Thursday, May 15

About a Beetle and a Goldfinch

yellow beetle close

I really enjoyed embroidering this little creature which I stitched up for my Furry Nice Class. And yes I know this beetle isn't furry, we are just dipping our toes in Shading in class next week and this fella is a practice pattern. :) 

I thought about adding a small scrap of paper (embroidered obviously) with the beetle's proper Latin name and such on it (if he has one because I sort of made him up). But I wasn't sure I'd be able to embroider a convincing piece of paper. My husband suggested I'd add a pin in the beetle's back as if he were part of an entomologist's collection (the beetle not my husband) but I wasn't sure about that either. 

yellow beetle

That all reminds me of the painting that plays an important part in Donna Tartt's book the Goldfinch (have you read it? I loved it, especially the first part when the dramatic thing just happened). The Goldfinch is painted as a trompe l'oeil, meant to deceive the viewer and aimed to look as if it were a real thing. You sometimes see poorly executed trompe l'oeils in Italian restaurants that offer 'a view' on Venice through a painted window. Anyway, I digress. What I meant to say is that it would be an interesting path to explore, making very realistic embroideries in the footsteps of a 17th century Dutch painter. 

6 comments:

  1. This is just beautiful!!! I've been thinking about starting to do some birds....love it!!

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  2. Gorgeous! I completely agree and I love the suggestion of the name and the pin idea! That book was a brilliant read.

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  3. Great finish and I love your stitching style. :D

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  4. This is gorgeous! Your style is so lovely. The shading is amazing!

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  5. I adore the colors you chose for this piece! They're bright and soft all in one. I love it!

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  6. Thanks everyone! Shading is probably my favourite embroidery technique :)

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