Sunday, March 18, 2012

Not quite...

My piece has really taken a lot longer than it should have and although I'm revealing, it really isn't finished.
Light and Shade
It is based on a photo by Jorg Reuter which is creative commons here.  Obviously, it is about balancing rocks which we talked about recently, and appears to be a very popular hobby! 
I sketched and sketched and came up with this.
Obviously this is not the right shape for our challenges and then I hit upon including light and shade in the background and widening it. I traced my sketch onto muslin (just the lines and dots, not all the black).
Then I sandwiched it and free machined most of the lines in black thread (That was a lot of lines).
Then I painted the background in acrylic (next time I will use fabric paint as it is very hard to stich through acrylic although the lumiere is so gorgeous....)
I coloured the stones and shells with watercolour pencils and a brush.
Then the time consuming part, which is not finished began.  I wanted to hand stitch all over it as it is so flat and I wanted more texture.
I tend to embroider by thread, lol.  I will start with one thread and when that thread is finished, I go to a different coloured thread and a different area and so on.  Stops me getting bored.
In the first pic, I have basically finished the bottom rock, but I haven't touched the background here.
In the second picture, I have done some work on the lower stone and have done some background stitching.  Still need to do some black back the other way,
On the shell, I have only stitched some highlights and a strand of pink.
I find that I am beginning to like this style, with thread sketching, painting and hand embroidery, only I need to make sure I have more time for the hand stitching, as I always underestimate how long it will take.
Anyhow, even though I am in no way finished this piece, I really like it (wow, first time for everything!) and am going to take my time and enjoy the stitching process whilst I think about the next challenge.
Too much talk, sorry.

7 comments:

  1. Vicki, I just love the amount of detail you put into your work; the thread sketching, the hand work, the fabric painting, all of it! This piece truly shows wonderful visual balance; colour, contrast, line. I really like it!

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  2. This piece and its detail are nothing short of astonishing. I can't even begin to imagine how much time and patience it is going to take to finish this. Your idea and execution are a wonderful depiction of balance.

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  3. an incredible piece Vicki! I'm in awe of your talent to take an idea, sketch it and then turn it into reality! Your attention to detail is wonderful, and all of your hand stitching is going to elevate this piece beyond belief! Bravo!

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  4. Wow Vicki, such a wonderful piece! I love the shell between the rocks and all the detail is amazing. There’s so much depth in the quilt, it’s a real balanced piece! A applaud your patience in handstitching!

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  5. I will echo the others, your attention to detail is amazing. I love how subtle the colors are, the understatement combined with detail to keep me coming back to look around. This is beautifully executed and well thought out!

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  6. You've done an incredible job transferring this image and your idea to the fabric! I keep blowing up your photos to really see and appreciate all the detail you are creating with your hand stitching!

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  7. wow, Vicki! Incredible work, incredible detail! I hope you will post again when you have completed your piece to your satisfaction.

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