My second piece of cross stitching has gone ‘off piste’, as some of my friends would say. In other words, i did not use a pattern or template; i just stitched, albeit, with some inspiration at my side whilst i did so.
As my previous post mentioned, we went to Cornwall for our holidays last year. My friend bought a small art work painted on a piece of driftwood. As soon as i saw it, i knew that i could create some textile art using it as inspiration. My first thought was that it could be woven, but as soon as i started the cross stitch i realised that approach would make for a more detailed version. I’ve called the post ‘Atlantic Surf’ because that is the name of the thread colour pack that i used, and the work is about Atlantic surf! I get my threads from Paintbox threads, although she had run out so the pack was actually sourced from Norwegian Wool.
I worked from a photograph, and when the cross stitch eventually met with the original, it was evident that there were some differences in the colour between the original and the photo. I also hadn’t realised how small the original was.
I estimate that it took me between 20 and 30 hours to stitch (maybe a bit more). I wonder now how much quicker it would have been if i had cross stitched the original size!
But all of these differences mean that i can reference the original work of Kit Johns as inspiration rather than there being any accusation of copying. I hope.
Needless to say, i continue to be on the look out for further inspiration for ‘off piste’ cross stitch work.