Saturday, March 31, 2012

Work in Progress Continued

I have been working furiously in my studio over the last week and have achieved quite a lot.

When I wrote my last post I had just finished the red ridges and white geometric areas (representing the peaks above the snow line and the snow capped mountains below of the Turpan Depression).  This week I softened the white area by interspersing the white shapes with directional seed stitches.  Then I went about defining the next section, first with raised ridges of palestrina stitch, followed by thinner, less raised lines of stem stitch and finally finer lines of stem stitch to provide directionality.


Here's how the entire piece looked after all the solid lines were stitched in.

In this photo you can see the seed stitches in between the white rectangles.  (Don't forget you can see a larger photo by clicking on the image).


Here you can clearly see the three levels of linear stitching.


And in mega mega close up showing the row of tiny knots formed by palestrina stitch.  To give you some idea of how fine the stitching is, the ground fabric is 24mm silk habotai with a very fine dense weave.  


I love the way the close up photos show the myriad fine, shiny silk strands that together form a single thread.


Today I proceeded to fill in the linear areas with directional seed stitches.


Notice how the colour of the dyed fabric is brighter than the thread used for the seed stitches on top, thus enlivening the image and giving greater textural and directional definition to the seed stitches.



By my calculation it will probably take me another day and a half perhaps (about 10 hours) to finish the seed stitching.  Then it's onto the water way in the middle that will be the focus of the entire work.  I will need to do some thinking and contemplation to find a way to meaningfully represent this area of the work.  I love the puzzle solving stage and the meditational act of stitching afterwards.  Stay tuned for more updates.


By the way, have you checked out my facebook page yet?  If you haven't you're missing out on lots of great stuff.  Inspiring images and links to other blogs and websites.  Why not take a minute to "like" my page and then receive updates via your facebook account?






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4 comments:

magicmoonmusings said...

Ohhhh, I'm so in love with this piece. Beautiful, beautiful stitching. Even though it's vibrant with all that texture, it's also quite calming/peaceful.

Marta Brysha said...

Thanks Maria. I'm really enjoying creating this one. Yesterday I nearly finished this section. I can't wait to tackle the puzzle of stitching the watercourse in the middle.

Anonymous said...

I am completely in awe... I am speechless. I am a young embroider-er and I've had such a hard time converting my ideas into actual pieces, especially in my country (the Bahamas) where the art isn't appreciated and supplies are IMPOSSIBLE to find. What fabric are you using? What sort of thread? GOodness.. I so admire your work, If you have any tips for a youngster/newbie like me, I'd SO appreciate it.

Marta Brysha said...

Thank you for your kind and enthusiastic words Ashley! I'm thrilled to hear that you are joining the world of embroidery. I guarantee you that it is a love affair that will be with you for life! If you have a look through my blog entries there are a couple of posts that deal with materials.

You've made me realise that there are probably other people who might be interested in hearing about my artistic process, both creatively and technically. I promise to do some relevant blog entries in the future.

I glad you enjoy my work and hope you will continue to visit my blog.