestry is rooted in maritime traditions.

“The title for the tapestry – Feeling Blue – is derived from a nautical saying,” Whittle explains. “When sailors would pass away at sea, the crew would paint a blue band on the hull of the ship or wear some kind of blue.”

Head to the Queen’s House to see Feeling Blue for yourself – and read on for the story of the tapestry's making.

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Tides of history, threads of meaning

A photo looking up through a spiral staircase with ornate blue metal railings. The stairs appear to swirl up into a point in the ceiling

The artwork Feeling Blue. A brightly coloured tapestry featuring a blue border and the words 'Feeling Blue' in the centre. Shapes resembling coral, rope and waves frame the central design

Weaving together themes including migration, melancholy and mythology, Feeling Blue responds directly to Royal Museums Greenwich’s sites and collections.

“I wanted to think about how collections speak to us as audience members, and how artworks talk to each other,” Whittle says.

Alberta Whittle smiles at the camera with a blue coloured tapestry called Feeling Blue on a loom in the background — Artist Alberta Whittle photographed during the making of Feeling Blue (photo © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London)

The tapestry responds to specific artworks within the Queen’s Presence Chamber – a room where the monarch traditionally would have presented themselves to an audience.

Cultured freshwater pearl beads are woven into its design, referencing the jewelled gown depicted in The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I, and the ‘Drake Jewel’ shown in the portrait of Sir Francis Drake.

The tapestry’s blue colour scheme also provides a nod to the interior of the Queen’s House itself.

“Blue is a special colour for the Queen’s House,” says Katherine Gazzard, Curator of Art (Post-1800). “You can see it in a lot of the original 17th century decoration, including the ceiling of the King’s Presence Chamber and the balustrade of the Tulip Stairs.”

“In the 1670s, the Dutch artist Willem van de Velde the Elder and his son, Willem van de Velde the Younger, had a studio space in the House and were designing tapestries here,” she adds.

“As a contemporary tapestry, Feeling Blue is a fantastic response to and continuation of that history that we have in our sites in Greenwich.”

Creating the tapestry

Featuring more than 150 different colour combinations, and incorporating materials such as rope, Feeling Blue showcases the versatility of tapestry weaving.

“The tapestry is woven mostly in cottons and linens,” explains Naomi Robertson, Studio Manager and Master Weaver at Dovecot Studios. “We’ve used a lot of different techniques in this tapestry including knotting, double weave, as well as other interesting materials.” Scotland’s only working tapestry studio, Dovecot collaborate with contemporary artists to translate their artworks into woven tapestries.

Close up image of the weaving of a tapestry, showcasing orange corals and a twisted yellow rope on a blue background — © Alberta Whittle and Dovecot Studios. Photo: © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

Robertson worked alongside weaver Elaine Wilson for six months to create Feeling Blue. As with many of their projects, the weavers worked closely with Whittle to develop the tapestry.

“We do a lot of talking; we like to find out what the artist wants from the work,” Robertson says. “We do a lot of sampling and experimenting to find out the language of the tapestry and to capture the artist’s handwriting within that.”

A group of weavers stand in front of a loom holding a blue tapestry with a colourful coral border and with the words 'Feeling Blue' woven in the centre — Weavers Naomi Robertson (left) and Elaine Wilson (right) with artist Alberta Whittle (centre) at the 'cutting off' ceremony for *Feeling Blue (*© Alberta Whittle and Dovecot Studios. Photo: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London)

For Whittle, this collaborative approach has been especially rewarding: “Feeling Blue has been shaped by the conversations I’ve had with the team members from Greenwich, and the incredible folk from Dovecot Studios,” she says. “The commission has been a wonderful opportunity to think deeply about maritime histories and consider the powers in place that decide how these histories are portrayed.”