Leon Conrad
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Leon Conrad (born 15 September 1965) is a British
polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
: writer, story structure consultant, educator, and specialist in historic needlework techniques known particularly for historically-styled blackwork
embroidery Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen ...
designs.


Early life and education

Conrad was born in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. He grew up in
Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...
, attended
Willington School __NOTOC__ Willington Independent Preparatory School is situated in Wimbledon, south-west London. History The school was founded in 1885. It was situated in Putney, London, to cater for the boys of the growing middle class population of the are ...
for a year before moving to
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
, Egypt where he first attended
El Nasr Girls' College El Nasr Girls' College (EGC) ( ar, كلية النصر للبنات) is a school in Shatby, Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1935, and was originally known as ''English Girls College''. History The college was founded in 1935 to comme ...
and then
Victoria College, Alexandria Victoria College, Alexandria, ( ar, كلية فيكتوريا) was founded in 1902 under the impetus of the recently ennobled Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer of the Barings Bank, that was heavily invested in Egyptian stability. For years the Br ...
. He moved back to the UK in 1983, studying piano privately with Sidney Harrison and then at the
City Literary Institute City Lit is an adult education college in Holborn, central London, founded by the London County Council in 1919, which has charitable status. It offers part-time courses across four schools and five "centres of expertise", covering humanities an ...
with Kenneth van Barthold gaining his LRAM teaching certificate before entering
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...
in 1986, graduating with Honours in 1989. He trained in the
Estill Voice Training Estill Voice Training (often abbreviated EVT) is a program for developing vocal skills based on analysing the process of vocal production into control of specific structures in the vocal mechanism. By acquiring the ability to consciously move ea ...
method with
Jo Estill Josephine Antoinette Estill (née Vadala; April 25, 1921 – December 9, 2010), known as Jo Estill, was an American singer, singing voice specialist and voice researcher. Estill is best known for her research and the development of Estill Voice T ...
, in Vocal Profile Analysis with Christina Shewell, through the British Voice Association; and in voice with
Janice Chapman Professor Janice L. Chapman AUA orn January 1938 MOA is an Australian-born soprano, voice researcher, and vocal consultant. She is the author of ''Singing and Teaching Singing: A Holistic Approach to Classical Voice'' (often abbreviated as 'S ...
. He studied physical theatre with Desmond Jones, theatre improvisation with
Keith Johnstone Keith Johnstone (born February 21, 1933) is a British and Canadian pioneer of improvisational theatre, best known for inventing the ''Impro System'', part of which are the Theatresports. He is also an educator, playwright, actor and theatre dir ...
, and mask theatre with Steve Jarand. As a historic needlework practitioner, he was apprenticed to master embroiderer and specialist in Blackwork embroidery, Jack Robinson. Conrad went on to gain an MA degree in the History of Design and Material Culture of the Renaissance (V&A/RCA, 2005). His thesis was on the history of English 16th and 17th century woven and embroidered textile bookbindings. As a storyteller, Conrad has been studying the little-known Jewish oral storytelling tradition with Drust’syla Shonaleigh Cumbers since 2015.


Career


Background and work

Conrad worked as Musical Director in charge of school workshops for Opera Brava (1988–1990), as Lecturer in Musical Theatre at the Maurice Lane Academy of Performing Arts and at Crawley College. He set up the UK’s first specialist voice consultancy, The Conrad Voice Consultancy, (1990), which became The Academy of Oratory (2012–). As a specialist in historic needlework, Conrad has demonstrated, taught, and published needlework charts and kits inspired by historic techniques in the UK, Europe, and the USA. He founded his design company, Leon Conrad Designs in 1998. He has exhibited widely both as an individual artist and with The New Elizabethans Embroidery Group which he founded in 1997. Conrad was invited to be Poet-in-Residence at the First Edinburgh Food Festival (2006) and invited back to be Poet-in-Residence at the Pleasance Theatre for the
Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
(2007). As a
tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in ...
, Conrad is inspired by classical
Liberal Arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...
education and specialises in tutoring gifted and twice exceptional students. Since 2010, Conrad’s research has focused on the application of George Spencer-Brown’s work to the analysis and mapping of story structure. He has participated in over 20 exhibitions and has taught at embroidery seminars in the UK and the United States. He is married to Tanya Conrad.


Books

* “Story and Structure: A complete guide”, shortlisted for The People's Book Prize 2022 and recipient of the BREW Seal of Excellence and two category titles of the BREW Book Excellence Award, demonstrates a much wider application of story than generally assumed; presents new insights into story as a dynamic force of life (). * “Odyssey: Dynamic Learning System”, with David Pinto, an innovative approach to inspirational learning experiences (). * “History Riddles”, a collection of 30
riddle A riddle is a statement, question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that requ ...
s based on key people and events across a period of over 4,500 years (). * “Aesop The Storyteller”, a collection of 12 versified Aesopic Fables with CD (). *Contributed blackwork embroidery designs to the book ''The Essential Guide to Embroidery'', published in 2002 ().


Articles and reviews

* “A Treatise on Plaited Braid Stitch: Parts 1 & 2”, in 'Fine Lines' - the Magazine of the Historic Needlework Guild, Summer 2003, Vol 8, Issues 1 & 2, being the first correct demonstration of how the historic needlework stitch was worked in 400 years. * Numerous reviews for fringe theatre performances for the British Theatre Guide, Broadway Baby, and Remote Goat. * Articles on classical Liberal Arts education, the application of George Spencer-Brown’s work to the practice of classical logic, and the analysis of story structure. *Conrad's designs have been published in ''New Stitches Magazine,'' ''The Needleworker,'' ''Classic Stitches,'' ''Needlecraft,'' ''Cross-Stitch Gold,'' and ''FineLines''


References


External links


Leon Conrad official website
on website for Caron Collection company.



(Photo of Leon Conrad) {{DEFAULTSORT:Conrad, Leon Living people British designers Embroidery designers 1965 births