Experimental embroidery

Inspiration for these projects has come from a range of sources.  Sometimes a piece of printed fabric suggests a design, sometimes a photo, then a technique bring together an idea and sometimes a concept is the starting point.

This scene was developed from a piece of experimental printing I made at a workshop by Sandra Meech.  I subsequently visited a bluebell wood and looked at the fabric in a new light.  It is largely machine stitched using automatic stitches from the machine's repertoire, then embellished with hand embroidery.  This was exhibited as part of our Embroiderers' Guild exhibition at Horsham Museum in 2014. Following this event, a friend donated for this.

I had two photos, one of a fern and the other of a wall, taken whilst in Northern Spain.  I attended a course by Frances Westwood from our local Embroiderers' guild, called Transfer your Affections. I learned how to use transfer paints to print onto fabric, just the techniques I needed to use these ideas and have subsequently used them again. I used some new stitches, including Basque stitch, which seemed very appropriate, since I had been in the Basque country when I took the photos. This is on my bedroom wall!  This work has now been sold.

Experimenting with sheer fabrics and machine stitching to create Autumn leaves.  I used a watercolour painting as the starting point.  I then tried some using soluble material and assembled all into a composition based on a painting I had done.  The jug is padded to make it 3D and  the background is printed. This was sold at the South East Embroiderers' Guild exhibition at Denbies in May 2017.

This piece was constructed during a weekend course at West Dean led by Wendy Dolan.  We overlayed sheer fabrics with machine stitching.  Mine suggested a garden so, I made little flowers to attach.  The finished piece was made into a a silk bag which someone purchased at the Brighton Arts Trail 2016.

This picture arose from the Sandra Meech course too, where a piece of printing looked like a cornfield.  Having lived in Norfolk for some years I tried to replicate the Norfolk poppies, using soluble material and machine stitching.  A friend donated for this at my first Macmillan event.

This is a very large piece.  It was made after the Applique project I did for my RSN course.  I made a number of experiments to create the background and some of these were not used so I decided to create Gardens of Heligan Mark 2.  I began with some background machined embroidery, including some of the foliage.  I then created all the little foxglove trumpets in needlelace and applied to the design.  I also incorporated a silk shaded butterfly that I had made at an RSN summer course led by Kate Cross.  I embellished with a number of applied and embroidered flowers.  This was on display in the Horsham Artists Open Studios exhibition at Roffey Park 2015 and Brighton Open Houses trail 2016. It has now been sold at The South East Embroiderers' Guild exhibition at Denbies in May 2017.

Two book covers made at a workshop with Anne Kelly. They were composed using photos and mementoes from my holiday in Central America, to make covers for my next trip. The larger cover has 'Gracias por la vida que me ha dado tanto' sewn on to it.

(Thank you for life that has given me so much).

To see why perhaps look at my blog  Carolyn's Adventures.

http://2newhorizons2.blogspot.co.uk/

My latest experimental piece was inspired by the wonderful leaf colours seen in New England in 2016. We stayed in a resort called Magic Mountain and walked around a lake called Emerald Lake.  There were wonderful reflections in the water and we walked across a forest floor covered in leaves.

I have made opaque leaves using florists' wire for the veins and transparent leaves using machine embroidery and sheer fabrics.  All have been cut out and will be applied to the tweed fabric background.  I have used many RSN techniques, but also broken a number of 'rules' This is work in progress.

Royal School of Needlework Projects

This was my first project at the Royal School of Needlework, Jacobean Crewelwork.  I was surprised at how long it took to prepare the frame for embroidering and to work out and plan  the design and colours.  It was a good learning experience where I was introduced to a range of different stitches. The mounting of the work was also a new experience for me, but there has been plenty of opportunity to improve on this with successive projects.  The design is called Tree of Life and I found shapes and symbols in the RSN library and also from the internet.It is not a technique I have repeated yet as I do not enjoy working with wool.

