Why I Love Thread Painting

If you've never tried Thread painting you are missing out on a way to put the "wow" in your work.
My leaf piece has its charm but was going to remain blah unless I added more than motifs. In the middle of the night ( as usual ) I decided to thread paint.
What did I have left to paint. Five lovely leaves, 3 Maple and at least 2 Oaks, all in reds, yellows oranges and brown.

 

 

I usual find my artist canvas enough of a backing for the casual thread work in a lot of my work but I knew from experience that the woven nature of the material would not be enough. So over top of this (at the back) I glued a piece of embroidery stabilizer. Many stores carry this and heavy weight pellon as well. Woven material will always shift and that is what buckles your work.

 

This first thing I do with leaves is to stitch the veins. This gives me a reference point for the sections. And at the very end the veins are re-stitched and I give the finishing touch of satin stitching the edge.

 

 

 

 

Start adding colour. I usually work in a gradient from light to dark. This is pure free motion work. The slower the speed the longer you can make your stitches. This equals more colour. And how can you not have a lovely piece with thread colours with names like Orange Meringue, Cream Yellow, Harvest Gold, Deep Gold. I use both Madeira and Hemmingworth threads. Embroidery threads add that sheen and complex play of light. So enjoy the following pictures as I add colour after colour. Yes, they over lap. That's where the charm comes from.