Every now & then, I will see artwork that is so amazing and wonderful that I just have to try it for myself.  Not because I think I can do better or even comparable, but maybe just to feel the same joy of creating something that makes my artsy side sing.

So I was enthralled when I discovered the work of costume embroiderer Michele Carragher, most notably on her work for the costumes in Game of Thrones.  I am a big fan of GoT, and actually did notice quite a bit of her work in the show without knowing it…Sansa’s dragonfly, Cersei’s lions, and the Thirteens’ insects.

As an example of her beautiful work, here is a photograph from her website of a details of Cersei’s kimono-dress, with an embroidered bird.  This is the one that inspired me the most..

Now I am a pretty crafty person, but I don’t know much about embroidery….but it nibbled and ate at me, until I had to try it for myself.  Having never done embroidery before, really, it would make for an interesting venture.

I got my supplies right away, based on what I THOUGHT I’d need.  (When the mood strikes, I gotta get that junk NOW.)  I sketched my pattern onto a smooth cotton piece and got to work.  Of course, I thought I’d try a mockingbird first.  My favorite mockingbird sketch, one that I had once shared with my granddad, a woodcarver.  I had also purchased a thin book on embroidery stitches, but I rarely looked at it.  I mainly sort of made it up myself.  Did I also mention that I’m quite impatient?  …I am.

I think the outline is done in what is called called a “running stitch.”  Or in my case, a “stumbling stitch.”

After the outline, I started with the darker portions, sort of filling in the shadows.  Now, if you’re looking for fancy needlework, you’ll find none of that here, sir.  Like I said, I am quite impatient.  I tried a few techniques from “leaf” stitches, but primarily just did a basic filler stitch.  So it’s all sort of wonky and crooked.  I looked at a printout of the sketch for reference, and used it to sort of plan out the next steps.

Next step:  adding a slightly lighter shade of gray.  Here’s where the only bit of fanciness comes in:  I learned about a sort of feather stitch from this amazing resource for stitches, and did a few fancy curved feathers at the edge of the upper wing joint.  It kind of looked like feathers!  This made it feel a little bit like a “real” embroidery project.  Like I sort of knew what I was doing.  (…I didn’t.)

And then lighter and lighter shading.  It was almost like painting, so in that respect I quite enjoyed it.

This next part was my favorite.  I had gotten several little beads, jumpers and metal pieces from the jewelry section of the craft store.  I sort of placed them for texture with tiny stitches onto what I had already sewn.  I loved how the little brass tubes made interesting texture on the bird’s feet, and the effect of the circle jumpers in the feathers made me happy.

A detail of my shoddy stitchwork.  If you have a background in needlework or embroidery, you should look away…

And finally, for better or worse, here is the final piece, with red cherry blossoms added.

So there it is!  It took about four days to complete.  I worked on it during a visit to see family.  I know the stitches are wonky and misshapen, and the final result looks like NOTHING nearly as beautiful as Michele Carragher’s work, but this is what came of it.  And it was FUN!  Aside from a few cursed knots and foul tangles, it wasn’t too stressful.  And, always one to multitask, I could either have a conversation, watch a program, or listen to an audiobook while I stitched.  I will say that it did seem to age me a bit, sitting around an airport, hunched over my embroidery hoop.  But thankfully, I don’t really mind what other people feel about my “look.”  I had a little travel bag for it, and it was super easy to carry around, super easy to just pick up & work on.

In retrospect, I could maybe have hidden my outline stitches (or not had them at all), and paid a lot more attention to symmetry in my stitches so they were more even.  But ya know, when inspiration strikes, ain’ t nobody got time for things like “detailed stitching.”  So there ya go.  My mockingbird.  Quite wonky & crooked, but I like him nonetheless.  In looking back, her stitches were lighter and more airy, while mine are much more heavy-handed.  Aaaaah well.

I’m not sure what to DO with him now.  From what I understand, I could glue down the stitches on the backside, cut it out, and reattach it to something else.  I may do that.  Or I could just leave it on the hoop & hang it up on the wall.   I’m not sure.

…In any case, I liked it so much, I’m working on a beetle next.  🙂

I enter contests.  A lot.  Basically, whenever someone points me to a design contest, I try my hardest to get something into it.  I always think of it as a way to at least get my work out there, and maybe find a place for all my doodle skills.  So when this Red Vines contest presented itself several years ago, I thought, “AWESOME!”  I love their logo.

The contest requirements were to use any single-color medium, and feature the Red Vines logo.  I think they also said something about referencing the origins of Red Vines, which they describe as “Deeply rooted in the traditions of the American West.”

So I drew a goofy cowboy dude lassoing with a Red Vines rope!!!  Simple, yeah, but I thought the fun would be in the package design, and how it’d look on an actual box.  In the world of painting, “single-color” usually means black & white & one color.  I mean, the term “monochromatic” even is defined as “a hue modified by the addition of black, gray (black + white) and white.”  So…sweet!  I got this.  Right?

Um.  Wrong.  The winning pieces were announced online, and while I don’t remember them specifically, I remember with distinction that most of them were done in PENCIL.  I mean…PENCIL.  None of the ones I saw actually took the package design (including the “window”) into consideration, other than drawing in a long, rectangular area.  And not many of them had ANYTHING to do with the history of the gosh-darned American West.  Are you KIDDING me?!?!

I must’ve totally misunderstood SOMETHING.  Maybe I was too literal.  I’m not saying I’m super awesome or anything, but whatever I’m putting out to the world, the world doesn’t always really “get” it.  I’m not saying I should win every contest I enter, but dang!  Not even an honorable mention?!?  I apparently was a little too gracious with my definition of “single-color,” as it most likely referred more to the print industry.  My bad.  And I suppose I should’ve drawn the furthest thing from a cowboy.  …A space alien, maybe?

SIGH!  That’s usually my luck, when it comes to contests.  Aaaaaaaah, well.  Another one down the drain.   But that’s okay–I like Twizzlers better, anyway.  😀

I am horrible at math. I can’t “see” numbers in my head the way I can see images & ideas. As a student, I had to draw little dots on my math papers when I did calculations and doodle when I did word problems. Teachers were not very patient with my inability to keep up.

I remember being taught once about the “greater than/less than” symbols. (><). It made zero sense to me until someone said to imagine the “less than” symbol (<) as a smaller number with a mouth, ready to eat the bigger number.  From there, I imagined the bigger number holding a sword, pointing at the little number.

And from THERE, years later, I elaborated on that image with this painting. Still not sure if it makes any sense to me in the world of mathematics, but if they made math books full of fun illustrations, I might have paid a LOT more attention in class….