OK, I know – you paint with paint and you embroider with thread. But embroidery is a craft, and like all crafts it is limited by the techniques that you must use to make it. But let's start with painting. This is a spectacular example of Mexican folk art that's been in my "Inspiration" file for years.
The original painting
I was reminded of it recently when it was sent to me by a blog reader, who said that she'd had it digitised so she could stitch it out. Well, nobody could blame her for that – it's really beautiful. BUT – she then said that the digitised version had involved 4,999 colour changes. 4,999! And goodness knows how many jumps there would have been. So in the first place it would have taken an absolute AGE to stitch out – imagine changing the thread 5000 times! But also the back of the piece would have been matted with knots – not only those caused by starting and finishing a colour, but also because of all the jumps.
So, as beautiful as this design is, it is intended to be a painting and NOT an embroidery. But I liked it so much that I was tempted to interpret it in a design that could be easily embroidered. As you can see this is not a copy, but I hope it has the same energy and spirit as the painting that inspired it
Embroidery inspired by the painting
There are a few jumps, but not many, and there are 29 colour changes – NOT 4999!
It is beautiful and the clutter is gone.
Wow this is beautiful what a great interpretation Mia. Enjoyed you latest birds from the exhibition.
Mia, that is amazing, such a beautiful original painting. You have captured the birds very well. I don’t think 29 colour changes is too much for such a lovely design like this. Are you able to group colours on your machine ? I can manipulate my machine with colours and stitch order. I have a Janome 500e. and have in the past moved things around. I have a thread stand that takes 10 colours and just takes a little time to rethread.
I really like yours better. For me the painting is to busy. 29 thread changes is not to many somethings I have done have more.
Beautiful interpretation! You could have the painting on a wall, with your new design on a cushion in the same room – colorful! Love yours! As Sandra asked, can your design be stitched in color order, or does the design require it to be done otherwise? I don’t have a multi-needle machine – my Solaris has a stand for two cones plus the spool bar, and is capable of stitching all the blue first, then all the red, etc., but sometimes a design must be stitched in a certain order to “build” an element. Either way, it would be worth the time to embroider this!
Your version is beautiful! I love your little blue flowers. They are a nice contrast to the smooth edges of the other elements. Love your color choices!
Both forms of art have their strengths. The original may have more detail in terms of what is actually able to be shown in a small space, but yours makes up by adding texture, which is a different type of detail.