Silk shading is probably considered one of the most challenging techniques, but is one that I love.  It is very much like painting but using a needle and thread.  This has its danger points give the fineness of the needle and my ability to prick my finger. This led to a major accident with this piece and I was forced to bring my creative skills into action to modify the design to overcome the effect of my 'accident'.  I used my Summer Rose painting (see Botanical Art gallery) as inspiration, incorporating the seedhead, stem and leaves.  It took a number of months over the summer of 2013.  This piece has been published in the RSN newsletter, and was exhibited at an Edexel exhibition.

This Blackwork piece was very challenging for me, largely because it is only in black on white linen and I love colour.  The challenge was to create a photographic effect using various thicknesses of black thread and about 6 different stitches in different sizes. I tried to logically analyse the combinations of effects but soon found this did not really help.  It was necessary to use them as a palette to achieve the desired effect.  I did not particularly enjoy the technique, although mastering it quite successfully;  this piece was displayed at Hampton Court Palace at an RSN exhibition.  The picture was drawn from a photo of a cottage in Lacock. Wiltshire.

This last project for my certificate course is goldwork.  I developed the design using some photos from the National Geographic Although the stitched elements are not complicated, the potential for damage is significant.  Pieces of  gold thread were very easily damaged, sometimes after hours of careful attachment and just the touch of a needlepoint!  Cut pieces of wire had a habit of distributing themselves across the floor, becoming unusable and metal thread getting caught on the sewing thread, would sometimes unravel.  I have used this technique but added in coloured beads and also combined with blackwork which is great for small greetings cards. 

This is the first project on my Diploma course.  I used one of my paintings (see gallery) as the design and simply translated it using wool to shade on canvas.  The colours were mixed together in the needle using two different coloured threads, then the background was embroidered in Kashmir stitch.  I was so pleased when my lines of sewing met around the toadstools and matched up!  I found it quite difficult not to create bulk underneath with constantly changing colours and despite careful checking as I went and after I finished, some missed stitched were identified.  With my history of sewing tapestries I expected this to be easy but it wasn't!  Stretching and mounting were very hard because of the inflexibility of the canvas.

This Applique module is one of the more creative elements of the course.  It has to incorporate a number of techniques, joining mechanisms and edges.  The design was derived from some paintings I had done after visiting the Gardens of Heligan.  It was the Foxgloves that appealed.  I used a mixture of machine and hand embroidery to create the background and some of the 3D pieces.  These were gradually assembled with copious amounts of hand embroidery.  I made a second interpretation which can be seen in 'Experimental Embroidery'.

This is the fourth of my RSN projects, Stumpwork.  I used a small painting by a friend as the design had to include a figure.  Similar to the applique, it used a variety of stitching.  The little figure was made from felt and stuffed, then dressed;  his head, hair, face and hands all made and embroidered and attached. This reminded me of those 'dressing the doll' activities of childhood days. I painted the background, then embroidered most of this later, applying pieces of fabric and embroidery to create the daffodils and slips (separately constructed pieces) to create the glade.  I then stitched and attached numerous little plants and blades of grass.  It really was great fun to do!

My friend has been made custodian of this piece.

My most recent project proved to be quite a challenge.  The subject needed to have fur, hair or feathers.  After some debate I chose the kingfisher because of the beautiful colours.  It was an enjoyable piece because of the colour range, although sewing outlines for each individual feather before silk shading was time consuming., The thickness of stitches then makes it difficult to get the very fine needle through.  I am a very good customer for needle purchase.

This was given to my brother in law as a special birthday gift!  

It is available as a 6" square card.

I have now completed my advanced goldwork. This piece, once more took inspiration from the work of Angie Lewin. Her stylised prints interpret well into embroidery.  I first dyed the fabric and applied applique grasses with couching. Then a range of techniques were applied using gold, bronze and red metal threads. These included basket weave, laid work, s-ing, chipping, couched threads and plate. I am pleased with the result but will await the marking. This piece might go well in my redecorated lounge. My final module will be box making and could start a whole new aspect to my work!

