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I remember I had been working on a difficult silk project but was not doing very well. Technically, I was experiencing some definite challenges and even though I kept plodding onwards, I was not convinced about the effect and was quickly giving up. I even began to question whether I had lost my hand at needlepainting.
As with many things, I needed some reassurance. This pansy drawing had been sitting on my work table waiting for such a moment. I quickly transferred the design onto Belgian linen. Choosing the colours was regenerating. I set to work immediately. Everything came together so quickly and naturally. The colours were jumping off the linen. There was something pure intertwined through the threads.
This project will leave the studio next week, in its antique gold frame with midnight blue matting boards trimmed with the same antique gold accent line. The final result is small (15 cms x 25 cms framed), intimate, perfect as an silky accent in a classical décor.
My client picked it out of a selection of many... she went straight to it as if the piece chose her rather than the other way around.
I'll be sad to see it go, but thrilled that someone else will enjoy viewing it daily.
Pansies (2009 - L'Art de l'Aiguille)
Here is the colour palette for the silk piece I am working on. I spent the morning on the patio, despite the wind, working. It is a welcome overcast day today, so it was easier to work without my hands becoming a little hot.
As you can see I made progress and finished the blue flower. Some of the petals are so small, it was hard to give a sense to each of the shapes. But I am happy with the overall effect. I had wanted to use a little more of the pale blue, and had tried a few petals using two or even three hues of the blues shown here. In the end, after several attempts, I simplified and used only two hues in the larger petals and one hue in the smaller ones.
I was reminded as I worked how surgical I have to be when placing each stitch. There is no room for error with the Pipers and I have to be very precise in the way I analyse both the start and finish of each stitch as well as the movement inside the form. A close up will show that each petal has a central vein and hopefully a slightly rounded movement upwards, downwards or sideways. I plan to use one thread of the darker brown thread to interpret the stems which will give a very delicate illusion to the whole. Once this corner motif is complete, I plan to work the central flower which will introduce the glorious pinks into the project as well as an increased degree of difficulty.
Wish me luck.
