Embroidery for the Screen
Or read this in
I don’t think I’ve ever really mentioned this before, but the original piece was a fire screen with an embroidered panel. I can no longer remember where I first came across it, and I no longer have any photographs of the original piece—only the image of the embroidery itself. So at the moment, I have absolutely no idea what kind of setting or frame to create for it. I could use metal, wood, carving, marquetry, painted decoration—almost anything. In short, I have plenty to ponder during the long evenings ahead.
What you see in the photo is the result of 76 hours of work. The embroidery is worked on 90-count canvas, which means 90 stitches to the inch. So far, I have completed about 19,960 stitches, while the entire piece will require a little over 43,000. That puts me at 46%.What you see in the photo is the result of 76 hours spent. Embroidery on 90-count canvas, which means 90 stitches per inch. Right now about 19,960 stitches are done, and in total I need to make about 43 thousand and change stitches. In other words, 46% is already finished.
Over the summer, I had a mild bout of panic. You sit at the table for three hours, yet the number of stitches remaining barely seems to change, and there is almost no visible progress. It is incredibly demotivating and frustrating. All you can do is keep going and remind yourself that it only feels this difficult while you are in the middle of it; later, you will look back and smile.
And now it really is getting easier. Almost half the work is behind me, and I already want to make a matching screen—which is an utterly ridiculous idea, because that would mean another 43,000 stitches! Once again, there would be the agony of trying to choose the right colors: making a start, discarding it, and repeating the whole cycle all over again. Then again, perhaps experience will finally make itself useful, and the second screen will be much easier.
All that remains is to find the right subject. Once again, I want something very sweet and floral. We’ll see.