This is available as an A6 card, see sales page.

 May 2018 And now for something completely different.  For my last Diploma module I am going to make a jewellery box.  I have first made the tiny sample box, which involved lots of careful cutting, sticking, padding and sewing but no embroidery.  However the main piece will need some embroidered decoration.  I am rather looking forward to doing something completely different and am thinking about the colour as it could be focus for the colour scheme for my bedroom overhaul.  Something like lime green and violet spring to mind..  Oh wasn't that the colour of the Queen's dress for the wedding!

My final project completed and passed, so now I have achieved the Diploma and can experiment with gay abandon!

Other adventures in Art

I have spent some time exploring different media, using acrylics, wet on wet approaches an adding other materials.  This gallery shows some of those experiments.  It is good to try something new from time to time; occasionally the experiments work out, but always I learn something new and can use this learning to improve my botanical work too.

My first attempts at life drawing were surprisingly successful.  I realised that the proportions and relationships in the human body were similarly important as they are in plants!

I try to keep a record of my paintings as i is good to reflect from time to time.  However, whilst scanning of small pieces is relatively easy, larger pieces can be quite expensive to have photographed and I find it very difficult to get the light correct when taking my own photos.

These are a selection from my experiments!

Experiments in acrylics

Ballet shoes, using inspiration from a photograph in a newspaper.

Monkey Mia, from a sketch made in Australia. I added compost to the yellow paint to get the texture of the sand, and did a fair bit of splashing to get the effects of the sea! The original is now owned by the friend I travelled with and a print is owned by a member of my family who also has connections to that area of Australia.

This was painted from  a sketch made whilst staying in the Pyrenees and is now owned by the owner of the house.

This was a corner of my teacher's garden. I was working on contrasts of tome. 

Experiments using wet in wet approaches

These two paintings were done towards the end of a week's painting in Andalucia.  I had set out to try a looser approach and was failing spectacularly.  I then got completely outside the box and started dribbling the paint around and carving into it with a scalpel to achieve the spiky effect. Everyone was quite amazed and I have to say I was fairly pleased with the result.  These two fairly large paintings were sold at the Horsham Artists exhibition in 2015 but I still have cards and prints of the individual thistles.  I am not sure I could replicate this.

I have four separate prints of the individual thistles at £80 for the set

After painting a botanical version I decided to apply some newly acquired techniques in using this wet approach.  This painting is still available.

This is a very large piece.  I had a sheet of A1 hot pressed paper I had bought and was on the lookout for subject.  The very large flag irises in my garden presented just the right subject.  So I started with a washed background and a wet on wet approach, then went in later with some finer detail.  This painting is still available and is in a silver tone frame with perspex rather than glass because of its size.

This painting is £130 It is 29x37ins and beacuse of its size it has perspex rather than glass.

This is available mounted for £10

Both of these paintings were undertaken on a painting holiday in France.  I was painting outside and using a wet approach.  The week was very challenging and often cold, and trying to keep my equipment together in villages and fields in the windy weather was certainly interesting.  I think I am really a studio painter, as I enjoy sitting in peace and quiet and concentrating!

These two are mounted only and are available in the Brighton Open Houses Trail during weekends in May 2016.

Other experiments

This composition was an attempt to bring together some embroidery and painting using the style of Ernst Haeckel as inspiration.  I began with paintings of some small Andalusian plants, then grouped them into a pattern, adding some simple embroideries to complete the symmetry.  This is on a bedroom wall in my house, simply because the colours toned well! I don't really agree with choosing paintings to match colour schemes, but as I had it anyway.................

It is a long time since I have dabbled in anything not botanical, but these poppies at Rosemoor gardens inspired me to work in a looser form.  I then added some penwork.

It is priced £120 and measures 29.5x22.5ins

I have also created a design for an embroidery using other inspiration from the same trip.

Some Ometepe painting, two done en plein air in Ometepe and two completed at home from Photos-now a set of cards!

