Category: Art

Great Blue Heron Crewel Embroidery, cont.

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Getting closer but still needed are leaves, vines, grasses, cattails, and those little, important, final details.

When did I learn how to be patient? For some reason, I’m not rushing this project, planning the next one, or getting a little bit bored like I’ve done with nearly all my art with, perhaps, the exception of some colored pencil projects. I’m content to stitch for an hour, set it aside for a day or two or three, and settle back down and stitch again, all the time considering what should come next.

As the water filled in the bottom half, I had time to reflect on why I wanted to embroider a water scene with wool. I think it’s the textured, layered feeling created by physically stitching layers over layers. I don’t think I would have done it justice with pencil or paint.

I’m sticking with my goal of avoiding freestyle stitching. Stitches I’ve used lately include, the feather stitch, satin, stem, and long-and-short.

Categories: Art Embroidery

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Great Blue Heron Crewel Embroidery

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I started my own crewel embroidery based on a photo I took a few weeks ago. This is slow going. I started this a few weeks ago and only have one corner filled in.

My goals are to use my own design and to stitch with identifiable stitches as much as possible. So far, I’ve used laid work for backgrounds, Cretan for leaves, buttonhole, satin, and long and short stitches for the bird, and split and stem stitches for outlines, branches, and details.

I’m using Appletons crewel wool and a variety of wools from an older kit. The fabric is linen. I chose to make this 9”x12”, and now I’m wondering what I was thinking. I guess I’m practicing the art of patience along with the art of embroidery.

Categories: Art Embroidery

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A Good Photo Day

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We spent a few hours taking photos today, and I was so pleased with results. It seemed everywhere I turned was another picture-perfect scene.

From a sparrow and swallow, to a gorgeous heron and a beautiful fawn, this was one perfect day for wildlife photography.

Normally, my reference photos aren’t my end result—I take them to use to create a sketch or painting—but after taking 175 photos, I found a few to post.

My camera is a Panasonic Lumix FZ80. It’s a point-and-shoot with a 60x zoom.

When I started drawing and painting critters, I decided I wanted to take my own reference photos instead of relying on other photographers.

I love this camera, because I can quickly snap a dozen photos and have multiple angles and poses to work with. It’s easy to use and a smaller-sized camera so I carry it around on weekends.

The fawn was a total surprise. It came out of the woods, waded into the creek, and spent about twenty minutes exploring. What a beauty!

Categories: Art Resources

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