My attraction to the infinitesimal began after watching an Antique Roadshow episode that featured an 1819 Philadelphia School Girl Silk Embroidered Picture. Since then, the infinitesimal has become one of my secret obsessions, with messages about its meaning scattered around the world for me to find and seek.
That is why, when I found out that a Thread Painting course was being offered at Peters Valley, led by artist Missy Stevens, I had to go.
Thread painting is all about using tiny stitches to bring your image to life. Using a punch thread needle, and the colors of your choice, you punch tiny holes into your fabric to create the image of your desire. You can shade with your thread, create shadows, add brightness. You can use metallic thread to cause sparkle and shine. You can add beads to your piece. There is such depth of creativity and freedom allowed through this medium, and *there are no rules*.
This piece is the lovely Gina's, an amazing artist who is currently working on her MFA.
This is Judy's, whose husband volunteers at Peter's Valley,
and whose son is an amazing woodworking artist.
It turns out that Judy was secretly inspired by
his cityscapes in the creation of her piece.
Here is the wonderful Missy, working ingeniously on a piece she has been creating.
By the end of the workshop, I was able to complete as much as you see
on the piece on the left, which is mine.
(The one on the right is Gina's.)
I love this form of art. It speaks to me with depth on many levels. The piece I am creating is called
"A gift for you" and is with the pink hands holding out a blue heart. The background is a circular rainbow. All this week, I've been stitching for an hour here, an hour there, or a few rows when I am able. More has been added, but I will take time to write about it again more next week. For now, this is an introduction and a record of memory of my beginnings with this unique technique.
Here is just a quick photo
of where I am at with my piece so far:
This is so pretty, Brianne! It reminds me a little bit of the crewel pieces that my mom always had hanging up in the house. The idea of doing it like a painter is really fascinating. With needlework, you tend to think that you HAVE to completely plan and diagram at the beginning (because that's how patterns come). The neatest thing to me is approaching it like a process of painting. The second neatest thing is the idea of taking old threads and creating something wonderfully new.
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