Gallery of Botanical Paintings

Borlotti bean composition.  This was the first composition I attempted drawing a bean that I had grown in my garden. I remember struggling so hard with the leaves, which had very definite veins, yet were quite transparent. It adorns my kitchen now.  I have postcards of this painting.

I painted the poppy botanical composition after a course at West Dean, learning about the botanical detail of plants.  It was good to do the dissections and look at the minute detail of all parts of the plant. Unframed , green mount. £25  .  Also post cards available.

I just love orchids and they present such a challenge with their delicacy and intricate construction. I just painted the flower but I now know that to be botanically correct, I should have included the leaves and the growing habit of the plant. In 2025 I am painting a much larger plant including the leaves and all flowers.  A much more daunting project. ( see below)

 Another plant I grew;  this painting was purchased by a friend at my first Macmillan fundraising event.  I think I now have a better repertoire of colours in my palette for capturing these brilliant hues.

I was fascinated by the pattern and detail in these seedheads found on a walk in the locality.

(still available £60 154x18ins) It has a white frame.  Post cards available too.

I painted this at a workshop looking at Spring plants;  the challenge was to see the various colours that exist in an apparently white flower.

(still available  £70 12.5 x 15.5 ins) Cards and prints available.

I have these delicate little Tomasini crocus spreading through my front border.  I donated this small painting to a local charity shop. Now I have planted more in my new garden, so maybe there'll be another painting.

This too is from my garden;  it is a hellebore called Queen of the Night.  It was purchased by a lady who lives locally when she very kindly helped me with a fundraising event for Macmillan.

This is another painting started at a workshop with the theme of summer roses.  I have subsequently painted several roses.  They are extremely challenging with the complex petal arrangements and the colours which, although sometimes rich, also have a sense of transparency and delicacy. This painting was exhibited at a local community store on their Art Wall.  Sometime later a query was forwarded from someone who had seen a photo of it on a Facebook page.  They purchased it despite never having seen the 'real thing' and were very pleased.

This was also used as a design for a silk shading project for my Certificate in Traditional Hand Embroidery at the Royal School of Needlework, which has gained several accolades (see embroidery blog ). It is available as a card.

This is a sweet pea I grew in my garden.  For some reason this painting was completed more quickly than some.  I love the bright colours.  It was purchased during 2015 Horsham Art Trail.

An embroidered version of this can be seen in the embroidery section of this blog.

I started this leaf using a wet on wet approach.  The range of colours was fascinating.  I always find it difficult to paint the veins realistically.  This was framed with two other Autumn leaves and was eventually donated to a local charity shop.  Sometimes I need to clear my cupboards to clear my mind for new projects!

This painting offered an opportunity for a lot of practice in leaf painting! It is available as mounted painting (not framed £25 13x17ins).

Bonnet cap mushroom fascinate me, with their colours and form.  The way this sat in a leafy clump inspired the botanical composition to show the various elements.  I did one in pen, ink and wash too.  This painting was donated as a prize.

This is a French thistle, collected and drawn whilst on a painting holiday, when I was learning a totally different style of painting. I completed the painting on my return; it was those wonderful Fibonacci patterns around the flower and seedheads that fascinated me.  This has been sold but I have used the design to embroider a cushion, which can be seen on my sales page.  It is available as a small card and a print.

I drew this Eucalyptus whilst on holiday in Australia.  I had to collect and sketch all my information, then use to paint the composition on my return.  This was purchased during the Horsham Art Trail 2015.

I painted this double fungi, collected locally at the same time as the Bonnet Cap Mushrooms.  This now belongs to a friend.  Here I was trying to achieve a lighter touch with less dense paint.

I was asked to paint a pair of flowers for someone who had seen my work in the Southwater Art exhibition. I painted these. The fuchsia is available as a card.

The subject of this study was to paint a group of plants pollinated by the same creature. After some investigation I found this group of common plants that were pollinated by a species of butterfly.   This was purchased during the Horsham Art Trail 2015.

