How often do embroiderers think of perspective?
Well, in the case of the following embroidery artists, the answer would have to be, often, because they take their work to an aerial perspective depicting embroidered scenes one does not often think about or get to see.
And they’re fascinating artworks.
Now just so we’re all on the same page, perspective in art and design is a technique that creates the illusion of three-dimensional space and depth on a two-dimensional surface. It makes a drawing more realistic, giving it form and distance.
These talented artists achieve that using a simple needle and thread.
Looking down from above is an unusual design perspective making us feel as though we’re flying or floating above the design quite literally – and I love that.
These embroidery artists take a very different view of something as simple as a landscape or a seascape. By using and manipulating the textures of embroidery stitches, to create vistas of exquisite beauty and charm.
Stitch Safari listeners, join me as I take to the air with some amazing artists who create myriad aerial perspectives that are simply mouth-watering. Whether it’s a birds-eye view of their hometown, a commissioned work of a place of sentimental meaning, a map that in itself is an aerial perspective image or amazing images of the Earth’s surface – these recreations capture dazzling birds-eye views of great interest and beauty delivering delicious textures that only embroidery can offer.
I hope these artists and their work ignite a flame of inspiration in you as they have in me – we’re going to be looking at our world from a very different viewpoint indeed.
Come on, it’s time to fly.
I’m going to begin with Indian embroidery artist Diti Baruah.
In 2022 Sarah Barnes wrote an interesting post for My Modern Met detailing what she terms, the hoop art, of Diti Baruah.
I’ve never heard the term ‘hoop art’ before, but it’s appropriate as that’s exactly how Diti displays her cleverly embroidered aerial views.
Using a variety of techniques, Diti celebrates dazzling vantage points of North-East India harmonising a variety of techniques to replicate land and water-like textures that also include people, boats, and cloud-covered forests.
Sarah Barnes writes: ‘Much of Baruah’s imagery focuses on depicting the scenic beauty of the North-East India region that borders Myanmar, China and Bangladesh. This is seen in her favourite embroidery titled, ‘Lotus Pickers of Loktak Lake, Manipur, North-East India. ‘This is special because I love how the colours balance and depict the essence of this unique, lesser-known natural heritage from North-East India’, Baruah tells My Modern Met. ‘I have used thousands of French Knots and it is one of my first aerial landscape embroideries’.
For me though, it’s not just the unique perspective Diti Baruah uses, but also her use of bright, clean colours. Even though some works include white, fluffy clouds, the colours attest to an effervescent, sunny day. A variety of greens pop against twists or pools of blue with dots of red and yellow here and there representing myriad homes.
It feels magical, as though you’re the only one privileged enough to see this stunning vista.
But the vistas change from meandering rivers to still waters covered with green and pink botanicals or river boats plying their way ever forward, some working or catering to the tourist trade. Baruah’s clever use of a cast shadow in the water creates even more realism for a drifting boat.
These are exquisite embroideries. They make great use of French Knots for texture contrasted with a flatter long, straight stitch that often depicts these lengthy, narrow boats easing their way along small carved-out channels covered in masses of greenery.
Do check out the embroidered aerial landscapes of Diti Baruah.
Now let’s move to the 3D landscape embroidery of Victoria Rose Richards, capturing colourful aerial views of rural England.
Have you ever sat in a plane and looked upon patchwork-like landscapes below?
Well, that’s exactly what Victoria Rose Richards captures in her designs based on the rural landscape of her hometown of Plymouth, England.
With a background in Biology, it’s no wonder that her love of nature shines through in her artistic practice.
Yet, Richards did not begin stitching until 2018 when she pulled some threads from her Grandmother’s old embroidery tin, discovering that stitching helped her feel calm.
These multi-textured artworks include a variety of embroidery techniques including French Knots, long and short stitch and satin stitch creating impressively elaborate textile scenes, some now include raised-work hills.
Again the colours are vibrant, including striped paddocks alongside fields of solid colours – but what makes them interesting is the change of stitch direction. It might sound simple, but stitch direction is of huge importance in this style of work.
The work is presented hooped depicting fields, lakes, roads, rivers and forests and has moved on to show seasonal changes, flowering fields, lightning and even a starry, starry night.
Well worth your time to check out the inspirational work of Victoria Rose Richards.
What a wonderful way to represent your hometown.
Something a little different is Taylor Brooker, an embroidery artist based in the English countryside who specialises in aerial landscape embroidery worked on commission.
Brooker makes custom-made aerial landscapes, watercolours and pencil portraits. Check them out on her website.
Her first aerial landscape was worked as a wedding gift for a friend that went viral on social media, the success leading her to jump to commission work for clients.
It takes Brooker seven to sixteen days to create an embroidered artwork mostly of wedding venues, childhood homes, parents’ homes and farms but also included a French chateau and vineyard and one of the Uffington White Horse.
Brooker loves the stories behind these special locations along with the feedback she receives but also notes the therapeutic effect the process of working these embroideries gives her.
Now onto another self-taught embroiderer who has also moved into commission-work embroidery featuring the aerial perspective, Kate Tarling.
Tarling’s work is slightly different for a couple of reasons. One is that it’s not displayed finished in a hoop – this work is framed or mounted and recreates maps that are aerial views too. The other is that while beginning with hand embroidery, Kat Tarling’s maps are now worked by machine using free-machine embroidery.
Here’s a brief passage from Kate Tarling’s website: ‘I like to think now that my textile work reflects my early career, my maps are all about a sense of place and stitching memories into a landscape. I love sewing in the connections we all make with our surroundings and creating a piece of art that has meaning. Most of the maps I make are commissioned and now I make maps of places from all around the world including Europe, Australia, North America and one piece has even flown into space.’
Many of the maps are mounted with threads cascading around each of the edges adding another dimension of texture and interest to these mind-blowingly detailed maps.
This is beautiful work, displayed with contemporary flair.
To finish I’m taking you in yet another direction – or rather Canadian-born embroidery artist Danielle Currie of Satellite Stitches does.
Inspiration for her work comes from satellite imagery captured and rendered by NASA’s Ocean Biology Processing Group, satellite imagery from Google Maps and the work of aerial photographers.
These stunning hand-embroidered pieces capture the beauty of Earth from above by using an array of different stitches and threads to replicate those amazing textures.
Work on her website includes Icelandic Rivers, Oceanographic Processes, Ocean Islands and Reefs, and other works – all beautifully rendered in stitch.
This is clever embroidery replicating amazing satellite images.
Swirling blues and greens, or the moody greys and browns of Icelandic Rivers are captured using Currie’s signature thread-painting technique – one stitch at a time.
Wow. What a pool of talent and creativity and when you analyse the techniques these artists employ, the stitches used are relatively simple. It’s how they work them using their passion and flair.
You know, I think what really appeals to me with this style of embroidery is the utter simplicity of the concept for these artworks, even though the work may be complex – there’s a lot of work contained in those small hoops. It’s an image from above rendered in beautiful embroidery.
And each of these artists creates art that is so different from the waterways of North-East India, to the rural landscapes of England to intricately detailed maps of places and countries topped off with amazing satellite views of planet Earth.
Let’s not also forget, that some of these artists are completely self-taught.
Does that give you food for thought? Would you like to replicate the memories of home or somewhere that has great meaning for you?
What a wonderful way to have those memories with you forever or to give a gift that bears huge meaning to someone special.
All worked with a simple needle and thread. How lucky are the embroiderers of this world?
