Remember that frantic phone call I blogged about a few weeks ago?
The lady who spoke to me that night made a snowy journey from Pontefract to collect her order yesterday (along with her gorgeous Cavapoo dog!)
Here’s what I came up with – one bridal bouquet, four bridesmaids bouquets, 16 centre piece daisies and 18 cake decoration daisies.
It was lovely to meet the bride, who is now arranging for this little lot to go to the Isle of Man for her wedding a few weeks time.
Congratulations!
I’m just back from my first ever trip to Seville!
It’s one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited, with a strong Moorish influence on design and architecture (reminding me of frequent trips to Morocco with the textile industry in the 1990s).
The extraordinary buildings, stunning gardens and hot colours were breathtaking – and utterly inspiring.
I was asked to take a photograph showing me at work, for a forthcoming Heritage Art event.
The conclusion is: it’s very hard to make embroidery look roll ‘n’ roll!
But I’m happy with the result.
After a few studies, including very serious and very studious poses, I settled on a wide beam – indicating my delight that I have found this wonderful medium with which to express myself.
Following a frantic phone call from a lovely but distraught lady from Pontefract, who has been let down by her flower supplier for her wedding in March, I have been developing a new product with sheet music this week – daisies.
I used crumpled tissue paper to add some texture.
I had to get the scale right to fit with my roses.
We have been able to come up with the specification of a 5 rose/daisy bouquets and extra decorations for the cake and table settings by means of photos, colour charts and samples sent in the post – and lots of chatting.
I’m now in full manufacturing mode!
I will post pictures of the final bouquets in a couple of weeks…
With my Creativity Online hat on, I am working with artist Jo Beattie on her online presence, showcasing her wonderful art.
Jo’s work is a reflection on precious memories on transparent cloth, so the shadow of reflected images displays on the wall behind. I find her work beautifully moving and it’s a delight to help her and get to know her better.
Jo has shown most recently at Alexandra Palace and she is a guest speaker at the Embroidery Guild conference later this year.
More information on Jo’s website here.
I wanted to capture the effect of wild flowers in a field against a blue sky (like in this photo of a Danish scene) in an abstract way.
Cornflowers are my favourite of all flowers so they had to feature heavily. I am still in awe of my mum who managed to source a huge bucketful so far out of season, in early May, for my wedding bouquet.
After some complex felting and hours and hours of stitching, here’s what I came up with.
I especially like the effect of different shades of green in the felted wool/silk background and the naturally balmy sky!
I am sending off an order for 50 paper roses today to a lovely customer from Middlesbrough, via my Etsy shop.
My customer wanted a Lord of the Rings theme and we pondered whether she should send me one of her books, buy her preferred book online and have it sent to me or send me out to buy something suitable.
In the end, my husband found a long forgotten tome on our shelves ‘Tolkein, the Illustrated Encyclopedia’. We all agreed this was the best option as I could start making them straight away.
The roses came out beautifully. The stiff and shiny paper made robust roses and the mix of text and illustrations resulted in a varied but tonal bouquet.
My customer agreed to add the price of either of the first two book options to the bill and I will be taking my husband out for a posh coffee to say thank you!
I am so excited to report that I have been invited to show my felted, embroidered artworks and my beloved Art Shed as part of the Attenborough, Beeston and Chilwell Art Trail on 2nd and 3rd June 2018.
This included a peer review by fellow artists, so I am thoroughly delighted to have had this recognition.
This is a lovely event to work towards. I look forward to welcoming my community in!
Among all the carefully tended flowerbeds at Haddon Hall, the slowly creeping plants quietly growing in the cracks of the stone walls in the background appeal to me more than anything else every time I visit. I find them the most exquisite plants on show.
I have discovered they are maidenhair spleenwort, a name surely not worthy of their beauty.
I wanted to capture the complex colours and textures of the spleenwort in my embroidery work. The wet felting process is ideal for representing the deep layered, aged stonework.
This work took many, many hours. I wanted to do justice to these unobtrusive and fascinating plants.
A very Merry Christmas to all my supporters, encouragers, tutors and customers.
I wish you all a very peaceful and Happy 2018.
I’m hoping that next year will be the most creative yet! Exciting plans. Will keep you informed…
Best wishes, Karen. xxx
KAttwood at Creativity Online 