I have this painting on my kitchen wall;  it is of a Chilli Hot Lemon, which was growing the the West Dean greenhouses, when I went on a painting course.

This was my first entry into the Society of Floral Artists exhibition, as an Associate member.  I was thrilled when I heard that someone had purchased it.  This too, was painted whilst on a course at West Dean.  I have used this as a design for Canvas Shading Project for my Diploma in Traditional Hand Embroidery at the Royal School of Needlework.  It is available as a card and print.

The pear was painted at Puck Barn near Guildford , where there is a wonderful collection of fruit trees.  It was exhibited when I was a member of Southwater Art Group.  I still have this painting for sale. £80 14.5x19  ins

I painted the Leek whilst attending a course at West Dean, entitled ' Vegetables can be beautiful'.  They certainly can-I have since painted an aubergine.  I have a print of the leek on my wall but the original was purchased by Horsham Museum, during the Art Trail 2015.  Post cards and prints are available.

And following on from the leek, I then tried a high shine vegetable, an aubergine.  This one is also in my kitchen.  Post cards available.

I painted these cream roses and freesias from a birthday bouquet;  the challenge was to capture the delicacy of the pale colours.  I worked on this as a wedding gift to a friend.

I think I choose subjects that will challenge me most.  On a Spring course at West Dean College, I thought I would try painting some apple blossom.  However my tutor thought I should capture a complete branch.  I was a bit overwhelmed by the paleness of the blossom and the complexity of the subject!  This did need a certain amount of 'blood, sweat and tears'. This has found a home with its partner pink apple blossom, see below. 

Following the challenges of the apple blossom, I moved on to something with more colour.  I started this painting with no preliminary drawing, most unusual for me;  I began painting outside in my garden with the plant with the outlines in a pale wash, then added the colour, later drawing in detail.  I also used some masking fluid for the centre, something else I rarely use.  Interestingly the cards of this painting have all gone very quickly. 

This painting was sold at the Association of Sussex Artists in August 2016.  But prints and cards are now available.

I painted both of these hellebores at West Dean in 2015 when the gardens there were so beautiful with all the Spring flowers.  I do love hellebores with their promise of more to come in the garden.  Again the pale colours presented a challenge, and the greener one is called Yellow Lady, which in no way reflected the actual colour.

The cream hellebore is now framed as  a square piece 10.5 x 10.5in at £80  This has been given as a gift.  TheYellow Lady is available as an unframed print £25

I tried very hard to keep the paleness and transparency of this rose by following the teaching I had received about building thin washes slowly. At the time it was probably the piece I was most satisfied with in terms of its delicacy.   This has been given as a gift.

£120 15.5x15.5 ins

This picture, entitled 'Autumn study' is available as an unframed piece at £25

                                  

This is the second apple blossom painting which I have undertaken as a request. I had some challenges with the first version so the opportunity to have another go was actually quite welcome. This time I took a more methodical approach, starting with those elements furthest away. I also tried to keep the overall balance in mind, so as to look at the tone across the painting as well as on each leaf and blossom. This time it is much bolder, partly because the flowers are a stronger pink. I then painted a downward hanging branch. I got to know the apple blossom very well.

March 2017 and a course at West Dean exploring aurículas and primulas, resulted in two new spring compositions. I love the exquisite delicacy of auriculas.

This is available as a framed painting at £85 9.75x13ins in a dark red frame. This has now been sold.  Cards are available too.

Trio of Primulas. This has been sold.  Cards are available.

June 2017 And now a third apple blossom;  I have learned so much from having repeated attempts.   This has been sold.

This passion flower grows in my garden; it took more than a year to complete as I had to await the seasons for each stage of the growth. It was exhibited at the Horsham Artists Annual Art Fair .

This was sold at the Art fayre!

This and a pink cyclamen were sold at the Storrington Museum Pro Am Art event.

This project was a viola Endura, one of the few flowers I could find in late Autumn, and of course the light is not good for painting at this time of year. I  arranged it in a contemporary way with one leaf in 3D coming over the mount at the bottom.  The painting was sold shortly after completion.

My latest piece completed in July 2018, was begun as part of a workshop.  Our teacher Leigh Ann Gale had just finished writing a book and was using an excerpt to guide us through painting 'cushioned' leaves, like those of a primula.

After trying out the leaf and drawing the plant, I decided to enlarge it and create a composition, getting plenty of leaf practice!!

This painting has now been sold.

I completed the finishing touches whilst painting at Horsham museum, an event to promote the Association of Sussex Artists, to which this piece was submitted.

This painting has now been sold. 

My Christmas project for 2018 was a rosehip from on of my garden roses called ' For your eyes only. It has beautiful orange red hips. 

I have used it for my Christmas cards, and the original, framed in a simple holly green frame, sold the day after I collected it from the framers! So more funds for my Ometepe project.

I  completed a painting of a Voodoo Lily, seen whilst on holiday in Crete. It was challenging because of it's size, unusual colours and  textures. It cannot be strictly botanical as I have had to work from photographs.  There was nowhere to sit to make a site drawing! It has now been given as a gift.

£150  20.5x26ins

£85 18.5x14.5ins

This painting is a drumstick primula.  I have some cards of this painting. The two above paintings were in the ASA exhibition in Horsham, both are still available.

This is my latest painting of a Pulsatilla or Pasque flower.  I began it last year and then there were no more flowers so I had to wait til this year to complete it. It is finished just in time for Easter.  Very apt as Pasque means Easter.  I have pink and mauve versions too.

This painting is  now available at £75  11.5x13.25"  Cards and prints available.

I've always wanted to try painting a tulip. This one I started at a class and finished during lockdown! Getting the vibrancy of colour was a bit challenging and painting the large area of leaf smoothly. 

Both of these are available and will be framed when I emerge from lock down. 

This painting is now available at £75 10.75x16"

This painting was undertaken during the pandemic following some freedom to walk in the woods and collect fungi.  I liked the opportunity to pain a plant with a different structure.  Having such a variety of colours was also fun.  This is framed in a simple white frame and is available for £150.  It has been sold.  Cards and prints available.

The following two paintings were inspired from my visit to Rosemoor gardens.  One with pen and ink and the other in a looser style.  Both are available framed in a white wood frame. The looser poppy painting is £120  This work has been sold.

Poppies with pen and ink is £120-sold

Cards are available of the above pen and ink poppy painting.

This enlarged Echinacea head sold at the ESAS exhibition Summer 2024. Unframed prints are available either A4 or A3 and cards.

.  This painting was from sketches of Rudbekia and sunflowers undertaken at Parham House West Sussex in 2022. 13x 16.5" £80  Cards are available.

This is a painting that I began in Sussex and completed in the Highlands. It is in a style I have been wanting to paint for some time.  It is a selection of echinacea painted from gardens in West Sussex.  This was sold in Oban at the exhibition for the Highland Art prize. Prints and cards are available.  See sales page.

This is my latest painting, A Trio of Lilies.  I wanted to paint something from my new garden and I love lilies. My mother's name was Lily! It was challenging because the flowers are very small and they are white! Cost £180

I  had a bit of a lull in my painting when I  moved to Scotland in 2023. But now I am settled in my new home and have a dedicated space and lots of inspiration around me, I have become productive again. 

My latest painting, ' A Plethora of Phaleonopsis Flowers.  This is currently exhibited at the East Sutherland Artist's exhibition in Golspie, framed and mounted.  It is a large painting, took some time with all the detail.  Cost is £250

Further paintings can be see on 

Other paintings

I do occasionally take commissions but these can take some time to paint, depending on source material .  They take many hours to study and paint. Items that are not framed are obviously less expensive.  Framing costs are very high and I use a reputable local framer for most of my work, although some earlier paintings have off the shelf frames.  This is reflected in the price. Many of my pieces are available as mounted or framed prints.